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Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.: Q4 FY2026 earnings call

What management said about Q4 FY2026, from the documents filed with the SEC on 6 May 2026: press release. The quarter’s numbers.

Key takeaways

  • Quarter revenue down 5% constant currency: Fourth-quarter revenue was $3.8 billion, down 1% as reported and down 5% in constant currency from the prior-year quarter. Source
  • Full-year adjusted pretax income up 21%: Fiscal 2026 adjusted pretax income was $581 million against $482 million, and adjusted net income was $341 million, or $1.46 per diluted share. Source
  • Quarter net income cut by tax accrual: Fourth-quarter net income was $17 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, against $68 million and $0.28. Tax expense included a non-recurring, non-cash accrual. Source
  • Signings fell to $13.5 billion: Fiscal 2026 signings were $13.5 billion against $18.2 billion. Fourth-quarter signings were $3.6 billion against $5.5 billion. Source
  • Full-year free cash flow $406 million: Free cash flow was $406 million in fiscal 2026 against $419 million, while operating cash flow was $948 million against $942 million. Source

“With our mission-critical engineering expertise, we continue to support our customers’ most complex IT environments while taking disciplined actions to strengthen our business,”

Kyndryl Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Martin Schroeter

What changed from last quarter

  • New guidance: Fiscal 2027 guidance provided for adjusted pretax income, free cash flow and constant-currency revenue. Source
  • New: Agentic Service Management launched to enable autonomous IT operations at scale. Source

Fourth quarter and full-year results

  • Quarter revenue down 5% constant currency: Fourth-quarter revenue was $3.8 billion, down 1% as reported and down 5% in constant currency from the prior-year quarter. Source
  • Full-year adjusted pretax income up 21%: Fiscal 2026 adjusted pretax income was $581 million against $482 million, and adjusted net income was $341 million, or $1.46 per diluted share. Source
  • Quarter net income cut by tax accrual: Fourth-quarter net income was $17 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, against $68 million and $0.28. Tax expense included a non-recurring, non-cash accrual. Source
  • Full-year net income and EPS lower: Fiscal 2026 net income was $198 million, or $0.85 per diluted share, against $252 million and $1.05 a year earlier. Pretax income was $414 million against $435 million. Source
  • Quarter pretax income up 12%: Fourth-quarter pretax income was $132 million, against $118 million in the prior-year quarter. Source

Segments and regions

  • Japan revenue down 8% in quarter: Japan revenue was $556 million against $605 million, down 8% as reported and 5% in constant currency. Japan adjusted EBITDA was $122 million against $102 million. Source
  • United States revenue up 5% in quarter: United States revenue was $1,016 million against $969 million, up 5% both as reported and in constant currency. Source
  • Principal Markets flat in constant currency: Principal Markets revenue was $1,281 million, up 1% as reported and down 7% in constant currency. Strategic Markets revenue was $916 million, down 4% as reported. Source
  • Strategic Markets EBITDA lower in quarter: Strategic Markets adjusted EBITDA was $147 million against $161 million, and Principal Markets was $206 million against $231 million. Total adjusted EBITDA was $688 million. Source
  • Principal Markets grew 4% for year: Fiscal 2026 Principal Markets revenue grew 4% as reported and fell 2% in constant currency. Strategic Markets was flat as reported and down 5% in constant currency. Source

“Enterprises are turning to Kyndryl for our high-value services across agentic AI, IT modernization, public and private cloud and cybersecurity to help them modernize at scale, strengthen resilience and unlock greater business value.”

Kyndryl Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Martin Schroeter

Hyperscalers, Consult and AI offerings

  • Kyndryl Consult revenue up 18%: Kyndryl Consult revenue was $3.5 billion in fiscal 2026, up 18%, with signings of $4 billion for the year. Source
  • Agentic AI framework launched in year: During fiscal 2026 the company launched a framework for customers to adopt and scale agentic AI across on-premises, cloud and hybrid environments. Source

Margins and cost actions

  • Adjusted EBITDA up 6% for year: Fiscal 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin was 17.7% against 16.7%. Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA margin was 18.3% against 18.4%. Source
  • Signings projected margin high single digit: Projected pretax margin on fiscal 2026 signings was in the high-single-digit range, which the company cited as building expected profit into contracts. Source
  • Three-A initiatives lifted earnings: Advanced Delivery, which uses AI automation on the Kyndryl Bridge platform, and the Accounts initiative continued to drive earnings growth and margin expansion. Source
  • Workforce rebalancing charges fell: Workforce rebalancing charges were $60 million in fiscal 2026, against $114 million in fiscal 2025. Source

Demand, signings and deal mix

  • Signings fell to $13.5 billion: Fiscal 2026 signings were $13.5 billion against $18.2 billion. Fourth-quarter signings were $3.6 billion against $5.5 billion. Source
  • Large deals skewed to new scope: More than 30% of large deals were new scope and new logos, up from about 15% in the prior-year period. Source
  • Currency added about two points to signings: Currency movements favorably affected the year-over-year change in signings by about two points in the quarter and in the year. Source

Cash flow and balance sheet

  • Full-year free cash flow $406 million: Free cash flow was $406 million in fiscal 2026 against $419 million, while operating cash flow was $948 million against $942 million. Source
  • Quarter free cash flow higher: Fourth-quarter free cash flow was $388 million against $353 million. Operating cash flow was $499 million against $581 million. Source

Share repurchases and capital returns

  • Fiscal 2026 buybacks $304 million: The company repurchased 11.6 million shares for $304 million in fiscal 2026, including 3.3 million shares for $49 million in the fourth quarter. Source
  • About $302 million program capacity left: Since November 2024 the company bought back 14.3 million shares for $398 million, about 6% of shares outstanding, with about $302 million remaining. Source
  • Tax-withholding repurchases rose: Shares repurchased for tax withholdings were $94 million in fiscal 2026, against $45 million, shown separately from buybacks. Source

Strategy and fiscal 2027 focus

  • Focus on execution in fiscal 2027: Management said fiscal 2027 focus is consistent execution and improving business fundamentals to drive profitability and cash flow. Source
  • Signings performance supports multi-year goals: Management said signings performance, including new scope over recent years, better positions the company to drive toward its multi-year objectives. Source
  • Company describes its scale: The company describes itself as the largest IT infrastructure services provider, designing, building, managing and modernizing complex information systems. Source

Figures management reported

FigureReported
Hyperscaler-related revenue Source$1.9 billion in fiscal 2026, up 59% year-over-year
Large contracts over $50 million Source38 in fiscal 2026, led by the United States segment

Risks management discussed

  • Financial: Management said working capital practices, including deferrals, have varied from quarter to quarter and affected cash flows, including free cash flow. Source
  • Operational: The fiscal 2027 adjusted pretax income guidance includes workforce rebalancing charges, consistent with the definition used since fiscal 2025. Source

Earlier plans management reported on

  • Met: The prior release said the company was on track to exceed the target; the fourth-quarter release says the full-year target was exceeded.

Other quarters

Summarised with AI from the documents the company filed with the SEC. Every point is checked against the filing before it is shown: management’s own words word for word, figures against the line or table row they come from. A point that fails the check is left out. Source opens the filing at that line.