nCino (NASDAQ:NCNO) executives highlighted fiscal 2026 outperformance versus guidance, accelerating annual contract value (ACV) growth, and what they described as increasing customer adoption of the company’s AI capabilities during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
AI adoption and platform positioning
Chief Executive Officer Sean Desmond said nCino “exceeded our financial guidance across every key metric” in fiscal 2026 and pointed to ACV growth of 17% year-over-year as evidence of momentum he attributed largely to customers “embracing our AI strategy and product innovation.”
Addressing concerns that AI could displace SaaS platforms, Desmond said banking differs due to regulatory requirements and the need for trusted data, guardrails, traceability, and auditability. “We believe AI agents actually increase the value of our underlying platform and system of record,” he said, describing nCino’s role-based agents—“Digital Partners”—as designed to work within nCino’s workflows.
On usage trends, Desmond said Banking Advisor usage increased “over 25 times in March compared to usage in October,” and described customer traction in features including agentic credit reviews (part of the Analyst Digital Partner family), “Locate & File,” credit monitoring, and automated spreading.
Customer expansion, data strategy, and pricing transition
Desmond said nCino saw expansion among existing customers and improved retention, with ACV net retention rising to 112% (or 109% organically and in constant currency) from 106% in fiscal 2025. He noted the company closed “a number of early renewals” in the fourth quarter, including a new five-year commitment from its largest customer by ACV.
Desmond also highlighted nCino’s proprietary dataset, saying nearly 500 financial-institution customers representing more than $11 trillion in assets have granted nCino the right to process their data into an anonymized dataset used for product development and intelligence services. He pointed to nCino Operations Analytics as an example, describing it as a tool that helps customers benchmark performance and identify inefficiencies, while informing AI development and agent deployment.
On pricing, Desmond said nCino’s transition from seat-based pricing to platform pricing is designed to focus on outcomes, and he reported that approximately 38% of ACV had shifted to platform pricing by the end of fiscal 2026. In response to analyst questions, Desmond said the company is “exceeding our internal plans and targets,” with momentum picking up in the fourth quarter. CFO Greg Orenstein added that the company’s largest customer’s five-year renewal was on the new platform pricing model and that some large customers, including top banks, have transitioned.
Fiscal Q4 and full-year financial results
Orenstein reviewed results on a non-GAAP basis. Fourth-quarter total revenue was $149.7 million, up 6% year-over-year, while fiscal 2026 total revenue was $594.8 million, up 10%.
- Subscription revenue: $133.4 million in Q4 (up 7%); $523.1 million for the year (up 12%).
- Organic subscription revenue: $132.2 million in Q4 (up 6%); $505.9 million for the year (up 8%). Orenstein noted the Q4 comparison faced an approximately 3% headwind from a one-time international contract buyout in Q4 of fiscal 2025.
- International revenue: $32.9 million in Q4 (down 1%, or down 6% in constant currency); $131.5 million for the year (up 13%, or 11% in constant currency).
- International subscription revenue: $28.4 million in Q4 (up 1%, or down 4% in constant currency); $109.5 million for the year (up 19%, or 16% in constant currency and 5% organically).
- Professional services revenue: $16.3 million in Q4 (down 1%); $71.6 million for the year (flat).
Profitability improved, with non-GAAP operating income of $34.7 million in Q4 (23% of revenue) versus $24.4 million (17%) a year earlier. Full-year non-GAAP operating income was $129.4 million (22% margin), up from $96.2 million (18% margin) in fiscal 2025.
Non-GAAP net income attributable to nCino was $42.8 million in Q4 ($0.37 per diluted share), compared with $22.0 million ($0.19) in the prior-year quarter. For fiscal 2026, non-GAAP net income attributable to nCino was $122.7 million ($1.07 per diluted share), up from $84.5 million ($0.72) in fiscal 2025.
Orenstein said churn trended down toward historic norms, reaching a three-year low of $18.2 million, or 4% of prior-year subscription revenue. The company ended the quarter with $88.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash. Free cash flow was $12.5 million in Q4, compared to negative $10.4 million a year earlier, and full-year free cash flow rose 55% to $82.6 million.
Capital return and financing updates
Orenstein said nCino repurchased about 1 million shares in the fourth quarter at an average price of $25.84 for $25 million. For fiscal 2026, the company repurchased about 5 million shares at an average price of $25.18 for total consideration of $125 million.
In addition to $75 million remaining under the prior authorization, Orenstein announced a $100 million accelerated share repurchase program. He said the company expects to fund the program with free cash flow and a portion of a $200 million term loan expansion of its existing credit facility, which he said was funded by some of nCino’s largest customers. He added that part of the term loan proceeds will be used to reduce the outstanding balance on the revolving credit facility.
Guidance and business outlook
For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, nCino guided for total revenue of $154.5 million to $156.5 million and subscription revenue of $137.0 million to $139.0 million. Non-GAAP operating income is expected to be about $38.0 million to $40.0 million.
For fiscal 2027, the company guided for:
- Total revenue: $639 million to $643 million
- Subscription revenue: $569 million to $573 million
- Non-GAAP operating income: $165 million to $170 million
- Free cash flow: $132 million to $137 million (a shift to annual free cash flow guidance in lieu of non-GAAP EPS guidance)
- ACV: net additions of $60 million to $65 million (organic, constant currency), implying ending ACV of $662.5 million to $667.5 million, or about 10% growth at the midpoint
Orenstein said international subscription revenue growth is expected to be accretive to overall subscription growth in fiscal 2027 beginning in the first quarter. He also said the company expects stock-based compensation expense to decline by about 100 basis points as a percentage of revenue from 12% in fiscal 2026, while noting a long-term target of 6% to 8% of revenue.
On mortgage, Orenstein said guidance assumes approximately 1% growth in U.S. mortgage subscription revenue. Excluding U.S. mortgage, he said the company’s subscription revenue guidance implies 10% to 11% growth. Desmond added that mortgage comparisons are tougher in the second and third quarters.
Orenstein said nCino’s fiscal 2027 outlook includes revenue from contracted and planned AI-related ACV bookings, but “does not yet contemplate” selling incremental bundles of intelligence units during the year, citing deliberate adoption pacing by financial institutions.
In leadership updates, Desmond announced Keith Kittell was hired as chief revenue officer, and said the move followed North America sales leader Paul Clarkson stepping aside for personal reasons. Desmond said Kittell will consolidate the global go-to-market organization across North America, EMEA, and Asia Pacific.
Looking ahead, Desmond said nCino plans to showcase “agentic experiences” and customer outcomes at its nSight user conference in May.
About nCino (NASDAQ:NCNO)
nCino, Inc provides a cloud-based banking operating system designed to modernize and streamline processes for financial institutions. Built on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, the nCino Bank Operating System integrates key banking functions into a unified platform, enabling banks and credit unions to enhance efficiency, reduce risk and improve customer experiences.
Founded in 2012 as a spinoff from Live Oak Bank, nCino launched its flagship offering to address the needs of commercial and retail lenders seeking to replace legacy systems.
