DHI Group (NYSE:DHX) executives said the company ended 2025 with improving trends at ClearanceJobs and ongoing pressure at Dice, while emphasizing the benefits of a subscription-heavy revenue model and a renewed focus on operating efficiency. On the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Art Zeile and CFO Greg Schippers detailed results that showed modest growth at ClearanceJobs, a slower rate of decline at Dice, and higher profitability and free cash flow year over year.
Fourth-quarter results: revenue down, profitability up
Schippers reported fourth-quarter revenue of $32.4 million, down 10% year over year and roughly flat versus the third quarter. Total bookings were $31.2 million, down 5% year over year. Total recurring revenue declined 12% versus the prior year, and bookings tied to recurring revenue were down 6% in the quarter.
Schippers said fourth-quarter results included a $1.4 million impairment of a right-of-use asset tied to the company’s intent to sublease its New York City office space, and a separate $900,000 impairment of an investment.
Brand performance: ClearanceJobs stabilizes; Dice remains challenged
Management characterized the quarter as an “inflection point” for ClearanceJobs, with Zeile noting that bookings returned to positive year-over-year growth after a third-quarter decline. In the fourth quarter, ClearanceJobs revenue was $13.9 million, up 1% year over year, while bookings were $14.6 million, up 3%.
Customer counts at ClearanceJobs declined, which management attributed to churn among smaller accounts. The company ended the quarter with 1,775 ClearanceJobs recruitment package customers, down 9% year over year and down 3% sequentially. Schippers said the reduction “continues to be attributable to churn with customers spending less than $15,000 in annual recurring revenue,” while accounts spending more than $15,000 annually increased by about 60 compared with the prior year, including roughly 25 upgrades from lower tiers. Average annual revenue per ClearanceJobs recruitment package customer rose 8% year over year to $27,246.
Schippers said ClearanceJobs posted a 90% revenue renewal rate and a 109% retention rate for the quarter, with about 90% of segment revenue recurring from annual or multi-year contracts. ClearanceJobs adjusted EBITDA was $6.0 million, a 43% margin, compared with $6.4 million and a 47% margin a year ago.
Dice continued to face a difficult commercial technology hiring backdrop. Dice revenue was $17.4 million, down 17% year over year and down 4% sequentially, with bookings of $16.6 million, down 11% year over year. Dice ended the quarter with 4,132 recruitment package customers, down 12% year over year and down 3% sequentially. The Dice revenue renewal rate was 78%, and retention was 94%.
Schippers again pointed to churn among smaller customers, which he said represent about 75% of the churn by count and are “more likely to be impacted by the difficult macro environment and uncertainty.” Average annual revenue per Dice recruitment package customer was $15,635, down 5% year over year. Dice adjusted EBITDA improved to $5.2 million, a 30% margin, compared with $4.3 million and a 20% margin in the year-ago quarter.
Product and go-to-market updates: AgileATS, self-service Dice, and a new candidate subscription
Zeile highlighted progress integrating AgileATS with ClearanceJobs, saying it has been integrated and that DHI has doubled its revenue in less than six months. In the Q&A, he added that the company is adding to the sales team specifically to promote AgileATS in 2026, citing confidence from early bookings and revenue trends.
Zeile also discussed a pilot of a premium candidate subscription for ClearanceJobs. He said the product has attributes similar to LinkedIn Premium and has been offered to a limited number of candidates in phases. According to Zeile, the program was initially marketed to a small group early in the fourth quarter and expanded to about 1,000 candidates, later growing to about 10,000 candidates in January. He said the take rate has been about 1.5% and is increasing, and the company tested multiple price points ranging from $9.95 to $19.99, with $12.99 appearing most promising. Zeile said the offer will be rolled out in phases to the full base of about 1.9 million candidates by the end of the first quarter.
On Dice, management continued to emphasize the rollout of “Dice Employer Experience,” a self-service platform. Zeile said the platform is intended to expand the addressable market with monthly subscriptions and individual job postings, while also improving operating efficiency. He described it as a “full-scale rewrite” of Dice’s code base and said customers would be fully migrated by the end of the first quarter.
Zeile also pointed to the growth in AI-related hiring activity on Dice, stating that at the end of 2025, 55% of Dice job postings required AI-related skills, up from 28% a year earlier. He said Dice’s taxonomy includes more than 360 distinct AI-related skills.
Cost actions, cash flow, and capital allocation
Operating expenses fell $5.3 million year over year in the fourth quarter to $27.7 million, including the $1.4 million impairment. Excluding the impairment, Schippers said expenses declined $6.7 million, or 20%. He added that through operating efficiency initiatives and adjustments to the business over the last few years, the company has reduced annual operating expenses and capitalized development costs by about $35 million.
Cash generation improved. Fourth-quarter operating cash flow was $7.2 million, up from $4.4 million a year earlier, and free cash flow was $5.7 million versus $1.6 million in the prior-year quarter. For the full year, free cash flow was $13.8 million, up from $7.1 million.
Capital expenditures were $1.4 million in the fourth quarter, down from $2.7 million, driven primarily by lower capitalized development costs. Schippers said the company is targeting total 2026 capital expenditures of $6 million to $7 million, compared with $7.3 million in 2025.
At quarter-end, DHI had $2.9 million in cash and $30 million in debt under a $100 million revolver, with leverage at 0.85x adjusted EBITDA. Deferred revenue was $39.9 million, down 12% year over year, and total committed contract backlog was $99.6 million, down 5%.
The company repurchased 2.9 million shares for $5.2 million in the quarter, and 5.5 million shares for $11.4 million during 2025. Management said the prior $5 million repurchase plan authorized in November 2025 was completed after quarter-end, and the board approved a new $10 million repurchase program running through February 2027.
2026 outlook: ClearanceJobs growth expected; Dice dependent on hiring recovery
For 2026, Schippers said the company expects ClearanceJobs bookings to grow but does not anticipate Dice bookings growth resuming until tech hiring improves. DHI guided to full-year revenue of $118 million to $122 million, with first-quarter revenue of $28 million to $30 million. Segment revenue guidance called for ClearanceJobs revenue of $56 million to $58 million (first quarter $13 million to $14 million) and Dice revenue of $62 million to $64 million (first quarter $15 million to $16 million).
Schippers said a third-quarter bookings miss at ClearanceJobs is expected to cause a small sequential and year-over-year revenue decline for ClearanceJobs in the first quarter, with a return to growth in the second quarter of 2026.
On profitability, DHI is targeting a 25% adjusted EBITDA margin for the full year, with segment margins of 40% for ClearanceJobs and 22% for Dice. Schippers said the lower year-over-year margins are driven by bookings challenges in 2025 that flow into 2026 revenue, adding that the company remains focused on long-term profitable growth and free cash flow generation averaging at or above 10% of revenue.
About DHI Group (NYSE:DHX)
DHI Group, Inc (NYSE: DHX) is a specialized professional recruitment and career development company that operates digital platforms connecting technology and security-cleared professionals with employers worldwide. Founded in 1990 as a niche job board for technology talent, the company completed its initial public offering in 2007 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DHX.
The company’s primary offerings include Dice.com, a careers platform designed for technology professionals, and ClearanceJobs, a specialized service catering to candidates holding U.S.
