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DBS keeps AvePoint at &lsquo buy&rsquo on AI governance, US public-sector recovery
DBS Group Research analyst Sachin Mittal has kept his &ldquo buy&rdquo call and $20 target price on AvePoint, after what he calls &ldquo a steady quarter&rdquo for the data management and governance software provider.
AvePoint&rsquo s 1QFY2026 results were broadly in line, supported by demand for AI governance and resiliency solutions. Total revenue rose 26% y-o-y and 2% q-o-q to US$117.2 million ($148.7 million), about 1% above consensus estimates and at the higher end of management&rsquo s guidance.
Software-as-a- Service (SaaS) remained AvePoint&rsquo s largest revenue driver, growing 35% y-o-y and 5% q-o-q to US$93.4 million. This lifted its share of total revenue to a record 80%.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) rose 26% y-o-y and 4% q-o-q to US$435.2 million, in line with consensus. Net new ARR recorded its 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth.
One reason for Mittal&rsquo s positive view is AvePoint&rsquo s growing exposure to AI governance. Governance now accounts for about 40% of the company&rsquo s pipeline, up from less than a third last year, helped by the bundling of AI governance tools.
During the quarter, AvePoint launched AgentPulse Command Center, which enables unified monitoring and control of AI agents across Microsoft 365 and Google Cloud environments.
Non-GAAP operating income rose 53% y-o-y but declined 10% q-o-q to US$20.5 million, about 2% above consensus and at the higher end of management&rsquo s guidance. Non-GAAP operating margin came in at 17.5%, up 310 basis points y-o-y, helped by improved sales productivity, growing channel contribution and operating leverage.
AvePoint has trimmed its FY2026 ARR and non-GAAP operating income guidance slightly due to the stronger US dollar. Management now expects FY2026 ARR of US$523.4 million to US$529.4 million, from US$525.1 million to US$531.1 million previously. The midpoint remains in line with consensus.
FY2026 non-GAAP operating income guidance was also lowered to US$91.5 million to US$94.5 million, from US$92.6 million to US$96.6 million previously.
Still, Mittal does not see the softer guidance as a major concern. &ldquo AvePoint has a track record of delivering above its quarterly guidance for revenue and non-GAAP operating income, as we have seen in the past four quarters,&rdquo he writes in his May 8 note.
The company is continuing to invest in sales, marketing, AI governance capabilities and go-to-market expansion as it works towards its US$1 billion ARR target by 2029.
Mittal expects AvePoint&rsquo s FY2026 performance to benefit from a recovery in US public-sector spending, rising demand for resiliency solutions in the Middle East and AI governance-driven ARR growth.
AvePoint&rsquo s longer-term ARR target is expected to be driven by multi-cloud growth, led by a sharper rise in Google-related demand, as well as AI governance.
Management also reiterated expectations for FY2026 free cash flow of more than US$100 million, while continuing share repurchases and retaining flexibility for strategic acquisitions.
As at 11.07 am, shares in AvePoint are trading on SGX $1.02 higher, or 7.67% up at $14.32.
This one under the radar... slow moving.. entered in March ... waiting for it to move up significantly...
AvePoint 1QFY2026 earnings rise as SaaS revenue jumps 35%
AvePoint has reported earnings of US$15.3 million ($19.4 million) for its 1QFY2026, more than four times the US$3.6 million recorded a year earlier. The data management and governance tools provider benefited from higher software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue and wider operating margins.
For the three months ended March 31, total revenue rose 26% y-o-y to US$117.2 million. SaaS revenue, its largest business line, increased 35% y-o-y to US$93.4 million, helped by demand for data protection, security and governance software.
Operating income rose to US$12.7 million from US$3.3 million a year earlier. AvePoint&rsquo s GAAP operating margin improved to 10.9%, from 3.5% in 1QFY2025.
Listed on Nasdaq and the Singapore Exchange, AvePoint sells software that helps companies secure, govern and recover data across cloud systems including Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and other cloud environments. The company is positioning that business as part of the enterprise AI spending cycle, where organisations must first control fragmented and overexposed data before deploying AI tools more widely.
Annual recurring revenue reached US$435.2 million as at March 31, up 26% y-o-y. The company&rsquo s dollar-based net retention rate was 111%, while gross retention stood at 89%.
AvePoint had more than 28,500 customers and 863 customers with over US$100,000 in ARR, according to its investor presentation. North America accounted for 42% of ARR, while EMEA made up 36% and Asia Pacific 22%, giving the company a diversified revenue base.
The company raised its full-year ARR guidance to between US$523.4 million and US$529.4 million, implying growth of 26% at the midpoint. It expects full-year revenue of US$509.4 million to US$515.4 million, or growth of 22% at the midpoint. AvePoint also expects full-year non-GAAP operating income of US$91.5 million to US$94.5 million
However, AvePoint says foreign-exchange fluctuations are expected to weigh on its metrics, more than offsetting the ARR raise and first-quarter outperformance for revenue and non-GAAP operating income. On a constant-currency basis, full-year revenue growth is expected to be 20% at the midpoint.
For 2QFY2026, AvePoint expects revenue of US$120.3 million to US$122.3 million, representing y-o-y growth of 19% at the midpoint. Non-GAAP operating income is expected to come in between US$18.7 million and US$19.7 million.
AvePoint ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of US$444.1 million, down from US$481.1 million as at Dec. 31. The company spent US$59.8 million buying back common stock during the quarter and has renewed its share repurchase programme for another three years, allowing it to buy back up to US$150 million of common stock.
As at 9.16 am, shares in AvePoint are trading on SGX 23 cents lower, or 1.76% down, at $12.85.
AvePoint eyes US$100 million in acquisitions to fast-track US$1 billion revenue target
The data management firm is also considering more stock buybacks and expanding its headcount
[SINGAPORE] Armed with a US$481 million war chest, data management firm AvePoint : AVP -1.12% is eyeing deals worth more than US$100 million as it seeks to accelerate its path towards US$1 billion in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by 2029.
While the Nasdaq and Singapore Exchange (SGX) mainboard-listed firm has primarily relied on organic growth for years, chief executive officer Jiang Tianyi signalled the company&rsquo s shift towards larger, more strategic acquisitions.
&ldquo We are looking at assets that can help us expand our platform, to be more &lsquo sticky&rsquo ,&rdquo he told The Business Times in an interview. Since its inception in 2001, the company has made six acquisitions, all of which were below US$20 million in value.
But Dr Jiang said that future deals could be in the &ldquo several hundred million dollars&rdquo range, marking a step-up in scale as part of efforts to improve customer retention.
He noted that the company&rsquo s US$1 billion ARR goal was modelled solely on organic growth, but &ldquo meaningful&rdquo and &ldquo synergistic&rdquo acquisitions could accelerate that trajectory. The company&rsquo s ARR stood at US$416.8 million at the end of FY2025.
&ldquo There are very interesting assets that allow us to become even bigger as a platform because we do see platform consolidation,&rdquo he said, adding that customers prefer working with fewer enterprise application platforms.
Dr Jiang added that the company is &ldquo always actively looking&rdquo for potential acquisitions, without committing to a specific timeline.
AvePoint, which obtained a secondary listing on SGX in September last year, provides cloud data management software for enterprises, with Singapore as its Asia headquarters and international research and development hub.
The company&rsquo s growth push comes as it works to improve customer retention metrics.
AvePoint&rsquo s gross retention rate (GRR) &ndash a measure of its ability to retain existing customer revenue year over year &ndash fell to 88 per cent in Q4 FY2025, falling short of its 90 per cent target.
In the company&rsquo s earnings call in February, Dr Jiang attributed the GRR dip to migration-related projects and offering of lower-priced products, noting that GRR would have hit 90 per cent excluding these factors.
Expanding on human capital
To drive growth, AvePoint is looking to expand its 3,000-strong headcount, defying a broader sector-wide trend of tech layoffs tied to artificial intelligence (AI).
However, Dr Jiang dismissed such AI-driven job cuts as a &ldquo convenient excuse&rdquo .
&ldquo Instead of cutting 40 per cent of your employees, if you can use AI with your existing employees and go after 40 per cent more growth... everyone would choose growth,&rdquo he said.
&ldquo We pair AI with good people so that we are more productive,&rdquo he added, noting that the company &ldquo needs more people&rdquo to engage clients as it takes on new projects.
Stock buybacks on the table
AvePoint is also keeping share buybacks on the table as part of its capital allocation strategy.
In the first two months of the year, AvePoint repurchased 2.8 million shares for US$33.5 million. The company repurchased 3.4 million shares for about US$50 million in 2025.
&ldquo Share buybacks remain a key pillar of our capital allocation philosophy, and we intend to remain active and opportunistic in the open market,&rdquo Jim Caci, AvePoint&rsquo s chief financial officer, said during the earnings call in February.
Dr Jiang noted that general investors, who are not tech insiders, struggle to identify winners and losers in the AI transition. Thus, enterprise software stocks, along with the broader market, are suffering from falling share prices in recent months &ndash a trend which he labelled as &ldquo unfair&rdquo .
The data management company&rsquo s share price has fallen more than 20 per cent this year, in line with a wider tech sector pullback.
Still, Dr Jiang said, the company will balance capital returns with investments in growth.
&ldquo These are uncertain times, so we&rsquo re very focused on continued profitable growth,&rdquo he said.
DBS cuts AvePoint TP to $20 on SaaS de-rating
DBS Group Research has maintained its &ldquo buy&rdquo call on AvePoint with a lower target price (TP) of $20, down from $28, to reflect the broader de-rating of software-as-a-service (SaaS) peers.
Analyst Sachin Mittal says the reduced target price is based on seven times 12-month forward EV/Sales. Despite the lower multiple, AvePoint trades at a 41% discount to peers on this metric while offering a 21% revenue CAGR over FY2025 to FY2027, compared with the peer average of 15%.
&ldquo Our TP is based on a 7x 12-month forward EV/Sales, at about 25% premium to the peer average of 5.6 times for its superior growth,&rdquo wrote Mittal in his Feb 27 note. &ldquo We believe AvePoint should be largely immune to AI-related disruption given its local compliance expertise and its own AI-readiness.&rdquo
AvePoint is the largest third-party data management provider for Microsoft 365, supporting platforms such as Teams and SharePoint. It provides backup, recovery, compliance and access-control tools designed to help enterprises manage data sprawl and meet regulatory requirements.
The company reported 4QFY2025 revenue of US$114.7 million ($145.3 million), up 29% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 5% quarter-on-quarter, about 4% above consensus estimates. SaaS revenue rose 37% y-o-y to US$88.9 million, lifting the SaaS mix to a record 78%. Non-GAAP operating income climbed 58% y-o-y to US$22.9 million, also ahead of expectations, with an operating margin at 20%.
Net new annual recurring revenue (ARR) reached a record US$26.8 million in the quarter, bringing total ARR to US$416.8 million, up 27% from a year earlier. The company added 64 customers with more than US$100,000 in ARR during the quarter, signalling continued traction among larger enterprises.
Management guided 1QFY2026 revenue of US$115 million to US$117 million, about 4% above market expectations at the midpoint. For the full year, it expects revenue of US$509.4 million to US$517.4 million, implying 22% growth at the midpoint and modestly ahead of consensus. However, full-year non-GAAP operating income guidance came in slightly below expectations as the company steps up spending on customer acquisition, marketing and AI governance capabilities.
Mittal notes that 2026 will be an investment year, with management prioritising expansion in data intelligence and AI oversight tools. The company reiterated its long-term non-GAAP operating margin target of 25% to 30% and its ambition to reach US$1 billion in ARR by 2029.
According to IDC, AvePoint&rsquo s total addressable market stood at US$81.3 billion in FY2024 and is projected to grow at a 14% compound annual rate to US$136.5 billion by FY2028. Management estimates AvePoint&rsquo s ARR could grow at a 24% CAGR from US$417 million in FY2025 to approach management&rsquo s US$1 billion target by FY2029, outpacing underlying market expansion.
Growth has been led by its Resilience suite, which accounts for 62% of ARR and focuses on backup and compliance, followed by the Control suite at 26% and the Modernisation suite at 12%. Revenue diversification is also evident geographically: 39% comes from North America, 32% from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 29% from Asia Pacific, which recorded the fastest growth at a 30% CAGR over FY2023 to FY2025.
Key risks include macroeconomic weakness in the Americas and Europe, which together account for about 70% of revenue and could slow cloud adoption. Competition in data security and governance remains intense, potentially pressuring pricing and margins, while the company' s heavy reliance on Microsoft exposes it to shifts in cloud strategy or partnership dynamics.
DBS Group Research has maintained its &ldquo buy&rdquo call on AvePoint with a lower target price (TP) of $20, down from $28, to reflect the broader de-rating of software-as-a-service (SaaS) peers.
Analyst Sachin Mittal says the reduced target price is based on seven times 12-month forward EV/Sales. Despite the lower multiple, AvePoint trades at a 41% discount to peers on this metric while offering a 21% revenue CAGR over FY2025 to FY2027, compared with the peer average of 15%.
&ldquo Our TP is based on a 7x 12-month forward EV/Sales, at about 25% premium to the peer average of 5.6 times for its superior growth,&rdquo wrote Mittal in his Feb 27 note. &ldquo We believe AvePoint should be largely immune to AI-related disruption given its local compliance expertise and its own AI-readiness.&rdquo
AvePoint is the largest third-party data management provider for Microsoft 365, supporting platforms such as Teams and SharePoint. It provides backup, recovery, compliance and access-control tools designed to help enterprises manage data sprawl and meet regulatory requirements.
The company reported 4QFY2025 revenue of US$114.7 million ($145.3 million), up 29% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 5% quarter-on-quarter, about 4% above consensus estimates. SaaS revenue rose 37% y-o-y to US$88.9 million, lifting the SaaS mix to a record 78%. Non-GAAP operating income climbed 58% y-o-y to US$22.9 million, also ahead of expectations, with an operating margin at 20%.
Net new annual recurring revenue (ARR) reached a record US$26.8 million in the quarter, bringing total ARR to US$416.8 million, up 27% from a year earlier. The company added 64 customers with more than US$100,000 in ARR during the quarter, signalling continued traction among larger enterprises.
Management guided 1QFY2026 revenue of US$115 million to US$117 million, about 4% above market expectations at the midpoint. For the full year, it expects revenue of US$509.4 million to US$517.4 million, implying 22% growth at the midpoint and modestly ahead of consensus. However, full-year non-GAAP operating income guidance came in slightly below expectations as the company steps up spending on customer acquisition, marketing and AI governance capabilities.
Mittal notes that 2026 will be an investment year, with management prioritising expansion in data intelligence and AI oversight tools. The company reiterated its long-term non-GAAP operating margin target of 25% to 30% and its ambition to reach US$1 billion in ARR by 2029.
According to IDC, AvePoint&rsquo s total addressable market stood at US$81.3 billion in FY2024 and is projected to grow at a 14% compound annual rate to US$136.5 billion by FY2028. Management estimates AvePoint&rsquo s ARR could grow at a 24% CAGR from US$417 million in FY2025 to approach management&rsquo s US$1 billion target by FY2029, outpacing underlying market expansion.
Growth has been led by its Resilience suite, which accounts for 62% of ARR and focuses on backup and compliance, followed by the Control suite at 26% and the Modernisation suite at 12%. Revenue diversification is also evident geographically: 39% comes from North America, 32% from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and 29% from Asia Pacific, which recorded the fastest growth at a 30% CAGR over FY2023 to FY2025.
Key risks include macroeconomic weakness in the Americas and Europe, which together account for about 70% of revenue and could slow cloud adoption. Competition in data security and governance remains intense, potentially pressuring pricing and margins, while the company' s heavy reliance on Microsoft exposes it to shifts in cloud strategy or partnership dynamics.
AvePoint Q4 profit swings into black at US$15.6 million as AI demand fuels software boom
Revenue for the quarter also rose 29% to US$114.7 million
[SINGAPORE] Data management firm AvePoint&rsquo s net profit in Q4 FY2025 swung into the black at US$15.6 million, reversing from a US$17.2 million loss the previous year.
Revenue of AvePoint also rose 29 per cent to US$114.7 million in the fourth quarter, from US$89.2 million in the previous corresponding period.
&ldquo We see healthy demand from companies spanning every size, vertical and region of the world,&rdquo said Dr Jiang Tianyi, chief executive of AvePoint at the earnings call on Friday (Feb 27).
He added that amid the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and agentic AI adoption, organisations no longer view data governance as &ldquo simple back-office hygiene&rdquo , but as a &ldquo prerequisite&rdquo .
He argued that the next stage of growth with AI agents lies in data governance and operational oversight for AI.
The increase in Q4 profit capped a full-year financial turnaround for the tech company, as it reported a profit of US$34.8 million for 2025, reversing from a US$29.1 million loss in the previous year.
&ldquo Saas (Software-as-a-service) continues to drive our business,&rdquo said Jim Caci, chief financial officer of the group.
AvePoint provides platforms that help companies with operational oversight for data, ensuring that unstructured data &ndash such as those in text format &ndash will be able to be used for AI training.
Saas &ndash referring to accessing software through cloud &ndash accounted for 78 per cent of total fiscal Q4 revenue. Saas revenue in Q4 grew 37 per cent year on year to US$88.9 million.
&ldquo Our fourth-quarter results are a strong conclusion to an outstanding year,&rdquo said Dr Jiang. AvePoint was listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in September last year, and has been listed on the Nasdaq since 2021.
However, AvePoint is still facing some headwinds &ndash particularly on the gross retention rates front.
Its gross retention rate &ndash which is a metric showing the percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers, excluding expansion &ndash stood at 88 per cent in Q4, which was in line with the Q3 retention rate, noted Caci.
He added that in Q3 and Q4, AvePoint noted a higher migration contribution than in prior years, due to increased customer modernisation around AI deployment.
Nonetheless, both Dr Jiang and Caci remain optimistic that Avepoint will be able to attain its target of US$1 billion annual recurring revenue by 2029.
Annual recurring revenue (ARR) of AvePoint increased 27 per cent to US$416.8 million as at Dec 31. This was the eleventh consecutive quarter of double-digit net new ARR growth, Caci said.
The company ended the year with 820 customers with a total ARR of over US$100,000, a year over year increase of 24 per cent, said Caci.
He also added that it has more than 100 customers with ARR of over US$500,000, as well as 31 customers with ARR of more than US$1,000,000.
&ldquo Taken together, these results demonstrate that we are meeting the demands of organisations looking for single-platform vendors that can address multiple strategic use cases,&rdquo he said.
AvePoint Q3 earnings jump four times to US$13 million shares fall on EPS miss
Total revenue up 23.6% at US$109.7 million
[SINGAPORE] Cybersecurity company AvePoint has posted a 396.8 per cent increase in net profit to US$13 million for its third quarter ended Sep 30, from US$2.6 million in the corresponding period the year before.
This came on the back of a 23.6 per cent rise in total revenue to US$109.7 million, driven by growth in its software as a service (SaaS) and services segments.
However, shares of AvePoint on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) fell 2 per cent or S$0.36 to S$17.80 as at 2.34 pm on Friday (Nov 7), as the company missed earnings per share (EPS) estimates.
AvePoint logged an EPS of US$0.06 for Q3 &ndash up from US$0.01 in the year-ago period, but falling short of the expected EPS of US$0.074 for the quarter based on a Bloomberg consensus of nine analysts.
Revenue from its SaaS cloud-based solutions rose 38 per cent to US$84 million on strong customer demand, while services revenue climbed 27.3 per cent to US$13.8 million.
The increase in total revenue was partially offset by a decline in term licence and support, as well as maintenance revenues.
Revenue from maintenance fell 72 per cent to US$837,000, while term licence and support revenue saw a 21.2 per cent drop to US$11.1 million.
&ldquo Maintenance revenue is expected to continue declining as we have shifted away from the sale of perpetual licences and towards SaaS and term licences,&rdquo the group said in a bourse filing on Friday.
&ldquo Without perpetual licence sales, there will be limited opportunities to sell maintenance contracts to new customers. Existing customers have and will continue to transition to SaaS and term licences,&rdquo it added.
Total annual recurring revenue (ARR) increased 26 per cent year on year to US$390 million. AvePoint attributed the growth in ARR to both new customer acquisitions and the expansion of existing customer relationships.
&ldquo We believe ARR further enables measurement of our business performance, is an important metric for financial forecasting, and better enables us to make strategic business decisions,&rdquo it said.
AvePoint has a secondary listing on the SGX mainboard, with a primary listing on the Nasdaq.
Singapore, where it first established a presence in 2009, now serves as the company&rsquo s Asia headquarters and international research and development hub.