On November 13, 2025, NICE Ltd. (NASDAQ: NICE) reported Q3 2025 results that beat Wall Street revenue expectations, highlighted 13% cloud growth, and nudged its full‑year revenue outlook higher as investors cheered the company’s AI‑first strategy.
NICE Q3 2025: The Short Version
NICE Ltd., a global provider of AI‑powered customer experience software, delivered a solid third quarter for 2025, with:
- Total revenue of $732 million, up 6% year over year, slightly ahead of analyst estimates around $728–729 million. [1]
- Cloud revenue of $562.9 million, up 13%, confirming that the company’s shift to a cloud and AI‑led model is paying off. [2]
- GAAP EPS of $2.29 (up ~23%) and non‑GAAP EPS of $3.18 (up ~10%), modestly ahead of the $3.17 consensus. [3]
- AI annual recurring revenue (ARR) up 49% year over year (43% excluding the Cognigy acquisition). [4]
- Full‑year 2025 non‑GAAP revenue guidance raised to $2.932–$2.946 billion, but EPS guidance trimmed to $12.18–$12.32 from a prior $12.33–$12.53 range. [5]
Investors liked what they saw: NICE shares climbed in pre‑market trading, with reports showing gains of roughly 6–9% after the release. [6]
Headline Numbers: Inside NICE’s Q3 2025 Results
Revenue and Earnings Beat
For the quarter ended September 30, 2025, NICE reported:
- Total revenue: $732.0 million, +6% vs. $690.0 million a year earlier. [7]
- Cloud revenue: $562.9 million, +13%, remaining the main growth engine. [8]
On the bottom line:
- GAAP net income: $144.9 million, up about 20% from $120.9 million in Q3 2024. [9]
- GAAP EPS: $2.29, up from $1.86 a year ago. [10]
- Non‑GAAP EPS: $3.18, compared with $2.88 last year and just above the $3.17 average analyst estimate. [11]
Margins remained healthy:
- GAAP operating income: $160.8 million, up 14%, with a 22.0% operating margin vs. 20.5% last year. [12]
- Non‑GAAP operating income: $230.9 million, up 5%, with a 31.5% operating margin vs. 32.0% a year ago. [13]
Cash Flow, Balance Sheet and Buybacks
NICE also turned in strong cash generation:
- Operating cash flow: $190.5 million, up around 20% versus Q3 2024. [14]
- The company used about $40.6 million for share repurchases and fully repaid its outstanding debt, ending the quarter with net cash and investments of roughly $456 million. [15]
That combination of rising cash flow, a net cash position, and buybacks gives management flexibility to keep investing in AI, integrating Cognigy, and potentially pursuing further M&A.
AI‑First Strategy: Cloud and Cognigy in the Spotlight
If there was a theme to this earnings day, it was AI everywhere.
In its press release, NICE highlighted that:
- AI ARR grew 49% year over year, or 43% excluding Cognigy, driven by customer adoption of its CX AI and self‑service solutions. [16]
- The company’s AI capabilities were included in every new seven‑figure CX deal in the quarter, underscoring how central AI is to its largest contracts. [17]
This momentum builds on a series of moves earlier in 2025:
- In September, NICE closed its acquisition of Cognigy, a recognized leader in enterprise conversational and “agentic” AI. The deal ties Cognigy’s conversational agents into NICE’s CXone cloud platform. [18]
- In October, the company launched AI Ops Center, the operational backbone for the NICE‑Cognigy platform, designed to keep AI agents reliable and “always‑on” at scale. [19]
- Industry coverage this year has emphasized how NICE is moving beyond simple chatbots to AI “digital workers” and agents that can orchestrate work across the front and back office, often in collaboration with AWS. [20]
CEO Scott Russell framed Q3 as confirmation that this AI‑first strategy is working, pointing to strong execution, accelerating AI momentum and the contribution from Cognigy’s integration into CXone. [21]
Guidance: Revenue Outlook Up, EPS Outlook Down Slightly
The most nuanced part of today’s news is guidance:
- NICE raised its full‑year 2025 non‑GAAP revenue forecast to $2.932–$2.946 billion, implying about 7% growth at the midpoint versus 2024 and a slightly stronger top line than previously expected. [22]
- At the same time, it cut its non‑GAAP EPS guidance to $12.18–$12.32, down from the prior $12.33–$12.53 range and a bit below the roughly $12.43 analyst consensus. [23]
What changed?
According to reporting based on RTTNews and other sources, the previous full‑year outlook called for: [24]
- Revenue of $2.918–$2.938 billion
- Adjusted EPS of $12.33–$12.53
The new outlook:
- Revenue of $2.932–$2.946 billion (higher)
- Adjusted EPS of $12.18–$12.32 (lower)
In other words:
- Top line: slightly better than before
- Profit per share: still growing double‑digits year over year, but not quite as high as earlier hopes
Commentary from outlets like Investing.com notes that the Street seems focused more on the revenue beat and AI‑driven growth than on the modest EPS guide reduction, especially given ongoing investment in AI and integration of Cognigy. [25]
Market Reaction: NICE Shares Jump on Results
Equity markets reacted quickly:
- Investing.com reported that NICE shares were up about 6.2% in pre‑market trading after the earnings release. [26]
- Benzinga later cited pre‑market gains of roughly 8.6%, with shares trading around $135 before the opening bell. [27]
- As of early afternoon UTC, real‑time quotes showed the stock around $124–$125, reflecting intraday volatility as the market digests guidance and AI growth narratives. [28]
Analyst and AI‑generated research summaries from platforms such as TipRanks and StockTitan describe the quarter as a solid execution story with rising cloud and AI revenue, while also flagging that technical signals remain mixed and valuation is no longer deep‑value. [29]
(As always, these are general market observations, not personalized investment advice.)
Six Key Takeaways for Investors and Observers
- Cloud remains the growth engine
With 13% cloud revenue growth against overall revenue growth of 6%, NICE is steadily tilting its mix toward recurring cloud and AI‑powered services, even as legacy product and services revenue declines. [30] - AI is moving from buzzword to business driver
The 49% AI ARR growth and AI inclusion in every new seven‑figure CX deal suggest AI is now central to NICE’s biggest customer wins, not a side feature. [31] - Cognigy integration is key to the story
The September closing of the Cognigy acquisition and the subsequent launch of AI Ops Center position NICE to offer end‑to‑end AI agents governed by a dedicated operations layer—a differentiator in large enterprise deployments. [32] - Margins are strong but being re‑invested
Operating margins above 30% on a non‑GAAP basis leave room to keep funding AI innovation, M&A integration and go‑to‑market initiatives, even as the EPS guide comes down slightly to reflect those investments. [33] - Balance sheet firepower
Deleveraging to a net cash position, while still buying back stock and generating robust free cash flow, gives NICE optionality for further strategic moves if AI demand accelerates. [34] - Sentiment is improving but remains valuation‑sensitive
With the stock bouncing on earnings and AI news, some research tools still flag “sell” technical signals even while fundamental or AI‑based models rate the stock “Outperform” or “Buy,” highlighting the gap between long‑term AI optimism and shorter‑term trading dynamics. [35]
What to Watch Next
- Earnings call insights – Management scheduled a Q3 2025 earnings conference call for 8:30 a.m. ET today to discuss results and outlook; replay details are available on the company’s investor relations site. [36]
- Cognigy synergy details – Look for more color on how quickly Cognigy’s AI agents and the new AI Ops Center are being deployed across NICE’s installed base, and how that may influence 2026 growth and margin trends. [37]
- Capital Markets Day and AI roadmap – NICE has highlighted AI and CXone Mpower at events throughout 2025; upcoming investor days and conferences will likely dig deeper into its longer‑term AI strategy and competitive positioning versus other contact‑center and CX platforms. [38]
For now, November 13, 2025 will be remembered as the day NICE underscored that its AI‑driven, cloud‑first pivot is not just narrative—but showing up clearly in the numbers.
References
1. www.businesswire.com, 2. www.businesswire.com, 3. www.businesswire.com, 4. www.businesswire.com, 5. www.businesswire.com, 6. m.investing.com, 7. www.businesswire.com, 8. www.businesswire.com, 9. www.businesswire.com, 10. www.businesswire.com, 11. www.businesswire.com, 12. www.businesswire.com, 13. www.businesswire.com, 14. www.businesswire.com, 15. www.businesswire.com, 16. www.businesswire.com, 17. www.businesswire.com, 18. www.businesswire.com, 19. www.businesswire.com, 20. www.forbes.com, 21. www.businesswire.com, 22. www.businesswire.com, 23. www.nasdaq.com, 24. www.nasdaq.com, 25. m.investing.com, 26. m.investing.com, 27. www.benzinga.com, 28. finance.yahoo.com, 29. www.tipranks.com, 30. markets.financialcontent.com, 31. markets.financialcontent.com, 32. www.businesswire.com, 33. markets.financialcontent.com, 34. www.businesswire.com, 35. www.tipranks.com, 36. markets.financialcontent.com, 37. www.businesswire.com, 38. www.forbes.com
