NORWALK, Conn., April 30, 2026, 12:05 (EDT)
Xerox Holdings Corporation surged Thursday, soaring roughly 43% to around $2.25 in late-morning trading after it topped Wall Street’s first-quarter revenue forecasts—the Lexmark deal helping to lift the numbers. Shares briefly hit $2.30. The company, though, remains unprofitable.
Xerox is betting that piling on debt to fund acquisitions will help steady its business, which has struggled for years as demand for office printing sagged. This latest quarterly update also marks the debut for Louie Pastor as chief executive—he took over from Steve Bandrowczak on March 31.
For investors, this quarter is shaping up as an early gauge of Xerox’s ability to leverage Lexmark to stem revenue declines and keep expenses in check. Xerox acquired Lexmark aiming to shore up its print business and sharpen its edge against HP and Canon, as the industry continues to lose ground to digital documents.
Xerox posted $1.846 billion in revenue, jumping 26.7% from last year and beating the $1.73 billion consensus tracked by StockStory. Strip out the Lexmark acquisition, though, and the story shifts: pro forma revenue, which assumes Lexmark was part of the business both years, actually dropped 3.7%. The core business still isn’t seeing growth.
Xerox reported a GAAP net loss of $105 million, working out to 84 cents per share. On an adjusted basis, the loss came in at 43 cents—a deeper shortfall than the 27-cent loss analysts were looking for. Adjusted operating income, though, jumped to $72 million, up from $22 million a year ago.
Pastor pointed to what he called “tangible progress” in the company’s results this quarter, highlighting improvements in revenue trends, profit outlook, a wider adjusted operating margin, and healthier liquidity. Xerox, he said, needs to keep its attention on three fronts: “stabilize revenue, increase profitability and reduce leverage.” Business Wire
Lexmark carried most of the weight here. Xerox’s Print and Other segment brought in $1.69 billion in revenue, climbing 30.8%, with profit in that business jumping to $87 million—more than double. IT Solutions revenue slipped 4.9% to $156 million, but that unit’s profit still moved up to $6 million.
Chief Financial Officer Chuck Butler told analysts that non-financing interest expense jumped to $84 million, an increase of $51 million from the previous year, driven mostly by financing related to the Lexmark acquisition. Butler described Xerox’s unusual adjusted tax rate as “not a reflection of operating performance or cash,” citing deferred tax valuation allowances in both the U.S. and UK. Investing.com
Xerox stuck to its 2026 targets, still calling for revenue north of $7.5 billion, adjusted operating income between $450 million and $500 million, and free cash flow near $250 million. Free cash flow—which strips out capital spending—remains a crucial number as the company works on reducing debt.
The balance sheet tells a tougher tale. Xerox pulled in $450 million from an intellectual-property JV with TPG Angelo Gordon and bought back $101 million in 2028 senior notes. Still, long-term debt at quarter-end landed at $4.28 billion—total equity, just $305 million.
The risks haven’t gone anywhere. Post-sale revenue slipped 3.8% pro forma, IT Solutions took a hit, and management pointed to a squeeze from declining legacy Xerox revenue, rising product costs, and softer managed print services—all hitting profit. Lexmark synergies taking longer than expected, or another dip in demand, could see debt costs start to bite into the cash flow Xerox is counting on for the remainder of the year.
Pastor made it clear to analysts: Xerox isn’t hanging on to legacy structures just because they’ve always been there. Dropping the president and chief operating officer position was a calculated move. “There are no sacred cows here,” he said. Investors responded positively on Thursday. Now the question is whether Xerox can convert that bounce into something more consistent on the operations side. Investing.com
