EL7.AI
StocksMedium•11 November 2026•
4 min read

SoftwareOne raises 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin floor to above 24%

Key Facts

1SoftwareOne raised its 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin forecast to above 24%, from above 23%.
2Third-quarter revenue was 377.3 million Swiss francs, up 9.9% in reported currency and 7.4% in constant currency.
3Reported third-quarter EBITDA was 65.6 million francs, compared with 42.0 million a year earlier, and the margin rose to 17.4% from 12.2%.
4The company said accumulated Crayon integration savings recorded through the income statement totaled 85 million francs, with an additional 5-10 million at an annualized rate targeted by the end of 2026.

SoftwareOne on November 11 raised its forecast for adjusted EBITDA margin in fiscal 2026 to above 24%, from above 23%, citing third-quarter performance and progress in Crayon integration savings. The higher floor follows an adjusted margin of 21.1% in the third quarter, above the analyst consensus estimate of 20.9%, according to Investing.com. Adjusted EBITDA was 79.5 million Swiss francs, compared with an average estimate of 77.7 million. Revenue also exceeded expectations, while constant-currency growth was in line with them. The share price movement during the November 11 session could not be verified, so this update is not linked here to a claim that the shares rose or that buying flows increased.

Third-quarter revenue was 377.3 million Swiss francs, up 9.9% year on year in reported currency and 7.4% in constant currency, according to the company’s statement. Revenue exceeded the average estimate of 372.2 million francs, while the constant-currency growth rate matched analyst estimates. Cloud and software services led the expansion, with revenue up 11.2% in constant currency. Direct sales returned to growth of 2.9%, while channel revenue increased 7.3%. Chief Executive Rafael Erb said cloud and software services led growth and that channel activity continued to expand as direct sales returned to growth.

Reported EBITDA rose to 65.6 million Swiss francs in the third quarter, from 42.0 million in the corresponding period of 2025, and its margin increased to 17.4% from 12.2%. These figures differ from adjusted EBITDA, which was 79.5 million francs with a 21.1% margin in the third quarter; each measure reflects a different accounting basis. The company linked the margin expansion to improved profitability, while Crayon integration savings helped offset cost pressures. Savings recorded through the income statement totaled 55 million francs in the first nine months of 2026. The company said these savings helped offset inflation in employee expenses, performance-related compensation, higher external delivery costs and investment in growth.

SoftwareOne said accumulated cost savings recorded through the income statement totaled 85 million francs since the Crayon integration began in 2025. By the end of the first half of 2026, savings had reached an annualized rate of 100 million francs. The company aims to add savings at an annualized rate of 5 to 10 million francs by the end of 2026, on top of that level. This trajectory puts integration savings at the heart of the company’s explanation for raising its profitability margin forecast, alongside revenue growth and cost control. In August, the company had maintained a floor of above 23% for the full-year adjusted margin before raising it to above 24% in its November update.

The update extends beyond profitability: the company kept its 2026 revenue growth forecast at the mid-to-high single-digit level in constant currency and on a like-for-like consolidated basis. It also maintained its forecast for cash conversion above 60% and a dividend payout ratio of between 30% and 50% of adjusted net profit. The unchanged revenue forecast comes as reported expansion reached 44.1% in the first nine months on an IFRS basis, with Crayon’s results consolidated from July 1, 2025. Because of this change in the group’s scope, the company no longer reports organic growth excluding Crayon. The August forecasts combined like-for-like revenue growth with an adjusted margin above 23% and cash conversion above 60%.

On demand, the company said increased adoption of artificial intelligence is driving demand across cloud computing, data, security, governance and cost optimization. It also said customer migration volumes from EA agreements to CSP in 2027 and 2028 could be two to three times the 2026 volume, linking this to demand for flexibility and changes in Microsoft licensing. These are forward-looking estimates in the company’s update, while its current-year forecasts for revenue growth, cash conversion and dividends remain unchanged. The company set February 9, 2027, for its 2026 fiscal-year key results trading update. It had also scheduled a webcast for investors, analysts and the media on November 11 at 9:00 Central European Time, with Erb and Chief Financial Officer Hanspeter Schraner.