Oct 29, 2026 earnings call — New AI products and Q3 results
Total revenue was $86.1 million, down 9% year-over-year.
Revenue $0.1B (est $0.1B) · EPS $0.24 (est $0.20)
Key quotes
"Engagement with Forrester AI continues to grow with the number of prompts in the third quarter increasing 13% quarter-over-quarter and 142% year-over-year."
"Third quarter contract value declined 3.5% year-over-year, while retention was in line with the previous 2 quarters at 89%, up from 86% in the previous year."
"To that end, we are raising the low end of guidance to $0.77, so the new range will be $0.77 to $0.82 for the full year."
Analyst Q&A 2
contract value outlook and AI products
Q (Aashi Shah · Sidoti & Company): The analyst asked about confidence in returning to positive contract value growth by year end and trends in renewals, new business, and retention. They also asked how AI affects the core research business and how the new AI products will be monetized and compare on margins.
A: Management gave a minus 2% to flat to plus 2% range for year-end CV and said they are being cautious because some anticipated U.S. federal deals were delayed, enterprise deals are more complex, and 40% of annual bookings occur in the fourth quarter. They said retention has improved (cutting CV decline from negative 6% at the end of '25 to the projected range) and that new products and go-to-market changes give confidence into '27. On AI, they said Forrester AI lets clients converse with research, that AI Access made up about 4% of CV through Q3 and should grow to approximately 5% by year end, and that AI Access is self-service with materially higher margins than Forrester Decisions while AI Access Plus has some added cost but still higher margins; more than 50% of the sales force has sold AI Access.
"But based on all that, especially with the new products that we just launched, all the go-to-market changes that Christophe has been driving in the sales organization, we feel confident as we go forward into '27." — Chris Finn (CFO)
sales headcount and pipeline
Q (Vincent Colicchio · Barrington): The analyst asked what caused the sales staff decline and whether sales headcount will grow in 2027. He also asked if there will be more economical product price points and whether the contract value pipeline increased year-over-year.
A: Management said the selling environment is mixed with strength in North America high-tech, tech buyers in end-user industries, and momentum in APAC, while U.S. federal funding uncertainty delayed large deals and they will be more cautious there. They said focus is on sales productivity, upskilling, performance management, and they will look closely at quota-bearing headcount and targeted expansion. They said the pipeline is consistent with the recent quarter but now has a larger contribution from the expanded portfolio and AI solutions, they are focused on late-stage conversion and deal velocity with a new sales leadership system, and wallet share is up 3 points with client retention up 4 points versus last year.
"So the pipeline right now remains consistent with recent quarter, but with a larger contribution from our new expanded portfolio and our AI solutions." — Christophe Favre