Workday delivered a strong fiscal first quarter Thursday, and Wall Street noticed. The stock climbed 12% in after-hours trading after the enterprise software company topped estimates on revenue, earnings, and subscription metrics.
$WDAY Q1’27 EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS
Revenue: $2.542B (Est. $2.52B)
; +13.5% YoY
Q2’27… pic.twitter.com/MC0Ht6jflr
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) May 21, 2026
WDAY had closed the regular session down 3.8% at $121.85, extending a rough stretch — the stock is down 43% in 2026 as investors have worried AI could erode demand for traditional software platforms.
Thursday’s numbers pushed back on that narrative, at least for now.
The company reported adjusted EPS of $2.66 for the quarter ended April 30. That’s up from $2.23 a year ago and ahead of the $2.51 consensus estimate. Revenue grew 13% year-over-year to $2.54 billion, edging past the $2.52 billion forecast.
Subscription revenue — the most closely watched line — came in at $2.35 billion, up 14% and above analyst expectations of $2.33 billion.
The 12-month subscription backlog grew 16% to $8.81 billion. The total subscription backlog reached $27.29 billion, up 11%, though that came in below the $28.38 billion Wall Street had penciled in.
One area that drew attention: Workday’s AI agent user base more than doubled from the prior quarter. Its Recruiting Agent supported 14 million hiring processes, a 44% jump year-over-year.
CFO Zane Rowe pointed to continued customer adoption across the platform as the driver behind subscription growth.
CEO Aneel Bhusri, who returned to the role in February after replacing Carl Eschenbach, was direct in the earnings release: “Workday is ready for this AI moment. Our core business is strong, our AI strategy is working, and we’re moving with the speed and focus required to lead.”
Morgan Stanley analysts said the results gave investors “solid evidence” against concerns about growth durability and margin defensibility following Bhusri’s return.
“Investors likely need more than one quarter to buy in, but at current valuation the downside appears limited,” they noted.
For Q2, Workday guided to subscription revenue of $2.455 billion — in line with the $2.45 billion analyst estimate, representing 13% growth.
Full-year subscription revenue guidance was reiterated at $9.925 billion to $9.950 billion, reflecting 12%–13% growth. The company also raised its full-year non-GAAP operating margin guidance to 30.5%, up from the prior 30%, citing operational efficiencies.
Wall Street’s current full-year subscription revenue estimate sits at $10.66 billion — above the company’s own guidance range.
The stock was trading around $134.71 in premarket Friday, up roughly 10.5% from Thursday’s close.
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