Alithya Group Q4 2026 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
June 11, 2026

Key Takeaways

  • Positive Sentiment: Alithya said it is shifting toward higher-value services, with revenues and gross margin up for the full year and adjusted net earnings stable, reflecting its focus on improving business quality and margin profile.
  • Neutral Sentiment: The company reported Q4 revenue of CAD 113.8 million, down 9.2% year over year, with management noting the comparison was against an unusually strong prior-year quarter driven by a high number of project go-lives.
  • Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized U.S. momentum, citing organic growth in Oracle and Microsoft practices, stronger demand for enterprise transformation, and larger deal opportunities created by the eVerge acquisition.
  • Negative Sentiment: Canada remains a near-term headwind, as revenue fell 24% in Q4 due to reduced government work and the deliberate exit from lower-margin contracts, especially in Quebec, while the company rebuilds the business on better margins.
  • Positive Sentiment: Alithya highlighted growing AI, modernization, and cloud demand, along with wins such as Microsoft Copilot specialization, AWS Migration and Modernization Competency, and expanding SmartShore and AI-enabled delivery capabilities.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
Alithya Group Q4 2026
00:00 / 00:00

There are 9 speakers on the call.

Speaker 2

Good morning, everyone, welcome to Alithya's fourth quarter and full fiscal 2026 results conference call. Thank you for joining us this morning. The press release, along with the MD&A containing condensed financial statements and related notes, was published this morning and is now accessible on our website. The presentation can also be found on our website in the Investors section. Please be advised that this call will contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These statements include our estimates, plans, expectations, and statements regarding future growth, operational results, performance, and business prospects that do not solely relate to historical facts.

Speaker 2

These statements may also refer to future events, including expectations around client demand, business opportunities, leveraging our services, IP, AI, and expertise to meet client needs, excelling in a competitive market, achieving our three-year strategic plan, and deploying our SmartShore capabilities. For more information, please refer to the cautionary note included in our presentation and the Forward-Looking Statements and Risk and Uncertainty sections of our MD&A, which are accessible on our website. All figures discussed on today's call are in Canadian dollars, unless stated otherwise, we may refer to certain indicators that are non-IFRS measures. Please refer to the cautionary notes included in our presentation to the Non-IFRS and Other Financial Measures section in our MD&A for more detail. The conference call will be followed by a question and answer period. Only questions from the financial community will be addressed.

Speaker 2

To raise or lower your hand, please press star followed by five. You will hear a confirmation once your hand is raised. Presenting this morning are Paul Raymond, Alithya's President and Chief Executive Officer, Bernard Dockrill, Chief Operating Officer, Pierre Blanchette, Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Paul Raymond. Paul?

Speaker 6

Good morning, everyone, thank you, Dominic. Thank you for joining us today. Before reviewing our results, I want to begin by thanking our teams for their continued discipline and commitment to our clients' success. Their expertise and dedication remain central to our ability to deliver mission-critical projects and to advance our long-term strategy. In the fourth quarter, we remained and maintain a strong focus on execution while continuing to shift our business towards higher-value services and improving our gross margin profile. For the full fiscal year, we made progress in strengthening our business fundamentals. Revenues and gross margin increased year-over-year, adjusted net earnings remained stable. These results reflect the discipline of our teams, the continued evolution of our portfolio, the steady increase of AI activities, the integration of the recent eVerge and XRM Vision acquisitions.

Speaker 6

We remain focused on advancing our industry-first approach and supporting our clients in their AI and digital transformation initiatives. Demand for integrated capabilities across data, enterprise application, and cloud continues to evolve, and we are well-positioned to meet these needs as a trusted advisor. In parallel, we've continued to strengthen our internal capabilities with AI and upskilling for everyone to enhance how we deliver for clients and drive efficiency across our operations. With that, I will now turn it over to Pierre for the financial highlights of the quarter, followed by Bernard with an update on operations. Pierre?

Speaker 7

Thank you, Paul, and good morning, everyone. Before looking at our fourth quarter, I want to provide an update on the divestiture of Datum. On March 31st, we sold all the shares of Datum in exchange for a minority equity interest in the capital of Medivra Holdings. Prior to the transaction, we recorded an impairment of intangible of CAD 3.1 million. In FY 2026, Datum represented close to CAD 15 million in revenue and CAD 1.2 million in EBITDA. This transaction is aligned with our long-term strategy as we are focused on the growth of our core activities. I would also like to highlight an important update on our internal controls. As disclosed in FY 2025, we had identified a material weakness related to control activities in our revenue processes for fixed fee and time and material arrangement applying the input method. This weakness did not result in any material errors.

Speaker 7

During FY 2026, we enhanced the design and implementation of controls. Management completed testing of the operating effectiveness of these enhanced controls during the fourth quarter. We have concluded that the material weakness has been remediated. Now turning to financial highlights for our fourth quarter's results. In the quarter, we delivered CAD 113.8 million of revenue, down 9.2% year-over-year. It is important to note that the fourth quarter for FY 2025 was unusually strong as a higher number of project go lives drove elevated revenue in that period, creating a tougher year-over-year comparison. Gross margin as a percentage of revenue reached 37.8% in the quarter, up from 36.8% last year. Both periods were positively impacted by the recognition of tax credits.

Speaker 7

There was a more significant contribution in Q4 2026 as CAD 5.8 million of non-refundable tax credits were recognized as they are available for carry-forward. While this supported a year-over-year increase of our gross margin as a percentage of revenue, our margin remains solid at 32.7% when excluding the recognition of the tax credit in Q4. Looking at our performance by segment. Revenues in the U.S. reached CAD 55.6 million, up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. In constant currency, the revenue would have been CAD 58.2 million in Q4 2026, up 7.5%. The increase was due primarily to revenue from eVerge since its acquisition and organic growth in enterprise transformation services. This was achieved despite a lower contribution by Datum, which was disposed on March 31st, 2026, reflecting momentum in our U.S. segment.

Speaker 7

In the U.S., gross margin as a percentage of revenue decreased compared to the same quarter last year, primarily due to a lower contribution by Datum, partially offset by the increased use of our Smart Shoring capabilities. In Canada, revenues were CAD 49.7 million, down 24% on a year-over-year basis. This change is mainly due to reduced revenue from government contracts and client projects reaching maturity, as we have chosen not to renew lower margin work awarded primarily on price. Gross margin increased as a percentage of revenue compared to the same quarter last year, mainly due to the recognition of non-refundable tax credits and proportionally larger decrease in the use of some contractors compared to permanent employees. In our international segment, we delivered CAD 8.5 million in revenue, up 49.1% compared to the same period last year. In constant currency, the revenue would have been CAD 8 million in Q4, up 39.2%.

Speaker 7

Gross margin as a percentage of revenues increased compared to the same quarter last year, mainly due to additional enterprise transformation services delivered in this segment. Looking at SG&A. In the fourth quarter, SG&A totaled CAD 31.8 million, an increase of CAD 2.1 million or 7.1% year-over-year, primarily driven by SG&A related to the eVerge acquisition, as well as higher share-based compensation, professional fees, and employee compensation costs. This resulted in SG&A as a percentage of revenue of 28%, compared to 23.7% in the same period last year. Turning to adjusted EBITDA. We reported CAD 12.7 million or 11.1% of revenue in Q4, compared to CAD 18 million or 14.4% of revenue last year. The decrease reflects lower revenue and gross margin, as well as higher SG&A expense as explained earlier.

Speaker 7

The recognition of non-refundable tax credit in the amount of CAD 5.8 million, net of the triggered variable compensation of CAD 4.5 million, had a positive net impact of CAD 1.3 million in the adjusted EBITDA for the three years ended March 31, 2026. Net loss for the quarter was CAD 8.7 million, compared to net earnings of CAD 8 million in the same period last year. The increased loss was mainly driven by the decreased gross margin caused by lower revenue and decreased utilization rate, partially offset by the recognition of non-refundable tax credit related to prior years available for carry-forward, increased selling, general and admin expenses, increased business acquisition, integration, and reorg costs, and increased income tax expense. Partially offset by the decreased depreciation and amortization of intangible and increased foreign exchange gain.

Speaker 7

To conclude on our results, adjusted net earnings came in at CAD 7.7 million or CAD 0.08 per share, compared to CAD 12.2 million or CAD 0.12 per share in the prior year. Turning to cash flow and financial position. Net cash from operating activity was CAD 3.5 million in the quarter, compared to CAD 17.1 million for the same quarter last year. In the fourth quarter, we pursued our normal course issuer bid, which allows us to purchase shares under certain conditions set by the TSX. As at March 31, 2026, approximately 3.2 million shares were purchased for cancellation. This number includes approximately 2.5 million shares purchased for cancellation as part of the Datum transaction.

Speaker 7

As of March 31, 2026, our net debt amounted to CAD 1.8 million, and our leverage ratio came out at 2.4 times net debt over the trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA, all within Alithya's targeted leverage levels. We believe this provides sufficient flexibility to support our operation and strategic priorities going forward. I will now turn things to Bernard for operational highlights.

Operator

Merci, Pierre, and good morning to everyone with us today. I want to begin by thanking the Alithya team for their commitment and execution throughout fiscal 2026. In the fourth quarter, we continued to execute with discipline while investing in our industry-led offerings, partnerships, and IP that strengthened our ability to deliver higher value transformation work and better long-term margin potential. To support this strategy, we strengthened our leadership team in two areas that are central to our execution with the addition of Benoit Godmaire and Sasadhar Nayak. Benoit is aligning our business and IT consulting teams across Canada, the U.S., and France to strengthen industry-led offerings, improve go-to-market consistency, and support the Canadian segment's return to healthier growth. Sasadhar is working across all Alithya divisions to strengthen our industry go-to-market strategy, improve account planning, and accelerate cross-selling into larger multi-practice opportunities.

Operator

Together, they bring deep IT services growth experience and strengthen the commercial capabilities we need to improve sales execution, increase cross-sell, and build a higher quality revenue mix. I'll now turn to bookings. Fourth quarter bookings were CAD 94.3 million, and full-year bookings were CAD 434.2 million, representing a book-to-bill of 0.83 in the quarter and 0.91 on a trailing 12-month basis. Excluding revenue associated with the two long-term contracts acquired in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, fourth quarter book-to-bill was 0.90, and trailing 12-month book-to-bill was 1.0, which better reflects the current period commercial activity. Fourth quarter bookings were CAD 33.9 million in Canada, CAD 56.7 million in the U.S., and CAD 3.7 million internationally. Our pipeline of qualified opportunities was stable sequentially.

Operator

Within that pipeline, client conversations continued to shift toward modernization, cloud transformation, and AI adoption, as organizations recognize that AI value depends on addressing legacy applications, data, workflow, and business rules. As a result, modernization is becoming a strategic business priority rather than discretionary technology spend. We are seeing demand concentrate around application modernization and cloud transformation, with AI increasingly serving as a catalyst for broader, higher value transformation programs. I will now turn to our U.S. and Canadian operating segments, where the performance dynamics remain distinct. As Pierre noted, the U.S. segment continued to grow, supported by demand across both our Oracle and Microsoft practices in our core industries, healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing, and by the broader enterprise transformation needs of our clients.

Operator

One year after completing the eVerge acquisition, integration has progressed well, and the combined capabilities are expanding our access to larger enterprise opportunities that neither organization could have pursued as effectively on its own. We continue to see an emerging opportunity in construction and engineering, where investment in data centers, energy infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and other large-scale projects is increasing demand for end-to-end project visibility and control. These clients need integrated platforms that improve capital allocation, cost control, resource planning, and governance while reducing execution risk. Alithya's capabilities in ERP, EPM, scheduling, and operational analytics align well with these complex, higher value transformation needs. In our Microsoft practice, we achieved the Microsoft Copilot specialization, which strengthens our credibility in enterprise AI deployments. Together with close Microsoft alignment, this is helping us expand Copilot and AI-related work, including assisting nine Fortune 500 companies, as well as healthcare and public sector organizations.

Operator

Clients are increasingly looking to deploy AI inside core enterprise platforms, not as isolated pilots, but as part of broader efforts to improve productivity, automate workflows, and modernize business processes. For a leading global development bank, our Copilot literacy and adoption program drove strong results, with 90% of users actively using Copilot in their daily work. The client saw productivity improvements throughout reduced manual effort, faster access to information, and quicker execution of core tasks. For our manufacturing client, we developed an AI agent that gives sales leaders real-time mobile access to customer and pipeline data, helping align production more quickly with demand. This is a good example of how AI can extend the value of existing enterprise data and workflows. We also continue to invest in AI-enabled delivery assets.

Operator

In the fourth quarter, we introduced Alithya Fabric Express, a proprietary accelerator that shortens the time required to prepare data for analytics and AI. For clients, it enables faster access to reliable data. For Alithya, it supports more repeatable delivery, reduces execution risk, and can improve delivery economics over time as we scale across our client base. In Canada, our repositioning toward higher-margin services continues to progress. We have deliberately exited low-value commoditized work, particularly in the Quebec public sector, where we are no longer competing on price alone. That decision continues to weigh on revenue in the near term, as higher-quality replacement work has taken longer to ramp in the current Quebec market. However, the mix is improving, and we believe this repositioning is necessary to support a healthier margin profile over time.

Operator

Our AWS partnership in Canada supports this repositioning by improving our access to modernization and cloud-led engagements with stronger economics and deeper client relationships. During the quarter, we achieved the AWS Migration and Modernization Competency, which strengthens our credibility in large-scale cloud modernization pursuits. Cross-selling has also expanded the opportunity set in Canada. The addition of Salesforce capabilities through eVerge is creating momentum in Quebec and across the broader Canadian market, contributing to a pipeline of larger multi-practice opportunities with stronger margin potential. Outside Quebec, performance remains steady in nuclear and financial services, supported by renewals with key accounts. For one of Canada's six largest banks, we renewed a long-term Azure Cloud support contract covering application deployment, automated CI/CD pipelines, and ongoing support. To close, we continue to strengthen on our delivery model. Expanding Smart Shoring and increasing the use of AI delivery are improving efficiency, scalability, and execution consistency.

Operator

Our Smart Shore centers now represent approximately 13% of our workforce, giving us a stronger platform to support profitable growth and more scalable delivery. In parallel, we completed our mandatory AI training across our workforce, equipping our teams to apply AI more consistently in client delivery and internal operations. Overall, we are encouraged by the consistency of our execution. While some parts of the business remain in transition, particularly in Canada, we are making deliberate choices to improve revenue quality, strengthen delivery scalability, and build a higher-value business with better margin potential over time. I will now turn it back to Paul for closing comments. Paul?

Speaker 6

Thank you, Bernard. To conclude, this quarter reflects the discipline of our teams as we continue to execute on our strategic plan. Across the organization, we're strengthening our foundations and continuing to evolve our business towards higher-value engagements. Our industry-first approach, combined with our investments in AI, data, and proprietary capabilities, is enhancing our position as a trusted advisor for complex transformation initiatives. While the environment continues to evolve, we remain focused on what we can control: execution, delivery excellence, and the continued advancement of our model. We believe the actions we are taking today support the long-term strategy of the business. With that, I will now open the line for questions. Dominic?

Speaker 2

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. As discussed earlier, only questions from the financial community will be addressed. To raise or lower your hand, please press star followed by five. You will hear a confirmation once your hand is raised. When it is your turn to speak, your line will be unlocked and you will hear a notification. At that point, please unmute yourself by pressing star six. The first question would be from Kevin Krishnaraj at Scotiabank. If you are unable to unmute yourself, please press star followed by six.

Speaker 4

Hey there. Hey, it's Kevin. Can you hear me?

Speaker 6

Yeah. Hey, good morning, Kevin.

Speaker 4

Hey. Good morning. Hey, quick question. Did you mention that you grew organically in the U.S., I think that's despite some of the tough comps. Number 1, is that what you said, if so, can you just talk about the main drivers in that? Was there anything one-time in nature? I also think you mentioned that you still saw a lower number of go lives year-over-year.

Speaker 6

Yes. Thank you for the question, Kevin. Yes, there was some organic growth in the U.S. That growth, we provided the numbers in constant currency because it impacted by currency in Q4. Part of the growth came from the eVerge acquisition, and part of it was organic across the board in both Oracle and Microsoft business. The comment on the go lives is just that last year in the same quarter, we had a record number of go lives, and that's why the year-over-year comparison we said is tough to beat, as I mentioned in previous calls.

Speaker 7

Kevin, it's Pierre. We also, in the prepared remarks, we identified that our Datum subsidiary was a detractor in the Q4.

Speaker 6

Right

Speaker 7

in terms of growth. We have to take the 7% year-over-year on constant currency. You have to take into account that it includes a declining Datum subsidiary.

Speaker 6

Yeah. If you remove Datum, the organic growth is actually a lot more significant.

Speaker 4

Yeah. No, that's good to hear. Even though you're running a lower number of go lives, you also talk about the combined entity now is able to compete on larger opportunities. Are you seeing the average deal sizes ticking up?

Speaker 6

Well, I can give you an example specific to eVerge. When we acquired eVerge, as we mentioned, they had two businesses. One was Oracle, specifically in the construction engineering sector, and a Salesforce practice. Today, we're going after Salesforce projects that are almost the size of eVerge's total revenue at the time we acquired them. The combined entity gives us access to much larger projects that Alithya could not have chased alone, and eVerge could not have chased alone either. Again, we're trying to demonstrate the power of the platform when we do the right acquisitions.

Speaker 4

Got you. Okay, good to hear. The second maybe related question, maybe we can talk about where you think you're going to go going forward. You did mention that your pipeline was stable sequentially. I do not know if that was for the U.S. or the company overall, do we start to see that pipeline grow in the next quarter? Remind us if you're still seeing the dynamic where customers maybe phasing their projects and maybe you're getting smaller recognition upfront, if you're still seeing that dynamic. Again, just comment on what you're seeing in the pipeline.

Speaker 6

Two questions in there. The first one, maybe I'll go back to Bernard's comments earlier in the statement study road. If you look at our bookings in the U.S. versus Canada, you do the quick math, our book-to-bill in the U.S. is above one, our book-to-bill in Canada is below one. Again, there are two things in that. One is it reflects the mix of business. In the U.S., we're 100% focused on the higher margin, mission-critical enterprise software projects, which are growing because as Bernard was mentioning, people who want to roll out AI at scale need a system of reference that has clean and coherent data across the enterprise. In Canada, we're still in a transition, especially in Quebec. The bookings and the funnel has changed.

Speaker 6

If you look at our overall sales funnel, it's very consistent in terms of size, but the type of deals in there have changed. In Canada, again, they're evolving to higher margin-type projects. In the U.S., it's growing the same.

Speaker 4

Thanks very much. I'll pass the line. Thanks, guys.

Speaker 6

Thank you.

Speaker 5

Thank you. Next question will be from Jerome Dubreuil at Desjardins Capital Markets. Please go ahead, Jerome. You can unlock your mic by pressing star followed by six.

Speaker 6

We can't hear you, Jerome. Star six to unmute.

Speaker 3

Hey. Okay, can you hear me?

Speaker 6

Yeah. Good morning.

Speaker 3

All right. Great. Good morning, everyone. [Foreign language] First question from me is a broader question on AI. It's really industry-wide, so not specific to Alithya necessarily, but one would think we could see urgency from the companies to organize their data to eventually benefit from AI, but we're not quite seeing it in the industry's results so far. It seems maybe like AI solutions aren't mature yet or are not mature enough to convince the corporate side. What do you think is giving the buyers pause at this time industry-wide?

Speaker 6

Great question, Jerome. As you've heard on this call before, if you've read any of the writings that I've published, I've been saying since the beginning that there's a lot of hype in the speed of adoption. I am a strong believer AI is going to change everything. However, the speed of adoption, I think has been over-hyped in certain areas. Let me give you a few very easy examples. Bernard mentioned the Copilot adoption. We're one of the select few at Microsoft that are certified to roll out Copilot in large organizations, and we do that in very large organizations in the U.S., Fortune 1000-type companies. The size of those projects are not significant. I mean, they're not in the CAD millions.

Speaker 6

Even though we have several dozen opportunities in the funnel and completions of those types of projects under our belt, they don't move the dial on a larger scale. They will eventually, as people start using it and then see the potential, but they don't move the scale in the short term, the needle in the short term. The issue is, in the world that we're in, there are two speeds of adoption of AI. Again, I've been saying this, in regulated industries, changing how you do work and what you automate is very much driven by regulation. In regulated environments, it is very difficult to make sure that you follow all the regulations, or you get all the authorities to approve what you do, and so on and so forth. Is it going to get there? Absolutely.

Speaker 6

If you're in a software development world today, huge change, right? Because you can automate coding. We're not software developers, we're integrators. It's impacting everything that we do. We can do things faster. If you look at the company headcount today versus what it was five years ago, we're significantly lower, but we're doing higher value type work. You're going to keep seeing that. Where we see the opportunity, the biggest opportunity in our industry as system integrators in regulated industries, and I've mentioned this before, is going to be the modernization of legacy systems. The tools from companies like AWS and Google and Microsoft today enable us to modernize legacy in a cost-effective way that was not possible four years ago.

Speaker 6

However, before a bank or a large insurance company or somebody decides to modernize all of their legacy platforms, as you can imagine, there's a lot of regulatory hurdles that you have to go through to make sure you don't break anything along the way. I think that's going to be the biggest opportunity for companies like us, and it's not going to happen overnight. It's going to be gradual. That's why we've invested in that. That's why we're working with hyperscalers like AWS. The new certification that Bernard just mentioned, why we're actually helping Microsoft, AWS, Oracle develop their own AI tools and AI agents and interfaces to integrate their tools better. That's where we really are positioning ourselves for the long term, by getting embedded with the hyperscalers around these things.

Speaker 6

Yes it's going to get there, and not at the speed that a lot of people are hyping. Anyways, that's my view of what's happening out there, if that helps.

Speaker 3

Yeah, that's a great answer, Paul. I have two more. Can you dive a bit into the agentic model? I think Bernard mentioned that you've built agents for some of the clients. What is the model exactly for monetization? Are these kind of still time and materials type of work, or is there some sort of recurring revenue that can be earned from the agents you've built?

Speaker 6

I'll let Bernard answer the client side, but I'll give you a simple example for a very large grocery chain in the U.S. We've basically replaced their customer call center completely. It's all AI-driven. It's on the Microsoft. Somebody calls that organization. You're not talking to a human. You wouldn't know it, but you're not talking to a human. The resolution rate has gone up dramatically. The client satisfaction rate has gone up dramatically. I think there's some areas like that that are very easy to do. I'll let Bernard comment on the contractual model.

Operator

Yeah. On the commercial model, Jerome, it's a number of things there. I know your question's specific to are we looking at recurring revenue from agents. Right now, again, on the adoption stuff, it's more on the services side, which could be on a outcome-based fixed price or time materials model. The other areas we are is extending our partner's IP as well. In my prepared remarks, I also spoke about Fabric Express, which is an AI-enabled product that we build internally, which again, it helps us in our delivery. Again, when we go to outcome-based pricing there, it allows us to change the economic models as we continue to reuse this product across our client base. Right now, I don't see, in our portfolio, a large volume of recurring revenue from the deployment of agents.

Operator

I do think the market will get there over time.

Speaker 3

Okay, great. Then last one for me. Last quarter, you made sure to highlight that 4Q was a tough comp. Any comments you want to be making on the first quarter, which ends in 19 days?

Speaker 6

Yeah. Good try Jerome. We don't provide guidance. We never have. I know it's something that people would like, it's just at the size of the business that we're at, we don't see it as something that would add value.

Speaker 3

Yep. Fair enough. [Foreign language]

Speaker 6

Merci.

Speaker 5

Thank you. Next question will be from Devin Fairweather. Just one moment. I will unlock your line. Mr. Fairweather, please unmute yourself by pressing star followed by six.

Speaker 1

Hey, can you hear me?

Speaker 6

Yeah. Good morning, yes.

Speaker 1

Just on Canada, could you just put some more meat on the bone in terms of the plans under new leadership, maybe touching on your workforce skills and how well aligned they are with where you're trying to take the business, maybe talk about the go-to-market evolution and what verticals you're targeting for growth and any comments around timelines on the plan?

Speaker 6

Sure. I'll let Bernard Dockrill comment on that, and I'll add a little thing at the end.

Operator

Yeah, great. With the new leadership, one of the things that's core to our plan here is to cross-sell more of our higher value enterprise transformation services into the Quebec and Canadian market. With the addition of Benoit, looking to bring that and really accelerate on cross-selling, and Sassi's position is directly related to that, too, as far as pushing some of these enterprise transformation services into those markets. We will continue to focus on the markets where we have strong presence in the Canadian markets, so financial services and insurance, and energy. Nuclear will definitely be core focuses for us as we continue to grow. As you know, we also have a large agreement in the telecom space as well. Those will be our core focuses. The other area where our enterprise transformation is really strong is in the manufacturing space.

Operator

Where we can bring those higher value services into the Canadian market, that is a strong focus for us.

Speaker 6

Okay. Again, at the end of the day, Gavin, maybe just to add to that, what really matters to us is the mix. The mix is improving. Bernard, we brought in new leadership in Canada, the team is focused on rebuilding the Quebec business, but we're rebuilding it on a healthier margin, right? Better revenue quality rather than chasing volume.

Speaker 1

Yeah, understood. Then maybe for Pierre, can you just help me understand the tax credits and how that works? Is this just a seasonal factor that comes up every Q4? Is it something which can play out in the other quarters of the year, or should we expect it next year? Maybe just help us understand that, because it does seem to create some volatility here in the fourth quarter in particular.

Speaker 7

Yes, Gavin, I can explain. There's two parts to the credits. There's a refundable and a non-refundable. The refundable, we accrue based on the work that we do. It's a subsidy on salary, basically. At the end of the year, when you total it up, there's a non-refundable portion. This quarter, we recognize non-refundable that we will be able to apply on future years, and we will repeat that every year, keeping the pool of non-refundable on our balance sheet until it's depleted. It's going to be recurring. The size won't be the same. It's based on our forecast profile and tax profile for the future years. It's going to be recurring, and there's two components. One is every quarter, the other one we assess at year-end.

Speaker 1

Very helpful. I'm not sure who wants to take this, maybe Paul or maybe Bernard, but if you look at your revenue breakdown, you are largely still a time and material business. We can talk about the shift to value and outcome-based pricing models. Maybe you can just discuss how those conversations are going with clients, how open they are to it, and how you expect your mix to shift over time.

Speaker 6

Yeah. Great question. Another thing that made a lot of noise in the past few months, we're not seeing a lot of it, Gavin. About 40% of our business today is fixed price or managed like a fixed price, I think we're still far from outcomes-based, personally. We do offer it to some clients. Where it gets complicated is when the procurement department gets involved, they have no way to deal with that yet. I'm looking forward to the day where outcomes-based is driving everything that we're doing, but it's still significantly time and material based.

Speaker 1

That's it for me. Thank you.

Speaker 6

All right. Thank you.

Speaker 5

Thank you. Next question will be from Rob Goff at Acumen Capital. Please press star followed by six, and go ahead.

Speaker 6

Yeah, we can't hear you, Rob, so you have to do star six.

Speaker 8

Okay. Good morning. Can you hear me now?

Speaker 6

Yeah, good morning.

Speaker 8

Very good. I was extremely insightful while I was muted there, just so you know. Sorry, bad joke. A question, and this isn't a forward-looking question so much, but it helped that we were aware that Q4 a year ago was an exceptional quarter for new bookings. How would you characterize Q1 of 2026 in terms of bookings levels or new launch levels?

Speaker 6

Good try, Rob. You've been talking to Jerome too much.

Speaker 7

Yeah. No, we're not going to provide guidance or visibility on Q1, sorry.

Speaker 8

Okay. No, it wasn't so much on this year, but rather just for last year, but I will jump ahead. Can I ask you on the M&A side, how are-

Speaker 6

Sorry, Rob. Last year is public. If you go in the press release, I don't remember by heart last year, it's available on our website.

Speaker 8

Okay, I will do.

Speaker 6

Yeah.

Speaker 8

In terms of acquisitions, how is the pipeline? How are valuations? What is your thinking?

Speaker 6

Well, if our valuation is any indication, the market is very interesting right now. You can see our counterparts in the whole industry, the way things are looking. We have a healthy funnel, we're always pursuing. It's in our strategy. We've mentioned it before. However, all three key conditions have to be met. One is we have to agree on the price. Two, they have to be for sale. Three, we need to find a tuck-in where management wants to stick around and grow. We've had the examples in the past, and you've been witness to them, that have worked very well, and others that haven't worked so well. Usually it's because one of those conditions didn't pan out. We're very disciplined on spending our money wisely, given we're doing them mostly in cash right now. Yeah, I think there's nice opportunities out there.

Speaker 8

Very good. How would you characterize the early-stage RFP pipeline? Does it seem to be strengthening, shifting in any way?

Speaker 6

I'll let Bernard take that one on, Rob.

Speaker 8

Thank you.

Operator

Yeah. As I mentioned, our pipeline is stable from last quarter. I think that remains kind of where we were, a consistent basis.

Speaker 6

Maybe let Bernard comment on the way the deals are being broken up by some clients.

Operator

Yeah. I think it was a question that Jerome had asked earlier as well on the breakup of deals. We are seeing that. Deals enter our pipeline much larger than how the original deal closes, and it closes over multiple phases. It's a trend we've talked about on this call several times previously. It continues to happen as we get there. There's a cautious step forward. We do eventually sign the full size of the deals. We prove out the first phase, second phase, and then typically by the third phase, the full contract is signed. We do see that in the larger enterprise transformation deals.

Speaker 8

Okay. Thank you, and good luck.

Speaker 6

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we have no other question, which concludes our conference call for today. We would like to thank you for attending, and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a good day.

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