SS&C Technologies NASDAQ: SSNC reported first-quarter 2026 results that management described as resilient despite a volatile macro backdrop, and raised its full-year outlook based on current performance and visibility. Chairman and CEO Bill Stone cited “a war in Iran, tariffs galore, spiking oil prices, and other macro headwinds,” but said the company still delivered record first-quarter adjusted revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and adjusted diluted EPS.
Adjusted revenue was $1.648 billion, up 9% year-over-year, while adjusted diluted earnings per share rose 14% to $1.69. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA increased 10% to $651 million, producing an EBITDA margin of 39.5%. Stone said the results “underscore SS&C’s resilience,” and added that the company is “raising 2026 guidance.”
Business mix update and segment drivers
Stone said SS&C is updating the name of its largest revenue line item to “technology-enabled services,” describing it as a framework that includes “proprietary data streams, domain expertise, software, private cloud, data center infrastructure with ISO and SOC certifications,” along with “redundancy and multilayered cybersecurity measures” used to support clients.
President and COO Rahul Kanwar emphasized that clients are primarily buying services—such as “NAV computations, tax returns, regulatory filings, investor interactions, risk calculations”—that are typically contracted as services rather than software licenses. Kanwar estimated that software, “largely in the form of subscriptions,” represents about 11% of the technology-enabled services category.
On performance drivers, Stone said adjusted organic revenue growth was 5% and credited growth to several areas:
- GIDS organic revenue growth of 10.4%
- GlobeOp organic revenue growth of 6.7%
- Intralinks growth of 3.2%, with Stone pointing to “positive leading indicators” and increasing adoption of the “AI-enabled DealCentre AI platform”
Kanwar said GIDS and GlobeOp “built on last year’s sales performance with additional new logo wins and continued upsell and cross-sell activity,” adding that SS&C’s pipelines are “robust” and that “execution remains the priority.”
AI focus and new Blue Prism platform
Management repeatedly framed artificial intelligence as an opportunity rather than a threat. Stone said SS&C is leveraging AI to “enhance software development, increase our speed to market, accelerate implementations, improve customer experience, and drive efficiencies,” and noted that teams are partnering closely with Blue Prism “to scale our AI operations in a governed and secure manner.”
In the Q&A, Stone said the company does not view AI as a disintermediation threat given the embedded nature of its workflows and regulatory requirements, pointing to ongoing obligations such as tax and regulatory filings across global jurisdictions. “People still have to get their work done,” Stone said, emphasizing the complexity and changing nature of compliance requirements.
Stone also highlighted SS&C’s existing automation footprint, stating the company has deployed “close to 4,000 digital workers” and believes that has “maybe saved us $200 million a year,” while noting compute and data infrastructure costs. Kanwar added that SS&C is seeing benefits in the “speed of software development” and described a strategy of turning decades of domain expertise into “skills” that AI agents can run.
Looking ahead, Stone said SS&C will launch “SS&C Blue Prism WorkHQ,” described as “our agentic workflow orchestration platform designed to coordinate automation, AI agents, and human decision-making across enterprise workflows.” He said early adopter feedback has been positive and that registration for the launch event has exceeded 2,000.
Capital returns, cash flow, and balance sheet
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, Stone said cash from operating activities was $300 million, up 10% year-over-year. SS&C returned $233 million to shareholders in the quarter, including $168 million of share repurchases (2.3 million shares at an average price of $72.60) and $65 million in common stock dividends. Stone said “98% of our allocated capital in Q1 was returned directly to our shareholders,” and added that at current levels the company’s “conviction around share repurchase has strengthened,” prioritizing buybacks “absent high-quality accretive acquisitions.”
CFO Brian Schell said SS&C ended the quarter with $421 million in cash and cash equivalents and $7.5 billion in gross debt. Net debt was $7.1 billion, with a net leverage ratio of 2.76x based on last-twelve-month consolidated EBITDA of $2.6 billion. Net interest expense was $105 million, flat year-over-year.
Guidance raised for 2026
Schell provided updated guidance assumptions, including retention consistent with recent results, short-term interest rates remaining at current levels, an adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 22.5%, and capital expenditures of 4.4% to 4.8% of revenue. He also said the company assumes “a stronger weighting to share repurchases versus debt reduction.”
For the second quarter of 2026, SS&C expects:
- Revenue of $1.64 billion to $1.68 billion (5.6% organic revenue growth at the midpoint)
- Adjusted net income of $408 million to $424 million
- Adjusted diluted EPS of $1.64 to $1.70
For full-year 2026, the company increased expectations to:
- Revenue of $6.664 billion to $6.824 billion (5.3% organic growth at the midpoint)
- Adjusted net income of $1.665 billion to $1.765 billion
- Adjusted diluted EPS of $6.74 to $7.06 (about 12% growth at the midpoint)
Schell said the company is maintaining its targeted annual EBITDA margin expansion of 50 basis points and reiterated a goal of a 40% margin in the fourth quarter.
Q&A highlights: AUA growth, private credit, tokenization, and wealth
Stone pointed to continued expansion in fund administration scale, noting SS&C has added $581 billion in assets under administration since the first quarter of 2024. He attributed the increase to both market appreciation and asset allocation trends, including increased allocations to global macro hedge funds.
Addressing private credit, Kanwar said most of SS&C’s private credit funds are structured as closed-end vehicles, with fees generally based on “committed capital” or other relatively static metrics, making the business “pretty immune from day-to-day fluctuations.” He added that many large private credit clients “still continue to grow with us.”
On tokenization and blockchain, Kanwar said SS&C already has customers that are tokenized or in the process, and described the technology as an enabler. He said tokenization can simplify investor onboarding, but “the rest of the work stays exactly the same,” adding that Calastone is “a big part of that for us.” Stone noted SS&C spent $1 billion to acquire Calastone, and Schell said Calastone “continued to perform well” in the quarter.
In wealth management, Stone said growth has been supported by Black Diamond and related products, and pointed to “Black Diamond Trust Suite” as a tailwind as registered investment advisors increasingly need trust accounting capabilities. He also cited a prior “Morningstar transaction” that he said added 6,700 RIAs, and added that Black Diamond “continues to execute” with “strong and satisfied clients,” with expectations it can continue to grow “in excess of double digits.”
In closing remarks, Stone said SS&C delivered “a strong quarter,” has “a lot of momentum,” and expects upcoming product rollouts to add to that momentum.
About SS&C Technologies NASDAQ: SSNC
SS&C Technologies is a global provider of software and services for the financial services industry, offering technology and outsourcing solutions that support investment managers, asset servicing firms, insurance companies, private equity and real estate managers, hedge funds, wealth managers and other financial institutions. The company's offerings span front-, middle- and back-office functionality, enabling clients to automate trading, portfolio accounting, reconciliation, performance measurement, risk and compliance, and client reporting.
SS&C delivers its capabilities through a mix of licensed software, cloud-based SaaS platforms and managed services.
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