EXL Reports 2026 First Quarter Results
Rhea-AI Summary
ExlService Holdings (NASDAQ: EXLS) reported Q1 2026 results: revenue $570.4M (up 13.8% YoY) and GAAP diluted EPS $0.43 (up 5.7% YoY). Adjusted diluted EPS $0.58 rose 20.2% YoY. Management raised full‑year 2026 guidance to $2.30B–$2.33B revenue and $2.18–$2.23 adjusted EPS.
Q1 segment revenue: Insurance $194.0M; Healthcare & Life Sciences $151.9M; Banking & Diversified $127.4M; International Growth $97.1M. Conference call scheduled April 29, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. ET.
Positive
- Revenue +13.8% YoY to $570.4M
- Adjusted diluted EPS +20.2% YoY to $0.58
- Raised 2026 revenue guidance to $2.30B–$2.33B (10%–12% growth)
- Raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $2.18–$2.23 (12%–14% growth)
Negative
- None.
Market Reaction – EXLS
Following this news, EXLS has gained 8.19%, reflecting a notable positive market reaction. Our momentum scanner has triggered 5 alerts so far, indicating moderate trading interest and price volatility. The stock is currently trading at $33.15. This price movement has added approximately $363M to the company's valuation.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus (15 min delayed). Upgrade to Gold for real-time data.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
EXLS slipped -0.07% pre-release while only one close peer (KD) appeared in momentum scans, moving up slightly; other key peers like G, GDS, EPAM and PSN showed mixed, mostly negative moves, indicating stock-specific rather than sector-driven dynamics.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-04-27 | Award recognition | Positive | -0.1% | Recognized as 2025 Genesys New Partner of the Year for AI CX work. |
| 2026-04-13 | Investor event | Positive | +2.8% | Announced May 13 Investor and Analyst Day focused on data and AI strategy. |
| 2026-04-08 | Earnings scheduling | Neutral | -0.7% | Set date and call details for Q1 2026 financial results release. |
| 2026-04-02 | Cloud partnership | Positive | +1.6% | Announced strategic services collaboration with Google Cloud to scale AI. |
| 2026-03-25 | Industry award | Positive | -0.1% | Won Gold Stevie Award for AI integration in contact centers. |
Recent AI- and partnership-focused news has generally produced modest price moves, with a mix of small gains and slight declines, suggesting that even positive strategic updates have not driven outsized reactions.
Over the last month, EXLS reported several positive developments, including a Google Cloud strategic services collaboration on 2026-04-02, an upcoming Investor and Analyst Day announcement on 2026-04-13, and multiple industry awards highlighting its AI capabilities. Price reactions to these items ranged from small gains (about 1.58%, 2.77%) to slight declines near -0.68% and -0.07%. Against that backdrop, this Q1 2026 earnings release with double-digit revenue and EPS growth extends the narrative of steady AI-led execution.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement highlights Q1 2026 revenue of $570.4M with 13.8% year-over-year growth and adjusted EPS of $0.58, up 20.2%, alongside operating and adjusted operating margins of 16.1% and 20.5%. Management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $2.30B–$2.33B and adjusted EPS guidance to $2.18–$2.23. Investors may track execution against this higher outlook, segment growth trends, and upcoming events like the earnings call and Investor Day within the broader context of EXLS’s data and AI strategy.
Key Terms
adjusted diluted EPS financial
non-gaap financial
constant currency financial
operating income margin financial
ai/ml technical
gpu-accelerated technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
2026 First Quarter Revenue of
Q1 Diluted EPS (GAAP) of
Q1 Adjusted Diluted EPS (Non-GAAP) (1) of
NEW YORK, April 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ExlService Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXLS), a global data and AI company, today announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rohit Kapoor said, “We entered 2026 with strong momentum, delivering revenue growth of
Chief Financial Officer Maurizio Nicolelli said, “While we remain prudent given the evolving macro-economic environment, our strong first quarter performance and continued business momentum give us the confidence to raise guidance. We now expect full-year 2026 revenue in the range of
______________________________________________________________
- Reconciliations of adjusted (non-GAAP) financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures, where applicable, are included at the end of this release under “Reconciliation of Adjusted Financial Measures to GAAP Measures.” These non-GAAP measures, including adjusted diluted EPS and constant currency measures, are not measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Financial Highlights: First Quarter 2026
- Revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2026, increased to
$570.4 million , compared to$501.0 million for the first quarter of 2025, an increase of13.8% on a reported basis and13.4% on a constant currency basis. Revenue increased by5.1% sequentially, both on a reported basis and on a constant currency basis, from the fourth quarter of 2025.
| Revenue | Gross Margin | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Three months ended | Three months ended | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reportable Segments | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | December 31, 2025 | March 31, 2026 | March 31, 2025 | December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||
| (dollars in millions) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Insurance | $ | 194.0 | $ | 172.0 | $ | 185.8 | 37.7 | % | 36.6 | % | 36.5 | % | ||||||||||||
| Healthcare and Life Sciences | 151.9 | 125.6 | 142.2 | 45.3 | % | 43.9 | % | 44.0 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Banking, Capital Markets and Diversified Industries | 127.4 | 117.7 | 122.6 | 36.9 | % | 37.3 | % | 38.8 | % | |||||||||||||||
| International Growth Markets | 97.1 | 85.7 | 92.0 | 34.1 | % | 36.6 | % | 34.3 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 570.4 | $ | 501.0 | $ | 542.6 | 38.9 | % | 38.6 | % | 38.6 | % | ||||||||||||
- Operating income margin for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 was
16.1% , compared to15.7% for the first quarter of 2025 and14.4% for the fourth quarter of 2025. Adjusted operating income margin for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 was20.5% , compared to20.1% for the first quarter of 2025 and18.8% for the fourth quarter of 2025. - Diluted earnings per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 was
$0.43 , compared to$0.40 for the first quarter of 2025 and$0.38 for the fourth quarter of 2025. Adjusted diluted earnings per share for the quarter ended March 31, 2026 was$0.58 , compared to$0.48 for the first quarter of 2025 and$0.50 for the fourth quarter of 2025.
Business Highlights: First Quarter 2026
- Won 16 new clients in the first quarter of 2026.
- Named as "Advanced Technology Partner" of the Year by NVIDIA for EXL’s deep technical expertise on the NVIDIA AI Enterprise stack and co-creating differentiated industry solutions and platforms, integrating NVIDIA’s powerful AI frameworks and GPU-accelerated technologies.
- Selected by AWS as the 2025 AI/ML Market Disruptor of the Year, recognizing EXL’s exceptional innovation and leadership in leveraging AWS AI/ML services and setting new benchmarks for AI excellence in the industry.
- Named the 2025 Genesys New Partner of the Year, celebrating EXL’s ability to orchestrate AI-powered customer experience (CX) transformation through strategic collaboration with Genesys, advancing transformative solutions with real-world impact.
- Recognized by Google Cloud as a global strategic services partner, highlighting EXL’s strengths across data, AI, and customer experience (CX) transformation, and its development of Google's Gemini Enterprise powered solutions and accelerators that enable scalable, AI-driven business transformation.
- Named a leader in Everest Group Customer Experience Services in Insurance Operations Peak Matrix Assessment 2025, showcasing EXL’s deep domain expertise across both the P&C and L&A lines, robust data and AI capabilities and versatile suite of proprietary tools.
2026 Guidance
Based on current visibility, and a U.S. dollar to Indian rupee exchange rate of 93.0, U.K. pound sterling to U.S. dollar exchange rate of 1.33, U.S. dollar to the Philippine peso exchange rate of 59.5 and all other currencies at current exchange rates, we are providing the following guidance for the full year 2026:
- Revenue of
$2.30 billion to$2.33 billion , representing an increase of10% to12% on both a reported and constant currency basis from 2025. - Adjusted diluted earnings per share of
$2.18 t o$2.23 , representing an increase of12% to14% from 2025.
Conference Call
ExlService Holdings, Inc. will host a conference call on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 10:00 A.M. ET to discuss the Company’s first quarter operating and financial results. The conference call will be available live via the internet by accessing the investor relations section of EXL’s website at ir.exlservice.com, where an accompanying investor-friendly spreadsheet of historical operating and financial data can also be accessed. Please access the website at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software.
To join the live call, please register here. A dial-in and unique PIN will be provided to join the call. For those who cannot access the live broadcast, a replay will be available on the EXL website ir.exlservice.com for a period of twelve months.
About ExlService Holdings, Inc.
EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a global data and artificial intelligence ("AI") company that offers services and solutions to reinvent client business models, drive better outcomes and unlock growth with speed. EXL harnesses the power of data, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform businesses, including the world’s leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare and life sciences, banking and capital markets, retail, communications and media, and energy and infrastructure, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect. We are headquartered in New York and have over 67,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to EXL's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond EXL’s control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning EXL’s possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of its business strategy. These statements may include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate” or similar expressions. These statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of management's experience in the industry as well as its perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate under the circumstances. You should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although EXL believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect EXL’s actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors, which include our ability to maintain and grow client demand, risks related to the use of AI technology, impact on client demands by our selling cycles, our ability to hire and retain sufficiently trained employees, and our ability to accurately estimate and/or manage costs, and risks related to the international nature of our business and other factors are discussed in more detail in EXL’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including EXL’s Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible to predict these events or how they may affect EXL. EXL has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by applicable law.
| EXLSERVICE HOLDINGS, INC. | |||||||
| CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (UNAUDITED) | |||||||
| (In thousands, except per share amount and share count) | |||||||
| Three months ended March 31, | |||||||
| 2026 | 2025 | ||||||
| Revenues, net | $ | 570,351 | $ | 501,019 | |||
| Cost of revenues(1) | 348,270 | 307,705 | |||||
| Gross profit(1) | 222,081 | 193,314 | |||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||
| General and administrative expenses | 69,051 | 59,417 | |||||
| Selling and marketing expenses | 47,201 | 41,925 | |||||
| Depreciation and amortization expense | 14,003 | 13,557 | |||||
| Total operating expenses | 130,255 | 114,899 | |||||
| Income from operations | 91,826 | 78,415 | |||||
| Foreign exchange gain, net | 1,135 | 1,192 | |||||
| Interest expense | (3,951 | ) | (4,144 | ) | |||
| Other income, net | 2,391 | 4,703 | |||||
| Income before income tax expense and earnings from equity affiliates | 91,401 | 80,166 | |||||
| Income tax expense | 24,318 | 13,496 | |||||
| Income before earnings from equity affiliates | 67,083 | 66,670 | |||||
| Loss from equity-method investment | (2 | ) | (109 | ) | |||
| Net income | $ | 67,081 | $ | 66,561 | |||
| Earnings per share: | |||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.43 | $ | 0.41 | |||
| Diluted | $ | 0.43 | $ | 0.40 | |||
| Weighted average number of shares used in computing earnings per share: | |||||||
| Basic | 156,049,147 | 162,490,179 | |||||
| Diluted | 156,904,203 | 164,557,333 | |||||
| (1) Exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense. | |||||||
| EXLSERVICE HOLDINGS, INC. | |||||||
| CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED) | |||||||
| (In thousands, except per share amount and share count) | |||||||
| As of | |||||||
| March 31, 2026 | December 31, 2025 | ||||||
| Assets | |||||||
| Current assets: | |||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 145,405 | $ | 146,326 | |||
| Short-term investments | 108,358 | 182,041 | |||||
| Restricted cash | 12,409 | 12,392 | |||||
| Accounts receivable, net | 388,563 | 343,105 | |||||
| Other current assets | 142,626 | 146,093 | |||||
| Total current assets | 797,361 | 829,957 | |||||
| Property and equipment, net | 109,388 | 111,821 | |||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | 92,980 | 97,411 | |||||
| Restricted cash | 6,964 | 7,251 | |||||
| Deferred tax assets, net | 140,602 | 129,968 | |||||
| Goodwill | 418,659 | 419,654 | |||||
| Other intangible assets, net | 32,978 | 36,204 | |||||
| Long-term investments | 17,532 | 8,198 | |||||
| Other assets | 59,915 | 61,771 | |||||
| Total assets | $ | 1,676,379 | $ | 1,702,235 | |||
| Liabilities and stockholders’ equity | |||||||
| Current liabilities: | |||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | 11,260 | $ | 4,753 | |||
| Current portion of long-term borrowings | 4,886 | 4,886 | |||||
| Deferred revenue | 22,905 | 15,356 | |||||
| Accrued employee costs | 71,604 | 146,775 | |||||
| Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | 171,934 | 135,498 | |||||
| Current portion of operating lease liabilities | 16,925 | 16,857 | |||||
| Total current liabilities | 299,514 | 324,125 | |||||
| Long-term borrowings, less current portion | 412,491 | 293,712 | |||||
| Operating lease liabilities, less current portion | 84,277 | 88,167 | |||||
| Deferred tax liabilities, net | 1,707 | 2,125 | |||||
| Other non-current liabilities | 99,586 | 81,401 | |||||
| Total liabilities | 897,575 | 789,530 | |||||
| Commitments and contingencies | |||||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | |||||||
| Preferred stock, | — | — | |||||
| Common stock, | 210 | 209 | |||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 674,662 | 677,562 | |||||
| Retained earnings | 1,600,060 | 1,532,979 | |||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | (237,374 | ) | (180,727 | ) | |||
| Total including shares held in treasury | 2,037,558 | 2,030,023 | |||||
| Less: 56,930,339 shares as of March 31, 2026 and 52,425,538 shares as of December 31, 2025, held in treasury, at cost | (1,258,754 | ) | (1,117,318 | ) | |||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 778,804 | 912,705 | |||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 1,676,379 | $ | 1,702,235 | |||
| EXLSERVICE HOLDINGS, INC. | |||||||
| Reconciliation of Adjusted Financial Measures to GAAP Measures | |||||||
In addition to its reported operating results in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), EXL has included in this release certain financial measures that are considered non-GAAP financial measures, including the following:
| (i) | Adjusted operating income and adjusted operating income margin; | |
| (ii) | Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin; | |
| (iii) | Adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share; and | |
| (iv) | Revenue growth on a constant currency basis. | |
These non-GAAP financial measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. Accordingly, the financial results calculated in accordance with GAAP and reconciliations from those financial statements should be carefully evaluated. EXL believes that providing these non-GAAP financial measures may help investors better understand EXL’s underlying financial performance. Management also believes that these non-GAAP financial measures, when read in conjunction with EXL’s reported results, can provide useful supplemental information for investors analyzing period-to-period comparisons of the Company’s results and comparisons of the Company’s results with the results of other companies. Additionally, management considers some of these non-GAAP financial measures to determine variable compensation of its employees. The Company believes that it is unreasonably difficult to provide its earnings per share financial guidance in accordance with GAAP, or a qualitative reconciliation thereof, for a number of reasons, including, without limitation, the Company’s inability to predict its future stock-based compensation expense under ASC Topic 718, the amortization of intangibles associated with future acquisitions and the currency fluctuations and associated tax effects. As such, the Company presents guidance with respect to adjusted diluted earnings per share. The Company also incurs significant non-cash charges for depreciation that may not be indicative of the Company’s ability to generate cash flow.
EXL non-GAAP financial measures exclude, where applicable, stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, certain defined social security contributions, other acquisition-related expenses or benefits and effect of any non-recurring tax adjustments. Acquisition-related expenses or benefits include changes in the fair value of contingent consideration, external deal costs, integration expenses, direct and incremental travel costs and non-recurring benefits or losses. Our adjusted net income and adjusted diluted EPS also excludes the effects of income tax on the above pre-tax items, as applicable. The effects of income tax of each item is calculated by applying the statutory rate of the local tax regulations in the jurisdiction in which the item was incurred.
EXL provides information about revenues on a constant currency basis so that the revenues may be viewed without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations compared to prior fiscal periods, thereby facilitating period-to-period comparisons of the Company's underlying business performance. Revenue growth on a constant currency basis is calculated by restating current-period activity using the prior fiscal period's foreign currency exchange rates adjusted for hedging gains/losses in such period. Foreign currency translation impacted revenue growth, primarily driven by movements in the U.S. dollar against the Indian rupee (INR), the U.K. pound sterling (GBP), and Australian dollar (AUD).
A limitation of using non-GAAP financial measures versus financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP is that non-GAAP financial measures do not reflect all of the amounts associated with our operating results as determined in accordance with GAAP and exclude costs that are recurring, namely stock-based compensation and amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets. EXL compensates for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP amounts excluded from non-GAAP financial measures to allow investors to evaluate such non-GAAP financial measures.
The following table shows the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and March 31, 2025, and the three months ended December 31, 2025:
| Reconciliation of Adjusted Operating Income and Adjusted EBITDA | |||||||||||
| (Amounts in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Three months ended | |||||||||||
| March 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||
| 2026 | 2025 | 2025 | |||||||||
| Net income (GAAP) | $ | 67,081 | $ | 66,561 | $ | 60,246 | |||||
| add: Income tax expense | 24,318 | 13,496 | 15,230 | ||||||||
| add/(subtract): Foreign exchange gain/(loss), net, interest expense, gain/(loss) from equity-method investment and other income/(loss), net | 427 | (1,642 | ) | 2,547 | |||||||
| Income from operations (GAAP) | $ | 91,826 | $ | 78,415 | $ | 78,023 | |||||
| add: Stock-based compensation expense | 22,101 | 19,187 | 20,751 | ||||||||
| add: Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles | 3,226 | 3,246 | 3,307 | ||||||||
| Adjusted operating income (Non-GAAP) | $ | 117,153 | $ | 100,848 | $ | 102,081 | |||||
| Adjusted operating income margin as a % of Revenue (Non-GAAP) | 20.5 | % | 20.1 | % | 18.8 | % | |||||
| add: Depreciation on long-lived assets | 10,777 | 10,311 | 13,037 | ||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA (Non-GAAP) | $ | 127,930 | $ | 111,159 | $ | 115,118 | |||||
| Adjusted EBITDA margin as a % of revenue (Non-GAAP) | 22.4 | % | 22.2 | % | 21.2 | % | |||||
| Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share | |||||||||||
| (Amounts in thousands, except per share amount) | |||||||||||
| Three months ended | |||||||||||
| March 31, | December 31, | ||||||||||
| 2026 | 2025 | 2025 | |||||||||
| Net income (GAAP) | $ | 67,081 | $ | 66,561 | $ | 60,246 | |||||
| add: Stock-based compensation expense | 22,101 | 19,187 | 20,751 | ||||||||
| add: Amortization of acquisition-related intangibles | 3,226 | 3,246 | 3,307 | ||||||||
| add: Changes in fair value of contingent consideration | — | — | 2,300 | ||||||||
| add/(subtract): Other tax expenses/(benefits) (a) | — | — | 267 | ||||||||
| add: Amortization of prior service cost (b) | 521 | — | — | ||||||||
| subtract: Tax impact on stock-based compensation expense (c) | (1,316 | ) | (9,105 | ) | (5,895 | ) | |||||
| subtract: Tax impact on amortization of acquisition-related intangibles | (812 | ) | (799 | ) | (892 | ) | |||||
| subtract: Tax impact on amortization of prior service cost | (133 | ) | — | — | |||||||
| Adjusted net income (Non-GAAP) | $ | 90,668 | $ | 79,090 | $ | 80,084 | |||||
| Adjusted diluted earnings per share (Non-GAAP) | $ | 0.58 | $ | 0.48 | $ | 0.50 | |||||
(a) To exclude tax expenses related to certain deferred tax assets and liabilities.
(b) To exclude amortization of prior service cost arising from the implementation of the new Labor Codes in India.
(c) Tax impact includes
Contacts:
Investor Relations
Andrew Thut
Head of Investor Relations and Capital Markets
ir@exlservice.com
Media - US
Keith Little
Head of Public Relations
media.relations@exlservice.com