SS&C adjusted EPS rises 14.8% as organic growth slows
Key Facts
SS&C Technologies' adjusted diluted earnings per share rose to $1.78 in the third quarter of 2026, according to the company's earnings release, as it narrowed its annual forecasts. Adjusted earnings per share increased 14.8% from the third quarter of 2025, when they stood at $1.55. The company reported GAAP revenue of $1,690.0 million for the period. That compared with $1,568.0 million in the corresponding period a year earlier, an increase of 7.8%. Adjusted revenue, the measure the company uses in its annual guidance, totaled $1,691.1 million. Adjusted revenue stood at $1,569.0 million in the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted revenue therefore also grew 7.8% year on year, according to the figures in the earnings release.
By contrast, the company's GAAP net income fell to $198.9 million in the third quarter of 2026, according to the earnings release. The company had reported net income of $210.0 million in the corresponding quarter of 2025, representing a year-on-year decline of 5.3%. GAAP diluted earnings per share held steady at $0.83, unchanged from the corresponding period a year earlier. On the operating side, consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose to $674.8 million. That compared with $619.0 million in the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 9.0%. The margin on those earnings improved to 39.9% from 39.5%, a year-on-year increase of 40 basis points. The GAAP operating profit margin also rose to 24.2% from 23.3% in the corresponding period, an improvement of 90 basis points.
The investor presentation accompanying the results showed the company's adjusted organic revenue growth slowed to 5.2% in the third quarter of 2026. The rate had reached 7.6% in the second quarter of the same year, marking a slower pace of organic growth than in the previous quarter. In the Intelligent Automation and Analytics unit, adjusted organic revenue contracted 4.5% during the third quarter, according to the presentation. For comparison with earnings performance in the preceding period, the company had reported adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.76 in its second-quarter 2026 earnings release. Adjusted earnings per share grew 18.1% year on year at that time, according to that quarter's earnings release.
On liquidity, the company's operating cash flow totaled $1,216.3 million for the nine months ended September 2026, according to the third-quarter results presentation. Operating cash flow had totaled $1,101.3 million in the corresponding period of 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 10.4%. The company said in its earnings release that it repaid $130.0 million in debt during the third quarter. Its net leverage ratio stood at 2.63 times at quarter-end, according to the release. In an earlier move on shareholder distributions, the board approved an increase in the annual dividend per share to $1.20 in August 2026. The decision represented an increase of 11.1% from the previous annual dividend rate, according to the company's dividend announcement. Chief Executive Bill Stone said in the earnings release that the company remained "on track to achieve our full-year goals."
In its October update to its 2026 outlook, the company narrowed its annual adjusted revenue forecast to between $6,736 million and $6,776 million, according to the investor presentation. The range replaces July's forecast of between $6,672 million and $6,832 million for the same year. The annual adjusted earnings per share range also narrowed to between $7.11 and $7.17. The company had set its previous range in July at between $6.93 and $7.25 per share. For the fourth quarter of 2026, the company expects adjusted revenue of between $1,700 million and $1,740 million. It set its adjusted diluted earnings per share forecast for the final quarter at between $1.88 and $1.94. It also put the midpoint of its fourth-quarter organic revenue growth forecast at 4.0%, according to the investor presentation.