Alkami Technology's Q1 2026: Revenue Ramps, Net Loss Persists, and a $100 Million Buyback in the Wings

ALKT earnings coverage with a view toward EPS, revenue forecast, and what the results portend for peers in digital banking software.

Overview: growth on top, profitability on the back burner

Alkami Technology, Inc. (ticker: ALKT) posted a first quarter for 2026 that shows the classic fintech paradox: rapid top-line expansion accompanied by ongoing GAAP losses. Total GAAP revenue came in at $126.1 million, up 28.9% year over year, signaling continued demand for Alkami’s cloud-based digital banking platform. Yet the company reported a GAAP net loss of $10.0 million, a reminder that growth and profitability remain decoupled for now. On the flip side, Adjusted EBITDA was a positive $22.3 million, underscoring the path to profitability through operational leverage even as GAAP earnings per share (EPS) remain negative for the quarter.

The release also highlights margin dynamics: GAAP gross margin at 58.6% (versus 59.0% a year ago) and non-GAAP gross margin at 64.4% (slightly higher than last year’s 64.3%). The contrast between the GAAP and non-GAAP picture underscores the usual volatility around stock-based compensation and amortization that investors tend to parse when evaluating EPS and the underlying business quality.

Quarter highlights

GAAP total revenue: $126.1 million
YoY revenue growth: about 28.9%
GAAP gross margin: 58.6%
Non-GAAP gross margin: 64.4%
GAAP net loss: $(10.0) million
Adjusted EBITDA: $22.3 million
Active momentum: 6 new digital banking logos and 14 new MANTL logos in the quarter
Users and ARR: 2.5 million registered users added in the last 12 months; 23.0 million digital banking users; ARR of $493.6 million (up 22% YoY)
Revenue per registered user: $21.46 (up 9%)
Q1 Adjusted EBITDA margin: 17.7%

Management comments: momentum and the DSSP anchor

“In the first quarter, we delivered strong financial and operating performance, with revenue growth of 29% and Adjusted EBITDA of over $22 million,” said Alex Shootman, Chief Executive Officer. “We also expanded our client portfolio, signing 6 new digital banking logos and 14 new MANTL logos.” The DSSP—Digital Sales & Service Platform—appears to be a core driver of the logo growth story, with half of the new logos in the quarter being DSSP clients.

Cassandra Hudson, Chief Financial Officer, added that the company ended the quarter with 23.0 million digital banking users and ARR of $493.6 million, up meaningfully year over year. She highlighted revenue per registered user at $21.46, up 9%, and emphasized the scalability of Alkami’s financial model, noting an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.7% for the quarter.

Share repurchase program: opportunistic value management

Alkami announced that its Board has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100 million of common stock, to be executed in the open market or via privately negotiated transactions. The program sits alongside a broader capital-allocation framework that prioritizes growth through acquisitions, balance-sheet deleveraging, and now share repurchases to potentially lift per-share metrics and underpin investor value.

2026 financial outlook: a road map with caveats

Guidance calls for continued growth and margin discipline, but with caution about macro conditions and forward-looking risk. For the second quarter, Alkami guided:

GAAP total revenue in a range of $128.0 million to $129.0 million
Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $17.9 million to $18.7 million

For the full year ending December 31, 2026, Alkami provided:

GAAP total revenue expected in the range of $527.1 million to $530.9 million
Adjusted EBITDA expected in the range of $94.9 million to $97.9 million

The company cautions that these statements are forward-looking and subject to risk factors disclosed in the release, a standard reminder that today’s numbers come with the usual forward-looking disclaimers investors love to ignore until they don’t.

Takeaways for Alkami and sector peers

Alkami’s quarter emphasizes a classic software-as-a-service arc in financial-technology: strong ARR growth, expanding digital-user base, and expanding logo count, anchored by a growing DSSP ecosystem. The numbers suggest that Alkami can monetize scale—ARR up to $493.6 million and revenue per user rising—while still burning GAAP losses in the near term. The EPS story remains negative on a GAAP basis, and any EPS consensus look-alike will likely hinge on how quickly the company can convert Adjusted EBITDA into sustained, per-share profitability.

The revenue forecast for Q2 and the full-year path will be the focal point for investors. If Alkami can continue revenue acceleration while improving gross margins and keeping a tight rein on operating costs, the earnings surprise dynamic could tilt toward a positive interpretation even as GAAP EPS remains negative. For sector peers, the message is nuanced: growth engines like DSSP, platform-scale users, and recurring revenue streams are valuable, but the market will judge how much of that growth translates into cash flow and per-share profitability.

In the broader landscape of cloud-based digital banking solutions, Alkami’s progress on user adoption and ARR demonstrates the staying power of modular, platform-driven fintech ecosystems. For rivals and investors, the key questions are whether the sector can sustain this growth cadence into 2027, how many earnings surprises the street should expect, and how quickly the EPS consensus shifts as profitability becomes a more explicit hurdle or a combustible engine for upgrade cycles.

Conclusion: growth momentum with a profit-mindful lens

Alkami’s Q1 2026 results paint a picture of a company expanding its platform reach and monetization while weathering the profitability trade-offs inherent in a high-growth software business. A $100 million share repurchase program signals confidence from management in the intrinsic value of the stock and a willingness to deploy capital to support per-share metrics. The revenue forecast and EPS implications will be watched closely as the company navigates the next quarters, with peers in digital banking and fintech likely to pursue similar growth-leveraging strategies—yet with varying tolerance for GAAP earnings volatility.

For investors, Alkami’s trajectory is a reminder that in the world of platform-as-a-service for financial institutions, scale compounds faster than GAAP profits in the near term. The next milestone is whether the company can translate Adjusted EBITDA strength into durable EPS and margin expansion, thereby turning a growth story into a sustainable earnings narrative that can outpace the stock’s own valuation narrative.