Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the infrastructure engineering software company, announced results for the quarter ended September 30, 2026.
Third Quarter 2026 Results
- Total revenues were $421.5 million, up 12.2% or 12.7% on a constant currency basis, year-over-year;
- Subscriptions revenues were $386.8 million, up 12.4% or 12.9% on a constant currency basis, year-over-year;
- Annualized Recurring Revenues (“ARR”) were $1,582.8 million as of September 30, 2026, compared to $1,405.2 million as of September 30, 2025. Constant currency ARR growth rate was 13%;
- Last twelve-months recurring revenues dollar-based net retention rate was 110%, compared to 109% for the same period last year;
- Operating income margin was 29.1%, compared to 22.5% for the same period last year;
- Adjusted operating income less operating stock-based compensation expense (“AOI less Operating SBC”) margin was 32.1%, compared to 28.1% for the same period last year;
- Net income per diluted share was $0.29, compared to $0.18 for the same period last year;
- Adjusted net income per diluted share (“Adjusted EPS”) was $0.36, compared to $0.27 for the same period last year;
- Cash flows from operating activities were $109.4 million, compared to $116.4 million for the same period last year; and
- Free cash flow was $101.4 million, compared to $110.7 million for the same period last year.
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2026 Results
- Total revenues were $1,256.4 million, up 13.2% or 12.3% on a constant currency basis, year-over-year;
- Subscriptions revenues were $1,157.9 million, up 13.5% or 12.7% on a constant currency basis, year-over-year;
- Operating income margin was 26.9%, compared to 25.6% for the same period last year;
- AOI less Operating SBC margin was 31.2%, compared to 30.7% for the same period last year;
- Net income per diluted share was $0.83, compared to $0.67 for the same period last year;
- Adjusted EPS was $1.09, compared to $0.94 for the same period last year;
- Cash flows from operating activities were $374.4 million, compared to $396.9 million for the same period last year. Last twelve-months ended September 30, 2026 cash flows from operating activities were $515.9 million, compared to $478.5 million for the last twelve-months ended September 30, 2025; and
- Free cash flow was $353.1 million, compared to $384.0 million for the same period last year. Last twelve-months ended September 30, 2026 free cash flow was $489.3 million, compared to $460.1 million for the last twelve-months ended September 30, 2025.
Executive Chair Greg Bentley said, “The progression throughout 2026 to date of BSY’s year-over-year ARR growth rate to 13%, exceeding our annual outlook range, reflects both the robustness of our focused end markets, and accounts’ confidence in our mutual trajectories for infrastructure AI. Complementing BSY’s stalwart operating execution, I am pleased that we have recently concluded two strategic capital allocation transactions: the divestment of Cohesive into our investee and successor consolidator, Naviam, and the acquisition of Eliis for seismic interpretation, further expanding Seequent’s comprehensive subsurface modeling scope and reach.”
CEO Nicholas Cumins said, “We delivered another quarter of accelerated growth, driven by strength in Resources and continued momentum in Public Works & Utilities. The engineering firms we serve are benefiting from an unprecedented level of investment in infrastructure for AI. In parallel, Bentley is uniquely positioned to unlock the potential of AI for infrastructure. At our Year in Infrastructure Awards last month, nearly 70% of our finalists leveraged AI in their projects, demonstrating how our software used at machine speed can significantly expand engineering capability to deliver better, more resilient infrastructure.”
CFO Werner Andre said, “Our strong Q3 results, expected continued momentum, and the programmatic acquisition of Eliis provide confidence in raising our constant currency ARR year‑over‑year growth range—excluding the impact from the Cohesive divestiture—to 12.5-13.5%. Revenues excluding the Cohesive divestiture, AOI less Operating SBC and free cash flow remain on track to deliver within their respective outlook ranges. With net debt leverage of 1.7 times and our revolving credit facility, we have ample financial flexibility to fund programmatic acquisitions, return capital through dividends and opportunistic share repurchases, and repay our 2027 convertible notes at maturity.”
Recent Developments
- On October 13, 2026, we completed the divestiture of Cohesive—a business that provides IBM Maximo‑related implementation and consulting services and operated separately from our infrastructure engineering software offerings—by contributing it to Naviam, a leading IBM Maximo partner. In exchange, we received an equity interest in Naviam and warrants to acquire additional equity interests therein; and
- On October 29, 2026, we completed the acquisition of Eliis, a seismic interpretation software company. The acquisition is expected to complement our Seequent subsurface portfolio.
Call Details
Bentley Systems will host a live Zoom video webinar on November 5, 2026 at 8:15 a.m. EST to discuss results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2026.
Those wishing to participate should access the live Zoom video webinar of the event through a direct registration link at https://bentley-com.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_T9StoRzJTMSMNGnMCu6j3Q#/registration. Alternatively, the event can be accessed from the Events & Presentations page on Bentley Systems’ Investor Relations website at https://investors.bentley.com. In addition, a replay and transcript will be available after the conclusion of the live event on Bentley Systems’ Investor Relations website for one year.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In this press release, we sometimes refer to financial measures that are not presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Certain of these measures are considered non‑GAAP financial measures under the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regulations. Those rules require the supplemental explanations and reconciliations that are in Bentley Systems’ Form 8‑K (Quarterly Earnings Release) furnished to the SEC.
We use AOI less Operating SBC as our primary performance measure because we believe it better reflects our core operating results by excluding items that are not indicative of the ordinary operation of our business, including costs arising directly from our acquisition activity and the costs of discrete realignment initiatives. Consistent with that objective, we refined the measure during 2026: beginning in the first quarter of 2026, we expanded our acquisition expenses adjustment to include cash- and equity‑settled retention incentives provided to key employees of acquired companies, and renamed the measure from Adjusted operating income less stock-based compensation expense (“AOI less SBC”) to “AOI less Operating SBC”; and beginning in the second quarter of 2026, applying the same principle, we began adjusting for integration costs incurred to integrate acquired businesses into our operations. We continue to adjust for discrete realignment initiatives, and we do not adjust for severance or organizational and workforce changes undertaken in the ordinary course of managing our business, which remain reflected in AOI less Operating SBC. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current definition; no integration costs were incurred in periods prior to the second quarter of 2026.
