SAN FRANCISCO, March 5, 2026, 02:41 PST
- Okta is projecting first-quarter revenue that falls short of Wall Street expectations, flagging single-digit growth—something it hasn’t seen since its IPO.
- The company topped forecasts for the fourth quarter, though management sounded a note of caution around enterprise tech spending.
- Okta hasn’t observed any significant impact so far from customer “seat” cuts linked to shifts in hiring and layoffs.
Okta is calling for first-quarter revenue between $749 million and $753 million, trailing the $754.61 million analyst consensus from LSEG data quoted by Reuters. That’s the company’s slowest projected growth since its IPO in 2017, with management citing economic uncertainty hitting enterprise tech budgets.
The forecast arrives just as corporate software budgets are under pressure. Identity tools, considered by many firms as “must-have” security spending, guard the front door of enterprise systems—often spared from cuts that hit other areas.
But with identity and access management software typically billed by employee count, vendors take a hit if clients freeze hiring or cut staff. Analysts point out that budget constraints can delay renewals or prompt customers to trim back on usage as well.
Okta put its adjusted quarterly profit outlook at 84 to 86 cents a share, a touch below what analysts had been looking for. The company’s full-year revenue forecast landed between $3.170 billion and $3.190 billion. That range factors in a drag from handing off more professional services tasks to outside partners.
The company struck a cautious tone after posting a fourth-quarter beat. Revenue climbed 11% to $761 million. Adjusted profit landed at 90 cents a share, according to the company.
Chief Executive Officer Todd McKinnon credited the year’s strong results to steady demand from major global clients and rising interest in the company’s latest offerings. In a statement, McKinnon highlighted a jump in customers looking to secure “AI agents” alongside both human and machine identities. https://www.okta.com/newsroom/press-releas…
Okta reported a 15% jump in remaining performance obligations, or RPO, pushing the total to $4.827 billion, according to investor materials. Current RPO—the slice expected as revenue within the next year—rose 12%, totaling $2.513 billion.
Eric Kelleher, the company’s Chief Operating Officer, told Reuters there’s been no significant sign so far of customer seat cuts affecting results.
Okta goes up against rivals like Ping Identity and SailPoint in the identity and access management space, a segment where vendors are fighting to hold the line on pricing as customers dig deeper into multi-year contracts.
Still, those figures could shift fast if layoffs ramp up, or clients start cutting paid seats once contracts renew. Any sharper slowdown would likely hit bookings and backlog ahead of revenue, which tends to lag.
