New York, Feb 20, 2026, 09:02 EST — Premarket
NICE Ltd (NASDAQ: NICE) picked up another 1.8% in premarket action Friday, trading at $113.59 after a sharp 13.25% rally the prior session that took shares to $111.55 at the close.
NICE’s latest quarterly update throws some concrete figures at a lingering question in cloud software: can new AI offerings actually move the needle on recurring revenues—fast—without hitting profitability? In the fourth quarter, cloud revenue climbed 14%. For 2025, NICE projected total revenue up 8%, with cloud revenue growth at 13%. AI ARR, their annual recurring revenue measure tied to subscriptions, surged 66% to $328 million, and the cloud backlog—contracted but not yet recognized—finished up 25% for the year. CEO Scott Russell called it “a strong fourth quarter” and pointed to “accelerating AI momentum.” NiCE
NICE set out its non-GAAP 2026 guidance, projecting revenue between $3.17 billion and $3.19 billion, and adjusted EPS in the $10.85 to $11.05 range—numbers that leave out share-based comp and amortisation. Cloud revenue growth? Still on track for 14.5% to 15% this year, the company said. The board signed off on a fresh $600 million share buyback, bumping the remaining repurchase firepower to roughly $1 billion, though it can’t pull the trigger until the audited annual report for 2025 lands. NICE wrapped up 2025 with $417.4 million in cash and short-term investments, zero debt, plus a newly inked $300 million revolving credit line that stretches to February 2029.
NICE turned in a fourth-quarter profit of $150.6 million, or $2.41 a share, climbing from $99.5 million the year before. The Associated Press put adjusted earnings at $3.24 per share.
The filing showed the earnings release went out as part of a Form 6-K submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 19.
Fresh analyst notes hit Friday morning, with several firms slicing their targets but sticking with upbeat outlooks. RBC dropped its price target on NICE to $150 from $175, holding the Outperform call. Morgan Stanley also trimmed its target, down to $148 from $160, and left its Overweight rating unchanged, MT Newswires reported.
NICE makes cloud software for customer service management and financial crime detection—two segments that tend to ebb and flow with business sentiment. In the crowded contact-center space, NICE faces rivals like Five9 and RingCentral, plus heavyweight platform vendors rolling out their own AI and automation tools.
But there’s a wrinkle in the outlook: the company sees adjusted profit slipping this year, despite projecting higher revenue. That dynamic could put extra scrutiny on how management handles expenses and delivers results. If big-ticket enterprise deals slow, or if customers push back on pricing as they explore competing AI options, hitting those cloud growth targets could get a lot tougher.
