Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and executive chairman of Workday, speaks at the 5th Annual Workday Charity Classic in partnership with Stephen and Ayesha Curry’s Eat. learn. play. August 28, 2024 at Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, California.
Noah Graham | Getty Images
working day Shares rose as much as 14% in after-hours trading Thursday after the finance and human resources software maker reported better-than-expected results and raised its full-year profit forecast.
The company’s performance against LSEG Consensus is as follows:
Earnings per share: $2.66 adjusted vs. $2.51 expected Revenue: $2.54 billion vs. $2.52 billion expected
Workday’s revenue increased 13% in the fiscal first quarter ended April 30, according to the announcement. The company reported net income of $222 million, or 87 cents per share, up from $68 million, or 25 cents per share, a year ago.
Regarding its outlook, Workday called for second-quarter adjusted operating margin of 30% and subscription revenue of $2.46 billion. Analysts polled by Street Account had expected margins of 30% and subscription revenue of $2.45 billion.
Management raised Workday’s full-year profit margin forecast. The company now expects adjusted operating margin to be 30.5%, up from 30% in February. The company is still aiming for 12-13% growth.
Workday stock has had its worst year since going public in 2012, as investors worry that generative artificial intelligence models could narrow growth prospects for big software companies. As of Thursday’s close, Workday stock was down 43% in 2026, while the S&P 500 index was up about 9% over the same period.
During the quarter, Workday announced that co-founder Anil Bhusri will replace Karl Eschenbach as CEO, and announced that customers will now have access to the Sana AI agent.
“Our core business is strong, our AI strategy is working, and we are working with the speed and focus required of a leader,” Bhusri said in a statement. Workday said the number of customers using the agents it built more than doubled from last quarter, with more than 4,000 people using at least one company.
Gerrit Kazmaier, Workday’s president of products and technology, said on a conference call with analysts that annual revenue from agent-based AI solutions is approaching $500 million.
“The 150th feature on human resources and finance is not going to significantly change our business,” Bhusri said. “This is what the next agent application will look like.”
He said he hopes to keep the workforce as flat as possible in fiscal 2027, with Workday employees using the company’s products and AI tools from other companies.
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