NEW YORK, June 30, 2026, 09:07 EDT
- Freshworks ended Monday at $10.21, up 3.65%, and was quoted at $10.15 before the open Tuesday; June 30 is a scheduled U.S. equity trading day.
- Russell notices put the stock into Russell 2000 Value and Russell 2000 Value-Defensive buckets after the June rebalance.
- Its $400 million buyback authority equals about 14% of current market value; March-end cash and securities equal about 27%.
Freshworks Inc NASDAQ:FRSH enters Tuesday’s session with a new index tag and a buyback big enough to change the per-share math if management keeps using it. The stock closed Monday at $10.21 and was quoted at $10.15 in premarket trade at 8:55 a.m. EDT, MarketScreener data showed. The NYSE holiday calendar lists the next U.S. market closure as July 3 for Independence Day observed.
The tape was heavier than a normal Freshworks session. Yahoo data showed Monday volume of 52,973,675 shares against average volume of 13,964,630, about 3.8 times the usual level. That volume came as index notices from S&P Capital IQ showed additions to Russell 2000 Value and Russell 2000 Value-Defensive indexes.
FTSE Russell says its U.S. indexes are benchmarks used by institutional investors and that the style and size sub-indexes roll up to the Russell 3000. For Freshworks, the point is simple: a former high-growth SaaS IPO now sits in value and defensive screens at the same time it has authority to buy back stock.
| Measure | Freshworks figure | Share of current market value |
|---|---|---|
| Current market value | $2.89 bln | 100% |
| Cash, restricted cash and marketable securities, March 31 | $780.4 mln | 27.0% |
| Board buyback authority | up to $400 mln | 13.8% |
| Q1 common stock repurchases | $48.4 mln | 1.7% |
| Q1 adjusted free cash flow | $55.8 mln | 1.9% of market value |
The table uses Freshworks’ current market value from quote data and company filings for the cash, buyback, repurchase and free-cash-flow figures. Freshworks CEO Dennis Woodside said in February the company planned to repurchase shares it believes the “market substantially undervalues,” while keeping enough cash for growth. Securities and Exchange Commission
There was fresh customer news too. Freshworks said Tuesday that Vanquis Bank Limited selected Freshservice as its AI-powered service operations platform for the bank’s Gateway technology program. Vanquis CTO Jem Walters said Freshservice gives the bank “a more intuitive and flexible platform” for service delivery and workflow automation; the release did not give contract terms. GlobeNewswire
The customer win fits the part of the business Freshworks wants investors to watch. In Q1, revenue rose 16% to $228.6 million, customers contributing more than $100,000 in annual recurring revenue rose 29% to 1,646, and Freshworks signed its two largest deals, including its first $1 million-plus ARR deal. Net dollar retention was 106%, versus 108% in Q4 and 105% a year earlier.
The margin line was less clean. Non-GAAP operating margin fell to 17.9% from 23.6% a year earlier, and non-GAAP diluted EPS fell to 11 cents from 18 cents. Freshworks guided Q2 revenue to $232 million-$235 million and full-year revenue to $958 million-$964 million.
Needham analyst Scott Berg put the investor worry to management at Freshworks’ May analyst session: he said the average public SaaS company was growing “14%, 15%” and asked why Freshworks’ Employee Experience business could keep growing faster. Woodside answered that the product is “not a nice-to-have” for IT departments and said Freshworks was “taking share” from vendors not serving its target market well.
AI is still the pressure point. Reuters reported in May that Freshworks would cut 11% of its workforce, or about 500 jobs. Woodside told Reuters, “Over half of our code is written by AI.” Freshworks said in an 8-K that the plan was expected to be substantially complete by the end of Q2 and would carry $7 million-$9 million in charges. Reuters
Broader tech was firmer before the bell. Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.34% at 7:15 a.m. ET, and Brian Levitt, chief global market strategist at Invesco, told Reuters that technology had seen “June gloom” but earnings could reverse it. The Freshworks trade is more stock-specific: Russell flows, customer wins and buyback capacity are meeting a still-debated AI cost story. Reuters
| Company | Latest quoted price | Market value | P/E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freshworks Inc NASDAQ:FRSH | $10.21 | $2.89 bln | 16.7 |
| Salesforce Inc NYSE:CRM | $157.93 | $137.56 bln | 23.5 |
| HubSpot Inc NYSE:HUBS | $184.47 | $9.70 bln | 97.1 |
| ServiceNow Inc NYSE:NOW | $99.97 | $103.96 bln | 58.8 |
Current quote feeds show Freshworks trading at a lower earnings multiple than larger software peers, though the discount comes with slower growth questions and a smaller market cap. The market value is about 3.0 times the midpoint of Freshworks’ 2026 revenue guide; after subtracting March-end cash and securities, the ratio falls to about 2.2 times. Customer-experience peer Concentrix Corp NASDAQ:CNXC fell 22.7% premarket after cutting annual forecasts, Reuters said.
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