NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ:NICE) reported first-quarter 2026 financial results Wednesday. The company exceeded analyst expectations for both top and bottom-line figures.

Q1 Earnings Beat and Sales Growth

NICE reported quarterly earnings of $2.64 per share. This figure beat the analyst consensus estimate of $2.52. However, it represents a decrease from the $2.87 per share reported in the prior-year period.

Quarterly sales reached $768.617 million. This outperformed the consensus estimate of $764.239 million. Revenue increased year-over-year from $700.192 million, according to Benzinga Pro.

Updated Fiscal 2026 Guidance

NICE updated its full-year 2026 projections following the first quarter performance. The company raised its adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $10.98 to $11.18. This sits above the $10.94 analyst estimate.

For the second quarter, NICE expects sales between $761 million and $771 million. This falls slightly below the $780.640 million analyst forecast. The company affirmed its full-year sales outlook of $3.170 billion to $3.190 billion.

AI Momentum and Cloud Performance

CEO Scott Russell attributed the “solid start to 2026” to the company’s AI-native CX platform.

“In the first quarter, we exceeded the high end of our guidance on both revenue and non-GAAP EPS,” Russell stated. He noted that cloud revenue grew 14.6% year-over-year.

AI remains a critical growth catalyst for the firm. Russell added, “AI remains a powerful growth driver, with AI ARR increasing 66% year over year.” According to the CEO, AI was “included in 100% of our CXone enterprise deals.”

Margins and Shareholder Returns

Non-GAAP gross profit for the quarter was $525.5 million. This is an increase from $489.2 million in the first quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP gross margin settled at 68.4% compared to 69.9% for the first quarter of 2025.

Operating income totaled $199.7 million, down from $213.6 million last year. Non-GAAP operating margin was 26.0% compared to 30.5% for the first quarter of 2025.

Non-GAAP net income was $160.1 million compared to $185.0 million for the first quarter of 2025. Non-GAAP net income margin totaled 20.8% compared to 26.4% for the first quarter of 2025.

The company also executed $253.3 million in share repurchases during the quarter. As of March 31, 2026, total cash and cash equivalents, and short-term investments were $304.1 million, with no outstanding debt.

NICE Price Action: Nice shares were down 8.46% at $114.43 during premarket trading on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo by T. Schneider via Shutterstock