Digital Workforce Q1’26 flash comment: Now we have the much-needed evidence
Summary
- Digital Workforce's Q1 revenue grew by 45% to 7.6 MEUR, surpassing estimates, driven by acquisitions and 22% organic growth, with significant contributions from Continuous and Professional Services.
- The company's Q1 adjusted EBITDA was 0.50 MEUR, exceeding the estimate of 0.31 MEUR, with a gross margin improvement to 40% from 34% in the previous period.
- Digital Workforce expects at least 15% revenue growth in 2026, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6–12%, while current performance suggests potential upward revisions to short-term estimates.
- The company has secured key contracts and is increasingly engaging with top management for business transformation, indicating a move up the value chain.
This content is generated by AI. You can give feedback on it in the Inderes forum.
Translation: Original published in Finnish on 04/22/2026 at 09:04 am EEST
| Estimates | Q1'25 | Q1'26 | Q1'26e | Q1'26e | Consensus | Difference (%) | 2026e | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEUR / EUR | Comparison | Actualized | Inderes | Consensus | Low | High | Act. vs. Inderes | Inderes | ||
| Revenue | 5.3 | 7.6 | 6.4 | 20 % | 28.3 | |||||
| EBITDA (adj.) | -0.3 | 0.50 | 0.31 | 59 % | 2.7 | |||||
| EBITDA | -1.2 | 0.42 | 0.31 | 34 % | 2.7 | |||||
| EBIT | -1.3 | -0.13 | -0.14 | 11 % | 0.8 | |||||
| EPS (rep.) | -0.11 | -0.02 | -0.01 | -68 % | 0.07 | |||||
| Organic revenue growth-% | -5.5 % | 21.9 % | -2.4 % | 24.3 pp | 1.7 % | |||||
| Revenue growth-% | -5.5 % | 44.6 % | 20.4 % | 24.3 pp | 16.6 % | |||||
| EBITDA (adj.) | -6.1 % | 6.5 % | 4.9 % | 1,6 %-yks. | 9,4 % | |||||
| Source: Inderes | ||||||||||
Digital Workforce
Digital Workforce published its Q1 business review this morning, which was better than expected. Revenue grew strongly, driven by acquisitions and also organically, thus clearly exceeding our estimate. Growth also scaled partly to profitability, even though the company simultaneously invested in launching large customer contracts. The company has secured promising new and strategically key contracts in the early part of the year, which also improves confidence for the future.
Revenue exceeded our estimate and also grew strongly organically
Digital Workforce's revenue grew by 45% to 7.6 MEUR in Q1, and clearly exceeded our estimate. Growth was driven by the e18 acquisition, and we estimate organic growth was 22%. A particularly positive aspect is the acceleration of organic growth, which is clearly better than the IT services sector (Q4 +1%). By business line, the "higher-value" Continuous Services grew by 38%, which was better than our estimated 23% growth. Professional Services grew by 55%, performing significantly better than the 16% growth estimate. Growth was driven by the strong performance of the healthcare sector in Finland and the UK, as well as the expansion in Enterprise & Public accounts. Regarding sales, the company has announced several contracts this year, and in addition, several contracts in the UK have not met the announcement threshold. Thus, the sales pipeline still looks good in the short term, and the much-needed evidence can be expected to continue. The company also commented that it is increasingly working with clients' top management on in-depth business transformation, which we believe indicates that the company has moved up the value chain, at least in part.
The operating result exceeded our estimates in Q1
Earnings improved clearly in Q1 and exceeded our estimates The gross margin was 40%, a clear improvement from 34% in the comparison period, and also exceeded the seasonally strong Q4 level (39%). On the other hand, with strong growth and its scaling, this was desirable to say the least. The company commented that it had invested in launching large customer contracts, which, in our understanding, limited the scalability of growth to profitability more significantly. EBITDA was 0.42 MEUR and 0.50 MEUR when adjusted for non-recurring items, which exceeded our estimate of 0.31 MEUR. This corresponds to an adjusted EBITDA margin of 7%. Depreciation was slightly higher than expected, and the lower lines included a larger expense item than anticipated (the company does not elaborate on the lower lines). Thus, earnings per share were EUR -0.02, one cent below our estimate.
Performance is well on track when reflecting on the guidance
Digital Workforce expects the group's revenue to grow by at least 15% in 2026 compared to 2025. Additionally, the company expects adjusted EBITDA to be 6–12% of revenue. Ahead of the Q1 report, we estimated the company's revenue to grow by 17% in 2026, driven by acquisitions (organically 2%), and the adj. EBITDA margin to be 9.4%. With the sales pipeline currently materializing well, there is upward pressure on our short-term estimates.
Login required
This content is only available for logged in users
Digital Workforce is a service provider specializing in industrial-scale process automation services. The company's service offering covers the entire intelligent automation lifecycle: design and consulting, development and deployment, cloud-based platform, support and maintenance, and further development. The company offers services and solutions to customers in various industries, including finance, healthcare, industry, logistics, and various public actors.
Read more on company pageKey Estimate Figures19.03.
| 2025 | 26e | 27e | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 24.3 | 28.3 | 30.6 |
| growth-% | 6.8 % | 16.6 % | 8.3 % |
| EBIT (adj.) | 0.9 | 2.3 | 3.1 |
| EBIT-% (adj.) | 3.9 % | 8.0 % | 10.0 % |
| EPS (adj.) | 0.06 | 0.19 | 0.25 |
| Dividend | 0.09 | 0.09 | 0.11 |
| Dividend % | 3.4 % | 3.7 % | 4.5 % |
| P/E (adj.) | 43.6 | 12.8 | 9.9 |
| EV/EBITDA | 564.6 | 11.1 | 7.5 |
Forum discussions
