Workiva (WK) Q3 2025: $701M RPO Locks in 21% Growth Visibility as Margin Leverage Accelerates
Workiva’s Q3 delivered broad-based expansion, with large contract momentum and operational discipline driving a double-digit margin beat and $701M in remaining performance obligations for the next year. Platform consolidation, multi-solution adoption, and AI-powered innovation underpin both top-line resilience and improving profitability. With a new CRO and raised guidance, the company signals confidence in durable growth and operating leverage into 2026.
Summary
- Large Contract Expansion Accelerates: Multi-solution adoption and platform wins drove record growth in $300K+ and $500K+ cohorts.
- Margin Leverage Outpaces Plan: Operational rigor and cost discipline produced a substantial operating margin uplift, supporting higher guidance.
- Durable Growth Visibility: Remaining performance obligations and raised subscription guidance signal sustained demand into 2026.
Performance Analysis
Workiva posted a standout quarter marked by 21% total revenue growth and a 23% surge in subscription revenue, both exceeding prior guidance. Subscription revenue, which now comprises the overwhelming majority of the business, was propelled by a combination of new logo wins and deepening wallet share within the existing customer base. Notably, multi-solution adoption reached 73% of subscription revenue, up from 68% last year, reflecting the company’s success in cross-selling and platform consolidation.
Operating margin reached 12.7% on a non-GAAP basis, beating the upper end of guidance by 470 basis points and improving 860 basis points year-over-year. This performance was attributed to both higher-than-expected revenue and disciplined cost management, including increased paid time off (PTO) usage and ongoing productivity initiatives. The company’s net retention rate improved to 114%, up from 111% in Q3 2024, while gross retention remained strong at 97%.
- Contract Cohort Growth: Contracts over $300K and $500K grew 41% and 42% year-over-year, respectively, signaling increasing deal size and deeper enterprise relationships.
- International Expansion: Revenue outside the Americas now exceeds 19% of total revenue, up from 17% last year, with Europe highlighted as a growth engine.
- Cash and RPO Strength: Cash and equivalents reached $857M, and $701M in remaining performance obligations (RPO) for the next 12 months provides significant forward revenue visibility.
Professional services revenue remained flat, as the company continues to shift low-margin services to partners, supporting margin expansion. The share repurchase program also remained active, with $10M repurchased in Q3 and $40M authorization remaining.
Executive Commentary
"We continue to deliver value to the market because we focus on customer needs. Our customers need to trust the numbers they're disclosing. They need to provide transparency across their business, both financial and non-financial information. And yes, they must be accountable with assurance as a requirement every step of the way. So our customers are looking to us and our platform to solve their most challenging problems."
Julie Isco, Chief Executive Officer
"Our non-GAAP operating margin for the quarter was 12.7%. This 470 basis point beat on the high end of our guidance was driven by stronger than expected top line results, increased PTO usage, and continued focus on operational efficiency and productivity."
Jill Clint, Chief Financial Officer
Strategic Positioning
1. Platform Consolidation Drives Expansion
Workiva’s platform approach—offering unified solutions for financial, non-financial, and assurance reporting—continues to resonate with large enterprises seeking to streamline and modernize operations. The company’s ability to consolidate legacy systems and support complex, multi-entity reporting has driven both upsell and new logo momentum, particularly in regulated industries and multinational organizations.
2. AI-Powered Differentiation and Innovation
The launch of Intelligent Finance, Intelligent Sustainability, and Intelligent GRC at Amplify underscores Workiva’s commitment to embedding AI across its platform. The platform’s “intelligence-ready” architecture—where data is structured, validated, and machine-readable—enables automation, regulatory assurance, and rapid adaptation to evolving standards. AI capabilities, such as the AI-powered control creator, have already differentiated Workiva in competitive wins, reducing customer reliance on third-party consulting and accelerating adoption.
3. Productivity and Margin Focus
Operational discipline is a central theme, with ongoing initiatives in organizational redesign, process automation, and resource optimization. The company has shifted low-margin services to partners, scaled digital support, and emphasized sales productivity—transitioning to more efficient sales structures and upgrading talent. These efforts have already yielded significant margin leverage and are expected to continue driving operating efficiency into 2026 and beyond.
4. Leadership Evolution for Next-Stage Growth
The appointment of Michael Pinto as Chief Revenue Officer signals a renewed focus on scaling the go-to-market organization and accelerating partner-led growth. Pinto’s background at Databricks, AWS, and SAP aligns with Workiva’s ambitions to drive multi-billion dollar scale, deepen partner engagement, and modernize commercial operations. The CFO transition, with a final candidate identified, further supports leadership continuity as the company enters its next phase.
5. Resilient Demand Across Segments and Geographies
Workiva’s broad portfolio—spanning financial reporting, GRC (governance, risk, and compliance), and sustainability—provides resilience amid macro uncertainty. Demand remains healthy across verticals and regions, with notable traction in Europe and continued expansion in financial services, energy, and manufacturing. While the near-term sustainability tailwind has moderated, business-driven and regulatory ESG requirements continue to drive adoption.
Key Considerations
Workiva’s Q3 demonstrated that platform breadth, operational rigor, and innovation are unlocking both growth and profitability levers. The following considerations are central to the investment case:
- Multi-Solution Penetration: 73% of subscription revenue is now multi-solution, with large deal cohorts expanding rapidly—an indicator of increasing customer lifetime value.
- AI as a Growth Catalyst: The “intelligence-ready” platform and agentic AI extensions are not only differentiators but also reduce customer friction and consulting costs.
- Margin Expansion Trajectory: Operating leverage is compounding, with a 200 basis point full-year guidance raise and further progress expected as cost initiatives mature.
- International Opportunity: Europe and other non-Americas markets are contributing a rising share of revenue, with broad-based demand and multi-product adoption.
- Leadership Realignment: The CRO appointment and evolving sales structure are designed to sustain high growth and operational discipline as the company scales.
Risks
Macro uncertainty, regulatory shifts, and capital markets volatility remain persistent headwinds, though Workiva’s diversified solution set and strong RPO provide some insulation. Execution risk around leadership transitions and ongoing productivity initiatives could impact momentum if not managed carefully. The flat services revenue outlook as low-margin work shifts to partners could pressure top-line optics even as margins improve.
Forward Outlook
For Q4 2025, Workiva guided to:
- Total revenue of $234M to $236M
- Non-GAAP operating margin of 16.7% to 17.4%
For full-year 2025, management raised guidance:
- Total revenue of $880M to $882M
- Subscription revenue growth of at least 21%
- Non-GAAP operating margin of 9.2% to 9.4%
- Free cash flow margin of approximately 12%
Management highlighted several factors that will shape 2026:
- Ongoing margin leverage from productivity and automation initiatives
- Flat total services revenue as setup and consulting shift to partners
- Back-half weighted margin expansion, consistent with prior years
Takeaways
Workiva’s Q3 results reinforce its position as a platform consolidator in the enterprise reporting and compliance space, with AI innovation and operational discipline driving both growth and profitability. The company’s forward revenue visibility, large contract momentum, and leadership realignment provide a solid foundation for continued outperformance.
- Large Deal Momentum: Rapid expansion in high-value contract cohorts and cross-sell penetration signal deepening customer engagement and platform stickiness.
- Margin Inflection: Operational rigor and cost initiatives are compounding, enabling Workiva to raise margin guidance and accelerate its path to medium-term targets.
- 2026 Watchpoints: Investors should monitor execution on international growth, sustainability tailwinds, and the impact of leadership transitions on sales productivity and partner leverage.
Conclusion
Workiva’s Q3 performance and raised outlook underscore the company’s ability to execute on both growth and efficiency, with platform breadth and AI innovation driving durable demand and expanding margins. The leadership refresh and operational discipline position the company to sustain momentum into 2026, though macro and execution risks remain in focus.
Industry Read-Through
Workiva’s results reflect a broader enterprise software trend toward platform consolidation, AI-driven automation, and partner-led delivery models. The shift to multi-solution adoption and the migration of low-margin services to partners are likely to be echoed across SaaS and compliance tech peers. AI’s integration into core workflows, not just as a feature but as a differentiator for assurance and automation, sets a new bar for regulatory and reporting vendors. The resilience in financial reporting and GRC demand, even amid macro volatility, suggests that mission-critical compliance and transparency solutions remain a priority for enterprises worldwide.