Docebo (NASDAQ:DCBO) expects its expanding product portfolio and public-sector pipeline to support growth into 2027, while funding a roughly $60 million special dividend with debt, executives said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
Chief Financial Officer Brandon Farber said Docebo now projects 2026 revenue growth of 14%, up from the 10.6% midpoint of its initial forecast in February. Subscription revenue growth was 12.4% in the third quarter, and the company is guiding for 12.8% growth in the fourth quarter, he said.
Farber said the fourth-quarter outlook includes “almost little to none incremental revenues from Q4 bookings,” in part because enterprise deals tend to close in December. He also said a stronger U.S. dollar in October reduced annual recurring revenue through foreign-exchange effects.
Debt-funded dividend and capital allocation
The one-time special dividend will be funded from Docebo’s remaining debt capacity, increasing debt from $90 million to $150 million, Farber said. He estimated the resulting net debt at approximately $108 million, or 1.9 times projected adjusted EBITDA of $56 million.
Farber said the company’s capital allocation priorities remain investing in the business, pursuing acquisitions opportunistically and returning cash to shareholders. Docebo completed two acquisitions in 2026, but he said the company remains primarily focused on organic growth and execution over the next 12 months.
Docebo spent $82 million during 2026 to repurchase 4.1 million shares at an average price of $19.97, according to Farber. He said only $2.5 million of a possible $70 million was filled in the company’s most recent substantial issuer bid, and management and the board determined that a dividend was the best use of excess capital.
Government deals shift toward fourth quarter
Chief Executive Officer Alessio Artuffo said Docebo entered the third quarter with a government pipeline that was building faster than the company expected. Some significant deals did not close during the quarter, but he expressed confidence that they would close within the fiscal year.
Artuffo said Docebo is developing relationships across federal, state and local government, including through partners such as Deloitte, and is adding staff to support the business.
Farber said the company did not believe U.S. elections affected its third-quarter results. He attributed the timing of opportunities to the agencies Docebo is working with and said some could buy in the fourth quarter. While the company has historically expected the third quarter to be its strongest for FedRAMP-related business, he described this year as an anomaly.
Docebo is also preparing a more focused push into healthcare. Artuffo said the company has hired specialists across sales, product and engineering and is using customer input to shape its product roadmap. He said the priority is to execute in that vertical in 2027 and 2028 before taking on another major vertical expansion.
Knowledge and AI products broaden sales opportunity
Artuffo said Docebo’s Knowledge offering extends the company’s learning capabilities to a broader set of enterprise information, including content in SharePoint, Salesforce, Confluence, Notion and Google Drive. He said customer response has been positive, though the product is at an early stage.
The CEO said more than half of Docebo’s customers already use its products for external use cases as well as internal purposes. That has given the company experience selling beyond learning and development teams, he said.
Artuffo also expects Knowledge and AI agents to make chief information officers more prominent in purchasing decisions and potentially open access to additional budgets. He said it was too early to quantify that opportunity.
On Skills Intelligence, Artuffo said Docebo has accelerated integration of 365Talents, which it acquired earlier in the year. Large enterprises have so far benefited most from the combined products, he said, adding that the company is on track to exceed its original budget expectations for the offering.
Farber said new capabilities and the company’s hybrid pricing model could contribute to annual recurring revenue growth in 2027. Docebo is still developing its expectations for average revenue per user and product attach rates, he said, but is seeing prospect interest and fourth-quarter pipeline.
Margin outlook
Farber said adjusted EBITDA grew approximately 34% in the third quarter. He expects some EBITDA margin expansion in 2027, with research and development roughly flat as a percentage of revenue and continued leverage in general and administrative expenses. The company plans to provide 2027 guidance in February.
Professional services, which is growing faster than subscriptions, has weighed on gross margin. Farber expects a similar trend in the fourth quarter, followed by more consistent growth between the two businesses in 2027 that could allow gross margins to rise. He said subscription gross margins have remained broadly consistent with historical levels.
About Docebo (NASDAQ:DCBO)
Docebo Inc develops learning management and learning technology solutions for businesses and other organizations. Its cloud-based platform is designed to help companies create, manage, deliver and measure training for employees, customers, partners and other learners.
The Docebo Learning Platform includes tools for course administration, content delivery, artificial intelligence-supported learning, reporting and analytics, and integrations with other enterprise software. The company also offers capabilities for creating and managing learning content, supporting instructor-led and virtual training, and delivering extended-enterprise education programs.
Founded in 2005 by Claudio Erba, Docebo is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and serves organizations internationally.
