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PAYC

Paycom SoftwareA
NYSE / Commercial & Professional Services
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2026-06-02
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2026-05-23
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Earnings documents stored for PAYC.

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Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-23

Q1 Earnings Roundup: Paycom (NYSE:PAYC) And The Rest Of The HR Software Segment

StockStory

Wrapping up Q1 earnings, we look at the numbers and key takeaways for the hr software stocks, including Paycom (NYSE:PAYC) and its peers. Modern HR software has two powerful benefits: cost savings and ease of use. For cost savings, businesses large and small much prefer the flexibility of cloud-based, web-browser-delivered software paid for on a subscription basis rather than the hassle and complexity of purchasing and managing on-premise enterprise software. On the usability side, the consumerization of business software creates seamless experiences whereby multiple standalone processes like payroll processing and compliance are aggregated into a single, easy-to-use platform. The 4 HR software stocks we track reported a mixed Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.9% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line. In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 3.2% on average since the latest earnings results. Pioneering the concept of employees doing their own payroll with its "Beti" technology, Paycom (NYSE:PAYC) provides cloud-based human capital management software that helps businesses manage the entire employment lifecycle from recruitment to retirement. Paycom reported revenues of $571.8 million, up 7.8% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a mixed quarter for the company with a decent beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates but full-year revenue guidance meeting analysts’ expectations. Paycom delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, slowest revenue growth, and weakest full-year guidance update of the whole group. Interestingly, the stock is up 8.7% since reporting and currently trades at $137.38. Read our full report on Paycom here, it’s free. Operating in a field where companies traditionally juggled multiple disconnected systems, Paylocity (NASDAQ:PCTY) provides cloud-based human capital management and payroll software solutions that help businesses manage their workforce and HR processes. Paylocity reported revenues of $502.3 million, up 10.5% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.5%. The business had a strong quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and full-year EBITDA guidance beating analysts’ expectations. Paylocity delivered the biggest analyst estimates...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-16

Impressive Earnings May Not Tell The Whole Story For Paycom Software (NYSE:PAYC)

Simply Wall St.

Paycom Software, Inc.'s (NYSE:PAYC) stock was strong after they recently reported robust earnings. However, we think that shareholders may be missing some concerning details in the numbers. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. Importantly, our data indicates that Paycom Software's profit received a boost of US$42m in unusual items, over the last year. We can't deny that higher profits generally leave us optimistic, but we'd prefer it if the profit were to be sustainable. When we crunched the numbers on thousands of publicly listed companies, we found that a boost from unusual items in a given year is often not repeated the next year. Which is hardly surprising, given the name. If Paycom Software doesn't see that contribution repeat, then all else being equal we'd expect its profit to drop over the current year. That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates. We'd posit that Paycom Software's statutory earnings aren't a clean read on ongoing productivity, due to the large unusual item. Therefore, it seems possible to us that Paycom Software's true underlying earnings power is actually less than its statutory profit. Nonetheless, it's still worth noting that its earnings per share have grown at 61% over the last three years. Of course, we've only just scratched the surface when it comes to analysing its earnings; one could also consider margins, forecast growth, and return on investment, among other factors. Keep in mind, when it comes to analysing a stock it's worth noting the risks involved. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Paycom Software you should know about. Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Paycom Software's profit. But there is always more to discover if you are capable of focussing your mind on minutiae. For example, many people consider a high return on equity as an indication of favorable business economics, while others like to 'follow the money' and search out stocks that insiders are buying. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership. Ha...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-16

The Top 5 Analyst Questions From Paycom’s Q1 Earnings Call

StockStory

Paycom’s first quarter results received a positive market reaction, underpinned by robust execution in automation and AI-enabled solutions. Management attributed the quarter’s momentum to strong client engagement, increased revenue retention, and operational efficiencies from expanding automation across its HR software platform. CEO Chad Richison highlighted that Paycom’s full solution automation strategy continues to differentiate the company, noting that solutions like Beti and IWant are eliminating manual processes and delivering measurable value. The company also benefited from recurring revenue linked to its forms filing business, which management said contributed to margin expansion during the quarter. Is now the time to buy PAYC? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $571.8 million vs analyst estimates of $563.9 million (7.8% year-on-year growth, 1.4% beat) Adjusted EPS: $3.15 vs analyst estimates of $2.99 (5.4% beat) Adjusted Operating Income: $224.1 million vs analyst estimates of $215.8 million (39.2% margin, 3.8% beat) The company reconfirmed its revenue guidance for the full year of $2.19 billion at the midpoint EBITDA guidance for the full year is $960 million at the midpoint, in line with analyst expectations Operating Margin: 36.7%, up from 34.9% in the same quarter last year Billings: $575.7 million at quarter end, up 7.7% year on year Market Capitalization: $6.42 billion While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Jordan Ross Boretz (Jefferies) asked about drivers of outperformance in recurring revenue. CEO Chad Richison explained that recurring growth aligned with expectations, highlighting forms filing as a margin driver and noting operational efficiency from automation. Mark Marcon (Baird) questioned the rationale behind maintaining guidance despite a strong quarter. Richison responded that guidance reflects stability and that the company prefers to remain conservative early in the year. Steven Enders (Citi) inquired about the impact of AI products like IWant on sales pipeline conversion. Richison shared that IWant’s growing usage improves user engagement and supports lea...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-08

Paycom's Q1 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenues Rise Y/Y (Revised)

Zacks

Paycom Software, Inc. PAYC reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2026 results, wherein both top and bottom lines surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The online payroll and human resource technology provider reported non-GAAP earnings of $3.15 per share, which increased 12.5% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.5%. Paycom’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, while missing once, the average surprise being 5.7%. Revenues totaled $571.9 million, which rose 7.8% from the year-ago quarter and exceeded the consensus estimate of $565 million by 1.2%. Paycom Software, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Paycom Software, Inc. Quote Paycom’s Recurring revenues (representing 95.1% of the total revenues) improved 8.8% to $544 million in the first quarter. Our estimate for the company’s Recurring revenues was pegged at $538.2 million. Paycom’s revenues from the Interest on funds held for clients segment decreased to $27.8 million from $30.5 million in the year-ago quarter and contributed 4.9% to total sales. Our estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $27.7 million. Adjusted gross profits increased 8.4% from the year-ago period to $486.7 million. The adjusted gross margin expanded 50 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis to 85.1%. Paycom’s adjusted EBITDA rose 8.8% year over year to $275.4 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 50 basis points to 48.2%. Paycom exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $153.9 million compared with $370 million recorded in the previous quarter. The company had long-term debt of $675 million as of March 31, 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, PAYC generated operating cash flow of approximately $213.8 million, paid out $17.7 million in dividends and bought back $1.06 billion worth of its common stock. The board also approved a new $2 billion buyback authorization. Earlier on May 4, Paycom declared its upcoming quarterly dividend of 37.5 cents per share, payable on May 26, 2026. Following the first-quarter performance, management reaffirmed full-year guidance ranges. For 2026, Paycom continues to expect total revenues of $2.175-$2.195 billion, implying year-over-year growth of 6-7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $2.19 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 6.8%. The company projects recurring revenues...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-07

Paycom Software (PAYC) Q1 Earnings and Revenues Beat Estimates

Zacks

Paycom Software (PAYC) came out with quarterly earnings of $3.15 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.93 per share. This compares to earnings of $2.8 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +7.35%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this maker of human-resources and payroll software would post earnings of $2.44 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.45, delivering a surprise of +0.41%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times. Paycom, which belongs to the Zacks Internet - Software industry, posted revenues of $571.9 million for the quarter ended March 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.20%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $530.5 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Paycom shares have lost about 17.4% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6%. While Paycom has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Paycom was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 R...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-07

Paycom's Q1 Earnings Surpass Expectations, Revenues Rise Y/Y

Zacks

Paycom Software, Inc. PAYC reported better-than-expected first-quarter 2026 results, wherein both top and bottom lines surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The online payroll and human resource technology provider reported non-GAAP earnings of $3.15 per share, which increased 12.5% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.5%. Paycom’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, while missing once, the average surprise being 5.7%. Revenues totaled $571.9 million, which rose 7.8% from the year-ago quarter and exceeded the consensus estimate of $565 million by 1.2%. Paycom Software, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Paycom Software, Inc. Quote Paycom’s Recurring revenues (representing 95.1% of the total revenues) improved 8.8% to $544 million in the first quarter. Our estimate for the company’s Recurring revenues was pegged at $538.2 million. Paycom’s revenues from the Implementation and Other segment decreased to $27.8 million from $30.5 million in the year-ago quarter and contributed 4.9% to total sales. Our estimate for the segment’s revenues was pegged at $27.7 million. Adjusted gross profits increased 8.4% from the year-ago period to $486.7 million. The adjusted gross margin expanded 50 basis points (bps) on a year-over-year basis to 85.1%. Paycom’s adjusted EBITDA rose 8.8% year over year to $275.4 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 50 basis points to 48.2%. Paycom exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $153.9 million compared with $370 million recorded in the previous quarter. The company had long-term debt of $675 million as of March 31, 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, PAYC generated operating cash flow of approximately $213.8 million, paid out $17.7 million in dividends and bought back $1.06 billion worth of its common stock. The board also approved a new $2 billion buyback authorization. Earlier on May 4, Paycom declared its upcoming quarterly dividend of 37.5 cents per share, payable on May 26, 2026. Following the first-quarter performance, management reaffirmed full-year guidance ranges. For 2026, Paycom continues to expect total revenues of $2.175-$2.195 billion, implying year-over-year growth of 6-7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $2.19 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 6.8%. The company projects recurring revenues to grow 7-...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-07

Paycom (PAYC) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript

Motley Fool

Image source: The Motley Fool. Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET Chief Executive Officer — Chad Richison Chief Financial Officer — Robert Foster Head of Investor Relations — James Samford Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email [email protected] James Samford: Thank you, and welcome to Paycom's Earnings Conference Call for the first quarter of 2026. Certain statements made on this call that are not historical facts, including those related to our future plans, objectives, and expected performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent our outlook only as of the date of this conference call. While we believe any forward-looking statements made on this call are reasonable, actual results may differ materially because the statements are based on our current expectations and subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. You should refer to and consider these factors when relying on such forward-looking information. Any forward-looking statement made speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not undertake and expressly disclaim any obligation to update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Also during today's call, we refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and certain adjusted expenses. We use these non-GAAP financial measures to review and assess our performance and for planning purposes. A reconciliation schedule showing GAAP versus non-GAAP results is included in the press release that we issued after the close of the market today and is available on our website at investors.paycom.com. I will now turn the call over to Chad Richison, Paycom's founder and CEO. Chad? Chad Richison: Thanks, James. Thank you to everyone joining our call today. I'll briefly comment on some of our first quarter 2026 accomplishments and the progress we are making on our 2026 plan. Bob will review our first quarter results and full year guidance before taking a few questions. Let's get started. First quarter results were solid as we continue to advance our full solution automatio...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-07

Paycom: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Paycom Software Inc. (PAYC) on Wednesday reported first-quarter net income of $155.7 million. On a per-share basis, the Oklahoma City-based company said it had net income of $3.04. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were $3.15 per share. The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.93 per share. The maker of human-resources and payroll software posted revenue of $571.9 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $565.1 million. Paycom expects full-year revenue in the range of $2.17 billion to $2.19 billion. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PAYC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PAYC

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-07

Paycom Software, Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Summary

Moby

Management attributes solid first-quarter results to the continued advancement of their full solution automation strategy, which is driving higher client ROI and engagement. Revenue retention increased in 2025 and Net Promoter Scores are rising, which management views as evidence that their single-database architecture reduces complexity and improves accuracy for clients. The company is positioning itself as the most automated solution in the market, utilizing tools like Beti and GONE to eliminate manual processes and reduce payroll labor by approximately 90%. Management noted that many clients are returning to Paycom after finding that competing providers' systems do not offer the same level of automation or ease of use. Operational efficiencies derived from internal automation and process improvements contributed to a 50 basis point expansion in adjusted EBITDA margins. The 'IWant' AI solution is serving as a predominant interface for clients, with usage increasing 33% since the end of the fourth quarter of 2025. Management explicitly addressed a 'sky is falling' market narrative regarding AI, asserting that their value proposition is strengthening despite what they characterize as a 'fool's gold' stock price. Full-year 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance remains reaffirmed, assuming stability throughout the year despite the strong first-quarter start. The company expects recurring and other revenue to grow between 7% and 8% for the full year, implying a potential slowdown in the latter half of the year as early-year forms filing revenue tapers. Management anticipates that recent sales force retraining and the rollout of more AI capabilities will contribute to greater lead generation and sales inflection later in 2026. Capital expenditure expectations for the year are uncertain due to potential data center expansions and power purchase opportunities, with management declining to provide specific guidance at this time. The company plans to remain opportunistic with its new $2 billion share buyback authorization, utilizing debt to fund repurchases when a disconnect between share price and intrinsic value is perceived. Paycom repurchased approximately 8.4 million shares in Q1, representing about 15% of shares outstanding at the end of 2025, for a total of $1.06 billion. A new $2 billion share buyback authorization was approved in May 2026 to replace the...

TranscriptFY2026 Q12026-05-06

FY2026 Q1 earnings call transcript

Earnings source - 101 paragraphs
Operator

Good afternoon. My name is Jade, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Paycom's first quarter 2026 financial results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the 1 on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star 1 again. Thank you. I will now turn the call over to James Samford, Head of Investor Relations. You may begin.

James Samford

Thank you, and welcome to Paycom's Earnings Conference Call for the 1st quarter of 2026. Certain statements made on this call that are not historical facts, including those related to our future plans, objectives, and expected performance, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent our outlook only as of the date of this conference call. While we believe any forward-looking statements made on this call are reasonable, actual results may differ materially because the statements are based on our current expectations and subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties are discussed in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. You should refer to and consider these factors when relying on such forward-looking information.

James Samford

Any forward-looking statement made speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not undertake and expressly disclaim any obligation to update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Also during today's call, we refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP net income, and certain adjusted expenses. We use these non-GAAP financial measures to review and assess our performance and for planning purposes. A reconciliation schedule showing GAAP versus non-GAAP results is included in the press release that we issued after the close of the market today and is available on our website at investors.paycom.com. I will now turn the call over to Chad Richison, Paycom's founder and CEO. Chad?

Chad Richison

Thanks, James. Thank you to everyone joining our call today. I'll briefly comment on some of our first quarter 2026 accomplishments and the progress we are making on our 2026 plan. Bob will review our first quarter results and full year guidance before taking a few questions. Let's get started. First quarter results were solid as we continue to advance our full solution automation strategy, create greater client ROI achievement, and deliver the world-class service that makes us the best in our industry. The 2026 plan that we laid out for you during our last call remains well on track, and I'm pleased with our progress. Our focus on client ROI achievement and world-class service continues to strengthen our client relationships, which helped increase revenue retention in 2025, while also improving our Net Promoter Score.

Chad Richison

Our clients are more engaged than ever and big promoters of our software. Discussions with them continue to be overwhelmingly positive as they use our software to drive automation, which is creating meaningful value for them. We also continue to see many clients return to Paycom after realizing their new provider systems don't produce automation and ease of use like Paycom. Our clients and their employees appreciate our single database architecture and employee-first technology, which enable the automation and decisioning across the platform, reducing complexity, improving accuracy, and driving efficiency. Our clients find that these strategic pillars help them achieve more ROI than anyone else in our space. We are also advancing our automation capabilities within our single database software. AI and automation are the future of our industry, and I am thankful we were early to offer our clients this level of functionality well before it becomes mainstream.

Chad Richison

Paycom is uniquely positioned within our industry as we are the most automated solution in the market. In fact, we have routinely been named the best HR and payroll software provider in our industry by third parties, most recently by G2, where we earned top rankings in their spring 2026 report across multiple categories. Our full solution automation strategy is working, and solutions like Beti, Gong, and other automated decisioning capabilities are eliminating manual processes, reducing redundancies, and helping our clients operate more efficiently. Forrester found that Beti reduced payroll processing labor by 90%, while also showcasing that Gong delivers an ROI of over 800%. Our AI solution, IWant, is accelerating speed to value for our clients by helping users get answers and complete work quickly without any necessary training in our software.

Chad Richison

As we continue rolling out more AI and automation across the platform, we are making our product easier to use and driving measurable value for our clients and their employees. While we are pleased with our momentum in a rapidly evolving market, the opportunity ahead of us is large as we continue to serve approximately 5% of the addressable market. This available market share represents a significant opportunity for Paycom over the long term. I want to thank our employees for their focus, execution, and the excellent start to 2026.

Chad Richison

Our people are what make Paycom a great place to work, and I am thankful Paycom was recently recognized as a 2026 Platinum Employer on the Where You Work Matters list. Paycom was the only company in our industry to receive the program's highest overall distinction of platinum, proving we are one of the best places to work in the U.S. Paycom was also the only company in our industry to earn a five-star rating on USA Today's Most Trusted Brands in 2026. These distinctions are why brands all over the globe trust us to do their HR and payroll. As the most trusted HR and payroll provider, we have a lot of very exciting initiatives coming in 2026 to help our clients continue to create ROI, while also delivering world-class service. With that, let me turn the call over to Robert D. Foster.

Bob Foster

Thank you, Chad. We delivered strong first quarter results with total revenues of $572 million, up 8% over the comparable prior year period, and recurring and other revenue of $544 million, up 9% year-over-year. GAAP net income in the first quarter was $156 million or $3.04 per diluted share based on 51 million shares. non-GAAP net income for the first quarter was $161 million or $3.15 per diluted share. Revenue strength in the quarter, combined with operational efficiencies from automation, resulted in strong profitability metrics in the first quarter. adjusted EBITDA came in at $275 million, representing a 50 basis point year-over-year expansion to 48.2%.

Bob Foster

We are achieving operational efficiencies without compromising on sales and marketing effectiveness, world-class service, or product innovation. During the first quarter, we repurchased approximately 8.4 million shares of common stock, or approximately 15% of our shares outstanding as of the end of 2025, for a total of $1.06 billion, and we paid approximately $18 million in cash dividends. On May fourth, the board approved a new $2 billion buyback authorization to replace our prior authorization. The board also approved our next quarterly dividend of $0.375 per share, payable in early June. Turning to the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $154 million.

Bob Foster

In April, we replaced our previous revolving credit facility with a new five-year, $2.125 billion credit facility, of which $675 million is currently drawn down. The average daily balance on funds held for clients was approximately $3.1 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 8% over the prior year period. Now let me turn to guidance for 2026. Following our first quarter results, we are reaffirming our full year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance ranges. We expect total revenues to be between $2.175 billion and $2.195 billion, or approximately 6.5% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. We expect full year recurring and other revenue to be up 7%-8% year-over-year.

Bob Foster

Finally, full year adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $950 million-$970 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 44% at the midpoint of the range. Included in total revenue outlook is interest on funds held for clients of approximately $103 million, which is unchanged from our outlook provided on the last call. Our first quarter represented a strong first step towards achieving our strategic and financial goals for the year, and we're excited about what's ahead. With that, let's open the line for questions. Operator?

Operator

Thank you. At this time, I would like to remind everyone, in order to ask a question, press star then the number one on your telephone keypad. In the interest of time, we ask that you please limit yourself to one question. We'll pause for just a moment to compile the Q&A roster. Your first question comes from the line of Samad Samana from Jefferies. Your line is open. Please go ahead.

Speaker 15

Thanks. This is Jordan on for Samad. Thank you for taking my question. It's nice to see the recurring growth coming strong at 9%, which was ahead of our own expectations by a few points. I wanted to pick apart drivers of outperformance during the quarter there. Across key growth drivers, whether that be new booking, seller headcount versus productivity, employment growth, which factors performed better than your initial expectations and what contributed to that strength?

Chad Richison

I would say it came in about what we expected for our expectations. You know, when deal starts matter within a quarter, and you know, we had a successful quarter in the first quarter. Also first quarter, to keep in mind, it is the quarter where we have our forms filing business. That also can contribute to a higher margin profile in the first quarter.

Speaker 15

Great. Maybe a quick follow-up. On the expense side, you're delivering some really strong leverage. I think the 50 basis points of gross margin expansion is particularly impressive, especially given the pressure coming from slow revenue. I'm curious, in the cognitive specifically, what's driving that healthy expansion this quarter? Do you have any puts and takes in the direction of gross margin as we think about the rest of the year?

Chad Richison

You know, we had automated a lot, throughout last year, and, you know, we're starting to see some of the benefit of that. I don't know if Bob.

Bob Foster

Yeah. I would add the automation and the process efficiencies, and we started last year on expenses as well on all across the board, and we're seeing some of that benefit.

Speaker 15

Great. Congrats again on the strong results, and I appreciate you taking my questions.

Chad Richison

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Mark Marcon from Baird. Please go ahead.

Mark Marcon

Hey, good afternoon. Similar to the prior question, you ended up outperforming relative to our expectations for this quarter. Fully recognize the form filings. Been doing this for a while. I'm just wondering, you know, you maintain the guidance, and it looks like you had a pretty nice beat here in the first quarter. The guidance basically assumes, you know, in order to get to the 7% to 8% on recurring, we need to, you know, see a bit of a slowdown as the year unfolds. I'm wondering, are you just being conservative, or is there anything that you're looking at that would suggest that that's going to slow down a little bit?

Chad Richison

Yeah. Raimo, you know, it's early in the year and sorry, I did it again, Mark.

Mark Marcon

You did.

Chad Richison

I know. I did it again. It's early in the year and, you know, so, we did have a strong first quarter. We've got the full year left. We're happy with what was there, but, you know, we like our guidance throughout the remainder of this year.

Mark Marcon

Okay. Can you talk a little bit about, you know, how the board's approaching, you obviously put your money where your mouth is with regards to, you know, the huge buyback, which, you know, we've written about before, and you're actually, you know, taking it up even further. Can you talk a little bit about the rationale for doing that now if in fact things are gonna slow down? Again, you know, perhaps there's a little bit of conservatism in the numbers.

Chad Richison

I mean, I feel like our guide does reflect stability, you know, throughout the year. I mean, as far as the stock and the repurchases, I mean, right now our stock doesn't really trade, I don't believe, off what we do. It kinda trades, you know, based on the AI prophecy of the day. I think there's a little bit of a sky's falling narrative out there and, you know, if you believe that narrative, I mean, our stock should almost be at zero. Our value proposition's getting stronger and stronger with our clients. Our Net Promoter Scores are going up. They're continuing to increase. You know, we're kind of valued, I believe, at kind of a fool's gold price and, you know, we believe we're precious metal.

Chad Richison

When you have a $2 billion buyback authorization with growing cash positive business, it benefits us to have, you know, these disconnects in our value. I believe, you know, over time, long-term investors win when we're able to repurchase these shares.

Mark Marcon

Agreed. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Steven Enders from Citi. Please go ahead.

Steven Enders

Okay. Great. Thanks for, thanks for taking the questions here. Maybe just, dovetailing off of the, the last question, just, I guess, how are you kind of viewing, you know, I guess the framework for how you're thinking about the buyback and, you know, capital allocation from here and, and how do you kind of view the, I guess, mix between, I guess, leveraging more debt, to support the buyback and kind of just what that means moving forward, on those plans?

Chad Richison

Well, I think it's all dependent on, you know, where the share price is. I mean, we definitely remain opportunistic when it comes to buybacks. As you mentioned, we are taking on debt for that. You know, we'll remain opportunistic as we go throughout the year and have opportunities.

Steven Enders

Okay. Okay. Thanks. Thanks for that. Maybe just in terms of the bigger kind of product strategy, you know, I guess with IWant kind of out in the market and the other automation solutions, just what have maybe you seen from how that's supporting, you know, top of funnel, new opportunities, you know, first time bookings and maybe just kind of broader pipeline conversion and how you're seeing those metrics maybe shift with the broader capabilities out there?

Chad Richison

Yeah. I mean, you know, IWant creates real value and was the first AI tool in our industry that accessed an entire system. You know, and we'll discuss future AI products, you know, as we're ready to launch them. I mean, you know, IWant's up another 33% just since the end of the fourth quarter from a usage perspective. Usage continues to do well with IWant as it becomes more of the predominant interface for many of our clients as well as their employees in how they both navigate, make functional changes, as well as gather information from our system.

Steven Enders

Okay, perfect. Thanks for taking the questions.

Chad Richison

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Jason Celino from KeyBanc Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Speaker 16

Hi, this is Devon on for Jason today. Thanks for taking our questions. I also wanted to follow up on the 1Q recurring performance too. I know you mentioned forms filing revenue, which sounds like it came in better. Could you perhaps speak to some of the sales retraining or changes that you have done late last year? Did you perhaps maybe see less disruption or some early signs of benefits during quarter that might have drove the strong start in the recurring growth of the year?

Chad Richison

I mean, I would say that our, the changes in the sales department did not have any impact on the Q1 starts and revenue. Maybe toward the end, the March kind of level. Primarily those forms, that forms filing revenue would've been baked the end of last year and become somewhat routine as we process those throughout the quarter.

Speaker 16

Got it. Okay. Thanks for that. Maybe just sticking on the topic of sales, I know you mentioned, I think last quarter you're looking to expand kind of sales rep per office. Yeah, that'll be helpful. Thank you.

Chad Richison

Yes, we continue to hire in sales. We continue to produce many of our largest classes we've ever had go through our training. You know, we have an award-winning sales team, and we're focused on remaining on top. You know, top salespeople, they wanna sell the top products, and our salespeople have worked very hard to get where we are today, and I'm real proud of them. Paycom's a great place for salespeople, especially those who may be changing their careers. We found that even HR directors can make pretty good salespeople for us these days.

Speaker 16

Great. Thanks for taking our questions.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Raimo Lenschow from Barclays. Please go ahead.

Raimo Lenschow

Hey, thank you. I finally made it. Thanks. Hey, Chad. Quick question on IWant. The, you know, obviously, you know, usability is increasing a lot. What do you see in terms of pipeline bills when you kind of talk to your sales guys about, like, how that's impacting what's going on from pipeline bills, you know, how that's kind of helps you all, and then also, like, how that helps you with kind of trajectory or then speed as you go through the pipeline because it does seem like a very compelling offering?

Chad Richison

Yeah, I mean, IWant has definitely helped us. You know, it's automation throughout our system. You know, IWant makes it easier for you to access Gong, you know? Automation throughout our system as we've moved toward full solution automation, you know, IWant makes it easier for people to access that. It reduces the learning barrier, you know, to be able to utilize our software. And again, we're having strong use cases. As employees use it at one company and they go to the other company and, you know, they kinda go back into 1994, you know, they like that technology. As we simplify our solution and deliver more automation, that does contribute to greater opportunity for leads and sales for us throughout this year.

Raimo Lenschow

The, if you think about this year, like, has macro impacted any of your thinking in terms of office openings or what you're seeing out in the field? Or, you know, 'cause that's the one concern everyone has. I don't think there's that much data, but, like, any impact that you would see?

Chad Richison

I will tell you that internally, everything's going really well for us. We had a great start to the year. We had a good finish last year. You know, we're working with our clients. Conversions are going well. Sales are going well. Our software development group continues to increase our innovation. I mean, it's not until we come on these calls that we find out that we're not doing that great, honestly. 'Cause, outside of these, we're doing very well.

Raimo Lenschow

Okay, perfect. That's good to hear. Eventually, we will find out as well. Thank you.

Chad Richison

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Jared Levine from TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

Jared Levine

Thanks. Can you talk about bookings performance in 1Q and thus far into 2Q? I guess, have you witnessed the inflection you were hoping for here?

Chad Richison

Yeah, I mean, you know, I'm pretty impatient, and, you know, I want it all just because of we shouldn't lose any deals. Matching my expectations, I think, is very, it can be a little bit challenging. I will say that, you know, book sales came in, according to budget and what our expectation was, you know, for first quarter. I also had kinda mentioned that we had pulled our sales group out of the field for about 3 months, a 3-month period of time. Not full 3 months, but, you know, you'd have to come for a week and then go back and then come back for a week.

Chad Richison

You know, that put a little air in the line, and we would expect as we move throughout the year to have greater opportunities for book sales to have some inflection there.

Jared Levine

Great. In terms of CapEx, you did have some pretty good leverage here, I think right around 6% of revenue here in 1Q. Is that a kind of a reasonable expectation for the year here?

Chad Richison

Maybe not. I mean, you know, there's moratoriums out there on different data centers. As a reminder, I don't know of anyone else in our industry other than us that operates their own data centers. We will have opportunities to expand in both power and purchase of certain items that we have, and we'll have to see how CapEx is impacted throughout this year. We're not ready to, you know, really give guidance on that right now.

Jared Levine

All right. Perfect. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Bhavin Shah from Deutsche Bank. Sorry, apologies. Kevin McVeigh from UBS. Please go ahead.

Kevin McVeigh

Great. Thank you so much, and congratulations on the results. I mean, the buyback speaks for itself. I guess, obviously there's so much concern in the market from an AI perspective. Is there anything you're seeing from a client consumption pattern, whether it's, you know, formation down-market, mid-market, adoption, you know, of, kinda IWant relative to maybe Beti, that you'd call out just to help us dimensionalize or just really try to de-risk some of the concern that's out there? Cause you know, clearly you're not seeing it in your numbers, and to your point, Chad, right? It, we tell you how bad you're doing, it doesn't really seem like the business is operating that way. Just anything that you would point to try to just help us shift the narrative?

Chad Richison

I mean, we've been selling AI here for a little bit now and getting clients to engage with it. I mean, AI changes things. I think it changes things for everybody, but it doesn't just change everything overnight. There are limitations to, you know, what should be deployed by a business that's full AI, and trust is very important. You know, we don't sell AI, we sell automated solutions to problems, and sometimes AI's the best way to solve for that, and, you know, sometimes it's not.

Kevin McVeigh

Great. Thank you.

Chad Richison

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Bhavin Shah from Deutsche Bank. Please go ahead.

Bhavin Shah

Great. Thanks for taking my question. Chad, as you continue to lean on automation within the service organization, how are you seeing that impact your customer satisfaction levels and the time to implementation for new clients?

Chad Richison

You know, automation is an important component of providing strong ROI, cases for both our clients and ourselves. You know, we continue to do that. It's very important to be able to automate, especially decisions where you expect, you know, consistent behavior. We've become very good at that. That's been a focus of ours for some time as we continue to build out our system to be fully automated.

Bhavin Shah

Are you seeing any kind of improvement to retention, high level? I know you don't have to speak on a quarterly basis, but anything that you're seeing as you kind of automate this stuff and are able to serve your customers better?

Chad Richison

You know, we do report retention 1 time a year. We did report it last quarter for the previous year. It did increase. I do think that any time you're able to make it easier for a client to access value, which increases their ROI on their end, it does make it more difficult for them to leave. Or maybe they're just not motivated to go look because they are receiving the value. I think you couple that with the world-class service focus that we've had with our clients and, you know, we would remain hopeful, you know, for the remainder of this year to continue to do well with our clients.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Daniel Jester from BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Daniel Jester

Hey. Great. Thanks for taking my question. Maybe we can just talk about the go-to-market and, you know, I think you talked about in the past adding sales capacity, enlarging your sales offices. Maybe just expand on kind of what you're seeing in the sales force, anything you're doing differently as you're approaching the year ahead. Thank you.

Chad Richison

Yeah. We're doing a lot differently in our sales organization. That really started November 1st, late October of last year. I'm not gonna say it's necessarily different than things we had done in the past, but it was important for us to, you know, with the new strategy, right? As we continue to go out there and sell automation, it's important that, you know, we're converting clients the correct way, that they're receiving the ROI that we've promised them out of the gate, and that they don't have to wait. It's important that we're selling those things the right way. We're gonna continue to do that. You know, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how great a product is, someone's gotta go sell it.

Chad Richison

You know, products don't sell themselves, and I think it's important that we remember that. We've always focused on having a world-class, best-in-class sales organization, and we've continued to maintain that as well as build onto it.

Daniel Jester

Okay. Appreciate it. Maybe just in terms of your own organization and adoption of AI to boost automation internally, maybe share any examples that have gained particular traction, and maybe what the roadmap looks like for improving efficiencies inside Paycom. Thank you so much.

Chad Richison

Yeah. I don't wanna really, you know, we're not gonna really discuss, all the things that we're doing, with it internally, just for, you know, competitive reasons. I will say this, there's not an area of our business that isn't impacted through our automation strategy. You know, sometimes that's, you know, coding it the right way to get full automation and then, you know, sometimes it is, utilizing AI. Many times it's utilizing AI to build, what you need to be able to do that. We remain focused, throughout all of the departments that we have here at Paycom as well as all the functions. That's not a discipline that'll go away. That'll be something that we'll continue to do, into the future.

Daniel Jester

Thank you very much.

Chad Richison

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Jacob Smith from Guggenheim Securities. Please go ahead.

Jacob Smith

Great. Thanks. I understand we have these quarterly dynamics around extra Wednesdays again this year, it seems like you're starting to shift a bit towards a per employee per month model where clients are billed monthly regardless of payroll cycle. Is this only for new customers or are existing customers moving to this pricing model as well? What's the impetus behind rolling this out? Is there opportunity for more module uptake or price realization when having these discussions with customers?

Chad Richison

I mean, our pricing, we consider it proprietary for competitive reasons, we don't really go through the pricing model. What I will say is that our pricing as far as what we charge to a client and their overall value hasn't changed, you know, meaningfully one way or the other. There are different pricing structures that are more helpful to some clients based on how they hire and their turnover and what have you. We work those through with each client individually.

Jacob Smith

Great. Thanks.

Chad Richison

Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Jake Roberge from William Blair. Please go ahead.

Jacob Roberge

Hi, this is Jacob, on for Patrick McIlwee. Thanks for taking my question. I just wanted to touch on retention, which we saw tick up in Q4. As you continue to see a nice momentum in usage on IWant, how should we be thinking about retention going forward? Kind of do you see it getting back to the 94%, 93% range from a few years ago? Thank you.

Chad Richison

It's definitely a focus of ours. I mean, I would say, you know, not as necessarily an absolute number, but as a continuing to make sure that our clients are achieving the ROI that's out there for them, making sure that we're continuing to deliver world-class service and so that they can get that value. We are seeing our Net Promoter Score continue to be impacted to the positive, and I believe that all those things have an opportunity to impact us throughout this year.

Jacob Roberge

Got it. Thank you.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Brian Schwartz from Oppenheimer. Please go ahead.

Brian Schwartz

Hi, Chad and Bob. Thank you for taking my questions this afternoon. Chad, on the, on the sales, specifically with your newer sales reps, that are ramping, what are you seeing in terms of the efficiency trends relative to, say, the historical norms at Paycom? Then I have a follow-up.

Chad Richison

I wouldn't say it's incredibly different yet. I mean, we have great reps that have been with us a long time, and they continue to sell and, you know, they can almost pick how much they're gonna sell each year. Our new reps are coming out the gate better trained than what any rep we've put out in the last 6 or 7 years. They're more prepared to go out there. You know, we're excited about the ramp phase for them. I do believe we are seeing new ramp, new reps ramp faster than what our reps had in the past for probably the last 6 or 7 years, honestly.

Brian Schwartz

The follow-up question I had was just on AI monetization in the category. I believe in your introductory comments you said that customers are now expecting AI in the HCM platform. Do you expect AI to be a lever for price realization over time or primarily a retention and a competitive necessity tool? Thanks again.

Chad Richison

I mean, like I said, we don't sell AI in itself. We solve problems for our clients. A lot of that is through automation and AI. When we're able to do that, and we're able to impact the client in a meaningful way, and it does create measurable ROI for them, you know, oftentimes we get to share in that value that we've created. We do not charge for IWant. IWant is included with our system. Because clients use it does create greater usage for them, more value for them. Makes it easier for them to deploy additional products that we come up with to sell that creates value for them.

Chad Richison

It also makes it easier for us to service clients as they're able to service themselves much easier, through these types of technologies. All those contribute to opportunities for, you know, increases for us in both sales and other, as we move throughout, 2026 and beyond.

Brian Schwartz

Very clear. Thank you for taking my questions.

Chad Richison

Thank you.

Operator

Your final question comes from the line of Matt Beaulieu from Cantor. Please go ahead.

Matt Beaulieu

Yeah, thanks for taking the question. I guess curious on how you've made progress, maybe breaking into some other verticals, whether that be in the public sector, or even some of the near adjacent geographies, that you've looked at. Curious in terms of what kind of resources you're putting in there and what kind of traction you're seeing.

Chad Richison

Yeah, you know, we've been industry-agnostic, and I would say geographically agnostic from that perspective. We do have offices that are all over the U.S., and through those we're able to cover the entire U.S. Although sometimes we have to fly to see somebody, if you will, because, you know, we don't have offices in every single city. We're continuing to see have positive discussions with clients or prospects regardless the industry or geography in which they're located.

Matt Beaulieu

All right. Helpful. Then, I guess as you look at some of your competitors getting into things like expense management, curious on how you're approaching the overall product roadmap given the increase in velocity that's enabled by AI tooling. Are there areas of the platform that are interesting or do you have differing opinions on sort of whether or not you'd want to enter some things that are adjacent to what you're providing today?

Chad Richison

Yes, we've provided an expense management module as part of our system probably for around 9 or 10 years. You know, we do continue to build out things that make sense. We really start with the client problem now, and that's very important, you know? We don't start with what is it like we would like to see developed. It's important that we're solving real-life client problems that they have today. That's been our focus. As we look into the future, we do continue to expand into other things. I also think there are opportunities for adjacencies for us. You know, you have to have everything prepared, and we've got to do it the right way. We have earned the trust of our clients and we'll continue to do that.

Chad Richison

The more trust we earn, the more opportunity we have to do business with them in other areas. We look forward to continue to continue on as we have.

Matt Beaulieu

All right. Great. Thank you.

Operator

This concludes the question and answer portion of today's call. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Chad Richison for closing remarks.

Chad Richison

Thanks, everyone, for joining our call today. We look forward to speaking with many of you at the Jefferies Conference on May 27th, the Baird Conference on June 2nd, and the Mizuho Conference on June 9th. We are executing well against our 2026 plan, delivering world-class service and ROI for our clients. I wanna thank all of our employees for their contributions to a strong start to the year. With that, operator, you may end the call. Thank you.

Operator

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-05

Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) Beats Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

Zacks

Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.33 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.29 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.13 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +13.79%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post earnings of $0.23 per share when it actually produced earnings of $0.25, delivering a surprise of +8.7%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. Palantir Technologies, which belongs to the Zacks Internet - Software industry, posted revenues of $1.63 billion for the quarter ended March 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.04%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $883.85 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Palantir Technologies shares have lost about 19% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 5.6%. While Palantir Technologies has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Palantir Technologies was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the co...

Investor releaseQuarter not tagged2026-05-05

Paycom Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend

Business Wire

OKLAHOMA CITY, May 04, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Paycom Software, Inc. ("Paycom") (NYSE: PAYC), a leading provider of comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software, announced today that its Board of Directors declared a cash dividend in the amount of $0.375 per share of common stock, to be paid on June 8, 2026, to all stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 26, 2026. About Paycom Paycom Software, Inc. (NYSE: PAYC) is a cloud-based human capital management software provider that allows organizations of all sizes across the U.S. and internationally to set numerous HR and payroll tasks to "automatic" through employee-first technology. Built on a truly single database, Paycom’s full-solution automation manages the entire employment life cycle, helping organizations streamline processes and improve data accuracy. With its industry-first AI engine, IWant™, Paycom provides instant access to accurate employee data without requiring users to navigate or learn the software. For over 25 years, Paycom has been repeatedly recognized by third‑party reviewers as a leading payroll and HCM solution. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260504681056/en/ Contacts Investor Relations Contact: James Samford [email protected]

As of 2026-05-30 • Updated weeklySource: Earnings sourceIngestion runbook