May 21 (Reuters) – Workday exceeded Wall Street expectations for first-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday, as demand for its AI-powered finance and human resources software services gathered pace, sending its shares up 9% in extended trading.
The company, which specializes in HR and payroll software, has been adding AI features across its platform, betting that tools to automate tasks, generate job descriptions, or analyze spending patterns will drive customer adoption and deepen usage.
“Our focus remains on executing our agentic AI roadmap, while driving operational efficiencies as we scale,” Chief Financial Officer Zane Rowe said in a statement.
In the first quarter, Workday supported 14 million hiring processes with its recruiting agent, up 44% from a year earlier, Gerrit Kazmaier, president of product and technology, said on a post-earnings call.
The cloud software provider reported quarterly revenue of $2.54 billion, compared with analysts’ average estimate of $2.52 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Quarterly adjusted profit per share came in at $2.66, well above the estimate of $2.51.
Subscription revenue, a key metric for Workday, jumped 14.3% to $2.35 billion, while analysts had expected $2.34 billion, with net new business driving 40% of that growth, according to Chief Commercial Officer Rob Enslin.
In March, the company launched Sana for Workday, its conversational AI layer, creating a unified entry point for executives, managers and employees to retrieve information, initiate tasks, review data and engage with AI agents.
The U.S. software sector is rebounding after being battered for much of the year by concerns over AI-driven disruption. A sustained recovery would suggest that markets are becoming more selective, distinguishing between companies genuinely at risk of such threats and those that could ultimately benefit through higher productivity, new products and stronger customer demand.
Workday reiterated its annual subscription revenue forecast.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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