NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE) used its fourth-quarter earnings call to highlight what management described as strong execution in 2025, accelerating momentum in customer experience (CX) artificial intelligence, and an expanding international footprint following the September acquisition of Cognigy. Executives also outlined 2026 guidance that calls for re-acceleration in cloud revenue growth alongside stepped-up investment that is expected to pressure margins in the first half of the year.
2025 results: revenue growth and AI momentum
CEO Scott Russell said the company achieved its guidance each quarter and for the full year, posting total revenue growth of 8% and cloud revenue growth of 13%. CFO Beth Gaspich reported full-year 2025 total revenue of $2.945 billion, up 8% year over year. Full-year cloud revenue grew 13% (12% excluding Cognigy), with the company noting that cloud revenue growth excluding Cognigy was 12% in each quarter of 2025.
Fourth quarter: backlog growth, international acceleration, and segment performance
For the fourth quarter, Gaspich reported total revenue of $786 million, up 9% year over year. Cloud revenue was $608 million, up 14%, representing 77% of total revenue. Excluding Cognigy, cloud revenue grew 12%.
Russell said Q4 was a record quarter for new cloud ACV bookings, contributing to cloud backlog growth of 25% including Cognigy (22% excluding). Management attributed Q4 cloud growth to CX AI momentum, ongoing CCaaS migrations, and strong international performance. Gaspich also cited a “modest incremental contribution” from an earlier-than-expected go-live of a large international enterprise deployment that had been planned for 2026, plus a small foreign exchange tailwind of roughly 50 basis points.
Cloud net revenue retention over the trailing twelve months was 109%, which the company said was stable versus the prior quarter.
By segment, NICE reported:
- Customer engagement revenue of $658 million (84% of total), up 10% year over year.
- Financial crime and compliance revenue of $128 million (16% of total), up 2% year over year, with management describing Actimize as the market leader and noting progress shifting the segment toward a higher recurring model with cloud growth.
International performance was a major focus. In Q4, the Americas represented 82% of revenue and grew 5% year over year, while EMEA (13% of revenue) grew 38% year over year, or 32% in constant currency. APAC (5% of revenue) grew 11% year over year.
Russell called 2025 a “breakthrough year” internationally, citing 16% international revenue growth for the year and growth accelerating to 29% in Q4. He attributed international momentum to less-penetrated CCaaS adoption versus North America, customers pursuing CCaaS migration and AI adoption simultaneously, and a partner-led go-to-market motion in international markets.
Profitability, cash flow, and capital allocation
In Q4, NICE reported total gross margin of 69.3% and operating income of $301 million, translating to a 31% operating margin. Non-GAAP EPS was $3.24, up 7% year over year.
Cash flow from operations in Q4 was $180 million and free cash flow was $156 million. NICE ended 2025 with $417 million in cash and short-term investments.
Gaspich said the company financed the Cognigy acquisition entirely with cash on hand and fully repaid $460 million of outstanding debt, leaving NICE debt-free at year-end. The company repurchased $489 million of shares in 2025 and ended the year with approximately 60.4 million shares outstanding. NICE also entered into a new $300 million revolving credit facility and announced a new $600 million share repurchase authorization, bringing total remaining repurchase authorization to about $1 billion.
Cognigy integration and the “AI-native” positioning
Russell said the Cognigy acquisition makes NICE “the only player in the CX market with a fully AI-native CX platform,” describing Cognigy as a leader in agentic AI. He said Cognigy and CXone both received Gartner Peer Insights “Customer Choice” distinctions in their categories, according to the company.
Management said Cognigy contributed to Q4 results and was already part of large deals. Russell said “pretty much nearly all” seven-figure ACV wins were inclusive of Cognigy. Executives also discussed planned product and platform work in 2026, including a recently launched “Cognigy Simulator” for testing AI agents and planned expansion of Copilot capabilities with task assist powered by Cognigy, with full integration into a single native CXone platform expected later in 2026.
2026 outlook: higher cloud growth, planned investment, and EPS expectations
NICE guided to full-year 2026 total revenue of $3.17 billion to $3.19 billion, implying 8% growth at the midpoint. Cloud revenue growth is expected to be 14.5% to 15%, with Cognigy contributing approximately 200 basis points.
For Q1 2026, the company guided to total revenue of $755 million to $765 million and non-GAAP EPS of $2.45 to $2.55. For full-year 2026, NICE expects non-GAAP EPS of $10.85 to $11.05. Gaspich said financial income will be impacted by a roughly $1.2 billion reduction in cash and short-term investments during 2025 due to the Cognigy acquisition and debt repayment, and she projected an effective tax rate of 20.5% to 21% in 2026 due to tax law changes in certain jurisdictions.
Executives reiterated that 2026 will include “deliberate, targeted investment” in cost of goods sold, R&D, and sales and marketing, with the heaviest incremental margin investment in the first half and operating margin improvement in the second half. Gaspich said NICE expects to exit 2026 near the upper end of its 25% to 26% operating margin range and expects margin expansion in 2027. She added that Cognigy remains on track to be accretive within 18 months of the acquisition close.
On the Q&A, Russell pushed back on investor concerns that AI could disrupt NICE’s business, arguing that CX AI requires orchestration, unified data, and governance at enterprise scale, which he said favors an end-to-end platform over point solutions. He also said customers he met with recently indicated their contact centers were capacity constrained and that they planned to use AI to shift agents toward higher-value work rather than reduce headcount in the short to mid-term.
About NiCE (NASDAQ:NICE)
NiCE Ltd is a global software provider specializing in solutions for customer engagement, financial crime prevention, public safety, workforce optimization and border security. Its product offerings include cloud-native and on-premises platforms that leverage advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and automation to help organizations enhance customer experiences, streamline operations and ensure regulatory compliance. NiCE’s portfolio addresses the needs of contact centers, financial institutions, government agencies and enterprises across a broad range of industries.
In customer engagement, NiCE delivers tools for omnichannel interaction management, real-time and historical analytics, workforce management, and quality management.
