Workiva reports 21% revenue growth in Q3, raising 2025 guidance as large contract cohort expands and operating margin improves significantly.
Companies mentioned:
Summary
- Workiva reported a significant increase in large contract cohorts, with a 23% rise in contracts over $100,000, 41% in those over $300,000, and 42% in contracts over $500,000 compared to Q3 2024.
- The company achieved a non-GAAP operating margin of 12.7%, beating the high end of their guidance by 470 basis points and improving by 860 basis points from Q3 2024.
- The company raised its full-year 2025 non-GAAP operating margin guidance by 200 basis points at the midpoint, reflecting a focus on durable growth and margin improvement.
- Key strategic deals included significant expansions with global pharmaceutical, telecommunications, and energy services companies, highlighting the platform's broad solution portfolio and international reach.
- Workiva's innovation efforts were showcased at the Amplify conference with new AI-driven product enhancements, including Intelligent Finance, Intelligent Sustainability, and Intelligent GRC.
- Management changes include Michael Pinto's appointment as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer to drive future growth and efficiency.
- 2025 total revenue guidance was increased to a range of $880 million to $882 million, with subscription revenue growth expected to be at least 21% year over year.
- The company emphasized ongoing efforts to improve productivity and operational efficiency across all functions.
- Workiva's leadership transition includes the upcoming departure of CFO Jill Klindt, with a final candidate for the CFO position identified but not yet disclosed.
Across their business, both financial and non financial information. And yes, they must be accountable with assurance as a requirement every step of the way. So our customers are looking to us and our platform to solve their most challenging problems. This value we deliver to our customers is highlighted by the continued growth in our large contract cohorts. In Q3, the number of contracts valued over $100,000 increased 23%, those over $300,000 increased 41% and contracts valued over $500,000 increased 42%, all compared to Q3 of 2024. This large contract growth was driven by both additional solution sales within our existing customer base and the landing of larger new logo deals. At the same time, we delivered a non GAAP operating margin of 12.7%. This is a 470 basis point beat on the high end of our guide. It's also an 860 basis point improvement compared to Q3 of 2024. With this margin beat, we're raising our full year 2025 non GAAP operating margin guide by 200 basis points at the midpoint. These results reflect our continued focus on durable growth and meaningful margin improvement. They also demonstrate tangible progress toward our medium and our long term operating margin targets. We believe that our disciplined execution and our operating rigorous position us to deliver additional leverage over time. I'll move on now to provide some representative Q3 deals. These customer wins provide meaningful insight into our business. They highlight the breadth of our solution portfolio, the location and the types of customers that we're selling to, and the role that our partners play in the adoption and the success of our platform in the market. I'd like to start off with a few deals that demonstrate our continued success as a global platform company. First, a top 5 global pharmaceutical company signed a mid 6 figure 2 solution account expansion deal for sustainability reporting and policy management. Already a 13 year loyal SEC reporting customer, they nearly tripled their spend with a platform expansion into the GRC and sustainability solution categories. This global organization invested in the Workiva platform to support their sustainability roadmap. The roadmap includes requirements across CSRD, ISSB and other local requirements in some of the 100 plus countries in which they operate. The deal was sourced and it will be delivered by a Big four firm. Second, a North American telecommunications and media company signed a mid six figure account expansion deal for four solutions. The deal included Audit Management, controls Management, operational Risk and sustainability. This nine year loyal SEC customer more than doubled their spend with this account expansion and now uses six solutions on the platform. There were several business drivers behind this deal they included replacing multiple GRC solutions and consolidating on a single platform to drive efficiency and cost savings, enabling risk mitigation across sustainability and operations and providing support for an integrated annual report combining both financial and non financial information. Workiva was the only solution evaluated that could address all three of these requirements on a single platform. The deal was sourced and will be implemented by a Big four firm and third, we closed a high six figure expansion deal with a European based energy services company. The deal covers six solutions Sustainability reporting, controls management, enterprise Risk Management, Policy Management, compliance and operational risk management. The customer first adopted Workiva back in 2022 for ESEF reporting. It has since increased its annual spend more than Eightfold, now exceeding $1 million in annual subscription revenue. This was a competitive win over multiple GRC solution providers and and multiple sustainability reporting solutions. The deal was sourced and will be delivered by a Big four firm. Our deal momentum extends beyond platform wide wins. We continue to land and expand with the financial reporting category which remains a durable growth area for us. A key financial reporting driver is our multi entity reporting solution purpose built for for multinational organizations managing complex global structures and operations. A strong Q3 example of a multi entity reporting deal is a seven figure expansion with a leading global oil and gas company. This customer more than doubled its spend and now leverages six Workiva solutions as part of a multi year financial transformation tied to ERP consolidation and an S4 Hana migration. Workiva will enable the modernization of their local statutory reporting across 300 legal entities. This deal was sourced and will be delivered by a regional consulting firm. Another example of our multi entity reporting deal momentum is a mid six figure account expansion with a U S based global manufacturing company who's been a Workiva customer for 14 years. The deal adds two financial reporting solutions, multi entity Reporting and regulated financial reporting and it increases the customer's annual spend nearly fourfold. Both solutions replace legacy manual processes previously managed through desktop tools. The deal was sourced and will be delivered by a regional consulting firm. Expansion deals aren't the only driver of financial reporting growth. A strong new logo win in Q3 was a 4 solution deal with a European Export Credit Corporation. The customer adopted Workiva for SEC reporting, ECEF reporting, Bank regulatory reporting and sustainability. They're pursuing two major initiatives, standardizing SEC and ESEF reporting on a single platform and preparing for CSRD compliance as a Wave one filer. Workiva was the only solution evaluated that could support their integrated reporting requirements across both sustainability and financial reporting. This deal was a co sell and will be delivered by a Big four firm. I'd like to move on now to one of our vertical specific solution categories, financial Services, and I'll highlight just a few of our Q3 wins in this vertical. First, we secured a mid six figure new logo with one of Europe's top 10 banks. The customer adopted five SEC reporting, ECEF reporting, sustainability reporting, Multi Entity Reporting and Bank Regulatory reporting. The deal replaces multiple on premise systems and manual spreadsheet driven processes. Multiple Big four and global consulting firms participated in the co sell effort. Delivery is to be executed through several Workiva partners. Second, we closed a seven figure new logo deal with a European Fund Services administrator. This was for fund reporting. This was a competitive win over the incumbent on premise software solution. The customer selected Workiva for two key our ability to scale reporting across 2,500 funds and our platform's clear differentiation from legacy technology. The deal was sourced and will be implemented by a Big four firm. Turning to sustainability demand remains steady as organizations respond to expanding stakeholder expectations and evolving regulatory mandates. First, a top five global payments provider signed a six figure expansion for Workiva Carbon. They purchased our carbon solution to support multiple regulatory frameworks as well as the California Climate Disclosure Rules. The deal replaced a legacy carbon accounting system and represented a competitive win over four alternative solutions. The customer has been publishing a global impact report for seven years, aligning its disclosures with GRI, SB, UNGC and the UN SDGs, but it found that its prior carbon accounting system was insufficient to meet the evolving requirements. This deal was a co sell and will be delivered by a Big four firm. Second, a top five Australian bank signed a six figure expansion for sustainability reporting. It was to meet the new Australian sustainability reporting standards AASB s1 and s2. These standards require sustainability disclosures within annual filings and they cover governance strategy, risk management and scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Australia's approach demonstrates how regulators are embedding sustainability into financial reporting through ISSB alignment. Approximately 1000 organizations qualify as Group 1 filers with the first mandatory reports due June 30th of 2026 for June year end entities. This deal was sourced and will be implemented by a big four firm. Lets move on now to GRC which in Q3 included several notable wins. First, a US financial holding company signed a mid six figure expansion for Enterprise Risk Management, a Workiva SEC reporting customer. Since 2012 this firm has expanded into seven solutions across the platform including Multi Entity Reporting, Living Will Stress Testing, Bank Regulatory Reporting, Sustainability Reporting and now Enterprise Risk Management. This most recent expansion increased annual spend by 25% the new solution will centralize 45 internal enterprise risk reports covering risk metrics, categories, subcategories and risk statements. The deal was a co sell and will be implemented by a Big four firm. Second, a US based regional community bank signed a multi six figure expansion for three GRC solutions, Controls Management, Operational Risk Management and policy management. A 13 year SEC reporting customer. The bank now uses five Workiva solutions. This expansion more than tripled its annual spend. The deal was sourced and will be delivered by a regional consulting firm. Wrapping up our Solutions section, here are a few highlights on Capital Markets Q3 saw a notable uptick in IPO activity Workiva supported several high profile IPO listings including Figma, Klarna, Heartflow and Shoulder Innovations for Workiva, an improving capital markets environment extends well beyond the S1 filings. First, we engage with private companies years before they go public through our private company reporting and internal control solutions. We believe that a stronger IPO outlook increases the incentive for companies to invest early in scalable reporting processes. And second, more SEC registrants expand the addressable market for additional Workiva solutions including SEC and SOX reporting. Even in instances where we're not directly involved in the S1, we are encouraged by Q3 IPO activity and the economic environment. Supporting the Rebound we're optimistic that the IPO momentum will continue into Q4 once the US government shutdown ends. Let's shift focus to discuss innovation. In September we hosted Amplify, our annual user conference. We welcomed over 2,300 customers, partners and investors in Washington, DC. We showcased our commitment to innovation and we launched product enhancements to continue to meet and exceed our customers growing expectations. During the event, we announced several agentic AI extensions and and we launched Intelligent Finance, Intelligent Sustainability and Intelligent grc. Each delivers specialized fit for purpose capabilities that enhance customer speed, agility and confidence. These offerings leverage the fact that the Workiva platform is intelligence ready. Being intelligence ready means that all data and narratives are structured, consistent, traceable, interpretable, machine readable and built with context, not just content. This is what differentiates Workiva. Our reports are structured, validated data products, not static documents. They allow AI and automation to read, reconcile and publish with full lineage, embedded controls and regulator grade assurance. We also embed global frameworks and taxonomies directly into the platform, transforming every report into a machine interpretable data product. As a result, AI can operate without guessing what's material, how metrics are defined or how to compare them. With Workiva AI at the core of our unified platform, we're delivering an intelligent companion that enables customers to achieve achieve their most critical outcomes faster and with confidence. A great example of how our AI capabilities are driving value to our customers is a Q3 multi six figure new logo win. With a rapidly growing privately held defense contractor, the customer purchased four Controls Management, Policy Management, Compliance Management and in private company financial reporting. It was our AI powered GRC capabilities that differentiated us from the competition. This company is building their first controls management framework. They're creating company policies and building a compliance program for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model certification. This is a prerequisite for doing business with the US Military. By leveraging Workiva AI, including the AI Powered Control Creator, the customer will author and implement policy, control and compliance frameworks in house, reducing reliance on third party consulting spend. At Amplify, we also hosted our annual Investor Day. We detailed our commitment to both durable growth and improved operating leverage. Our recent margin progress in 2025 reflects the disciplined approach we've been taking to achieve greater operating leverage in the business since the start of the year. Across every function, every department and every team, we've been focused on four themes. First, organizational and operating model redesign. We're simplifying span of control and reducing layers. We're evolving the operating model across sales, customer success and R and D. And we're putting a greater emphasis on performance management. These ongoing efforts will provide a structure that reduces duplication and strengthens execution. Second, process streamlining and automation. This includes both single and cross functional initiatives. We're streamlining and improving workflows and and leveraging technology where it brings value. And yes, that includes the automation of routine tasks and the use of AI. Third, optimizing product and go to market resources. We're sharpening our investment discipline so that we can direct resources towards initiatives with the highest likelihood of success and the greatest customer value. And finally, more focus on fiscal discipline. We're exercising greater financial discipline across all functions. Together, these focus areas are designed to increase productivity as we grow in scale and drive greater operating leverage across the business. By functional area, here's a quick summary of our productivity initiatives. For cost of sales, we're scaling digital support, optimizing cloud computing costs and shifting low margin setup and consulting services to our partners. To get greater leverage for R and D, we're focused on workforce diversification, engineering productivity and scaling our operating model. Finally, we do recognize sales and marketing is where we have the largest opportunity to drive additional efficiency and productivity. Our approach is practical to minimize the risk of disrupting growth. As we continue to focus on capturing our large and expanding tam. We've targeted three areas to improve sales. First, transitioning to a more efficient sales structure and creating better alignment of sellers to territories. Second, a focus on staff which includes up leveling our seller expectations and bringing in new hires that have seen scale sold platforms and know how to win with strategic partners. And third, we're bringing even more precision to where and what we sell, optimizing our coverage models to improve efficiency, drive focused new logo growth and achieve greater account expansion. We're committed to staying in the lead and going after our growth opportunity while at the same time improving productivity within and across our organization. Finally, I'd like to share an important leadership Update. After over 15 years with Workiva, Mike Hawkins is stepping down from his role as Executive Vice President and Chief Sales officer effective today, November 5th. Mike has been part of Workiva since our early days and he's helped to shape the company that we've become. Mike has played a key role in our evolution from a single solution company in the US To a trusted global platform serving thousands of customers. I'd like to thank Mike for his years of leadership, his dedication to our mission, and his many contributions to our success. His impact on our people, our customers and our growth will be felt long after his departure. We also announced today the appointment of Michael Pinto as our new Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. Michael's career spans more than 25 years, driving rapid growth for some of the world's largest technology companies. Most recently, he was the Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Americas at Databricks, a $4 billion revenue run rate data and AI company. Prior to Databricks, he held senior Sales leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, Medidata and P. Michael will oversee Workiva's global sales partnerships and alliances and commercial operations. He'll focus on scaling and accelerating profitable growth, modernizing go to market strategies, strengthening customer engagement and advancing global expansion. We believe that his leadership experience, his track record of guiding multiple companies to scale, and his deep understanding of enterprise SaaS strongly align to what's required for our next phase of growth. Finally, a brief update on our CFO search. We have identified a final candidate, but we're not yet able to provide detail at this time. As you know, bringing in a sitting public company CFO is a complex process and there is a sensitivity in the timing of the communications and the announcements. In closing, I'd like to thank our team of dedicated employees across the globe for their relentless focus on innovation, our customer success, and our go to market execution that continues to fuel our growth. I'd also like to acknowledge their disciplined commitment to productivity and performance that's driving measurable improvement in operating leverage in our business. And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Jill to walk you through our financial results and updated 2025 guidance in more detail. Over to you Jill.