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EXLS · ExlService Holdings, Inc.

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$34.82 -0.56 (-1.57%) At close · Aug 14
Market Cap
$5.32B
Shares
152.78M
All earnings calls

Earnings call · FY2026 Q1

ExlService Holdings, Inc. Q1 FY2026 Earnings Call

ExlService Holdings, Inc. Q1 FY2026 Earnings Call

Concluded Apr 29, 2026
Apr 29, 2026 54 turns
Period
FY2026 Q1
Runtime
Sources
3 artifacts

Executive readout · one minute

What matters this quarter

ExlService Holdings reported Q1 2026 revenue of $570.4 million, up 13.8% year-over-year, with adjusted diluted EPS of $0.58, up 20.2%, and raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $2.30–$2.33 billion and adjusted EPS to $2.18–$2.23.

Data and AI-led growth 30 Segment performance 23 Acquisitions and investment 13 Commercial model shift 9 Margin and profitability dynamics 9 Guidance and financial outlook 4

Management tone

Confident

Net tone +78 · low hedging

Grounding quotes
  • “We entered 2026 with strong momentum. In the first quarter, ExlService Holdings, Inc. generated revenue of $570 million, up 14% year over year, and adjusted earnings of $0.58 per share, an increase of 20% year over year.”
  • “Demand for our data and AI-led services and solutions remains robust, continuing the momentum we saw at the end of 2025.”
  • “For full year 2026, we are increasing our revenue guidance to a range of $2.3 billion to $2.33 billion, representing 10% to 12% constant currency organic growth.”
  • “Our pipeline is strong. And we have high renewal rates. More than 75% of our revenue is recurring or annuity-like, providing revenue stability and a great line of sight for the year.”

Forward guidance

6 guided metrics

Management's latest ranges and targets are included below.

Research coverage

3 live sources

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Revenue $570.35M +13.8% YoY
Diluted EPS $0.43 +7.5% YoY
Gross margin 38.9% +0.3 pp YoY
Net income $67.08M +0.8% YoY

Research materials

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Key takeaways

What improved, and what deserves a closer read.

Constructive signals

  • Revenue grew 14% YoY to $570.4M, with adjusted EPS up 20% YoY to $0.58
  • Data and AI-led revenue grew 28% YoY, now 60% of company revenue
  • Insurance returned to double-digit growth at 13% YoY; Healthcare and Life Sciences up 21% YoY
  • Full-year 2026 revenue guidance raised to $2.30–$2.33B (10–12% growth) and adjusted EPS guidance raised to $2.18–$2.23 (12–14% growth)
  • More than 75% of revenue is recurring/annuity-like; named NVIDIA Advanced Technology Partner of the Year, Genesys Best New Partner of the Year, and AWS AI/ML Market Disruptor of the Year
  • Gross margin expanded to 38.9% from 38.6% YoY and adjusted operating margin rose to 20.5% from 20.1% YoY

Risks & pressure points

  • Reported digital operations revenue declined 2% YoY due to planned migration into the data and AI-led category
  • Management guides to flattish adjusted operating margins YoY in the mid-19% range despite favorable mix, as investment/R&D spend is growing faster than revenue
  • International Growth Markets gross margin declined to 34.1% from 36.6% YoY
  • AI deployments require lengthy, complex data-foundation build-outs and ongoing model maintenance, creating execution risk and time-to-revenue risk
  • Management acknowledged it remains to be seen whether net revenue retention can stay above 1.0x in maintenance mode
  • Banking, Capital Markets and Diversified Industries grew only 8% YoY and its gross margin slipped to 36.9% from 37.3% YoY

Key moments

Jump directly to management's words in the synchronized transcript.

“For full year 2026, we are increasing our revenue guidance to a range of $2.3 billion to $2.33 billion, representing 10% to 12% constant currency organic growth. We are also increasing our adjusted diluted EPS to $2.18 to $2.23, representing 12% to 14% year-over-year growth.” Rohit Kapoor, CEO
“During the quarter, we spent $13 million on capital expenditures and repurchased 4.4 million shares at an average price of $31 per share, totaling $136 million. This includes 3.35 million shares received upfront as part of the settlement of our previously announced $125 million accelerated share repurchase.” Maurizio Nicolelli, CFO

Forward guidance

From the 8-K filed Apr 28, 2026.

Metric Guided
Revenue
full year 2026
$2.3B – $2.33B
Adjusted diluted earnings per share
full year 2026
$2.18 – $2.23

Guidance from the call

Stated verbally and extracted from the transcript.

Metric Guided
Foreign exchange gain
full year 2026
$2M – $3M
Net interest expense
full year 2026
$6M – $8M
Effective tax rate
full year 2026
21% – 22%
Capital expenditures
full year 2026
$50M – $55M

Quarter detail

How the reported period landed and where the business moved.

Revenue · segments

Insurance$226.06M +12.8% YoY
Banking Capital Markets and Diversified Industries$192.18M +9.9% YoY
Healthcare and Life Sciences$152.12M +20.9% YoY

Capital returned

Buybacks
$165.99M
Shares repurchased
4.38M
Full-screen source Call document