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what it is
Five9 sells cloud software that answers, routes, and analyzes your customer calls, chats, and agent work.
how it gets paid
Last year Five9 made about $1.1B in revenue.
why it's growing
Latest reported quarter revenue was up about 8% vs. prior year (the old +282.7% FY tag was bad data and is removed here). The key number was $100M+ enterprise AI ARR because that is the one figure showing a second growth engine beyond the core contact-center billings.
what just happened
Five9 reported Q4 revenue of $300M and EPS of $0.80, barely beating estimates but keeping the turnaround story alive.
At a glance
B balance sheet — gets the job done, barely
20/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
6.0x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
18.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 46/100 — below average
What they do
Five9 sells cloud software that answers, routes, and analyzes your customer calls, chats, and agent work.
Five9 is already inside more than 3,000 businesses as of 12/31/25. If your call center runs on Five9, ripping it out means retraining agents, rebuilding workflows, and risking missed customer calls. That switch cost (pain to leave) is why recurring software revenue reached $1.1B in 2025.
How they make money
$1.1B
annual revenue · latest quarter ~+8% vs. prior year (FY growth not the bogus +282.7% feed)
total revenue
$1.1B
~+8% (Q vs. prior year)
The products that matter
cloud contact-center software
Contact Center Platform
$1.1B revenue · 100% of sales
it is the whole business today. That full $1.1B revenue base has to support margins, fund product work, and absorb the pricing transition.
100% of revenue
ai-powered customer-service tools
Enterprise AI
$100M+ arr · +50%
this line crossed $100M in ARR after 50% growth from a year ago. That is real traction, but it is still less than one-tenth of the current $1.1B revenue base.
growth engine
usage-based ai monetization
AI Task-Based Pricing
not separately reported
this is the strategic bet. Management wants to charge for AI work instead of just agent seats, but the company has not broken out revenue for it. That means you are judging the transition before the reporting catches up.
transition risk
Key numbers
6.0x
trailing p/e
That multiple means you are paying software-stock prices from a recession bin, not from an AI hype shelf.
$100M+
ai arr
Annual recurring revenue means contracted software sales that repeat, and crossing $100M says AI is now real revenue, not a slide deck.
18.0%
return on capital
Return on capital means profit earned on money put into the business, and 18% says Five9 is better than its messy margin suggests.
27%
return on equity
That is strong for a company with only 2.5% operating margin, which tells you the business model has more profit potential than the income statement shows.
Financial health
B
strength
- balance sheet grade B — adequate — nothing special
- risk rank 4 — safer than 20% of stocks
- price stability 10 / 100
- long-term debt $736M (34% of capital)
- net profit margin 20.0% — keeps 20 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 27% — $0.27 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in FIVN 3 years ago → it's now worth $2,410.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Five9 reported Q4 revenue of $300M and EPS of $0.80, barely beating estimates but keeping the turnaround story alive.
Revenue rose about 8% vs. prior year in the latest quarter. GAAP EPS was about $0.23; adjusted Q4 EPS was $0.80 versus a ~$0.79 estimate—do not treat those two EPS prints as the same measure.
$300M
revenue
$0.80
eps
55.4%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was $100M in enterprise AI ARR because that is the one figure showing Five9 has a second growth engine beyond the core contact-center business.
-
five9, inc. closed out 2025 with good results.indeed, the company is benefiting from ai-related tailwinds within its contact center (cx) business, as revenues continued to prove favorable for vs. prior year comparisons.
-
annual recurring revenue (arr) for enterprise ai grew 50%, from the fourth quarter in 2024, crossing the $100 million milestone.we note, though, that there is a technological transition, as it is shifting away from charging businesses on a seat-based licensing agreement, and pivoting towards a task-based model, because of advancements in ai.
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amit mathradas took over as ceo on february 2nd.
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mr.mathradas, was recently ceo of nintex, where he built and scaled an ai-centric, agentic business process orchestration platform serving 7,000-plus organizations in 90 countries.
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the board chose him to accelerate five9’s ai-driven intelligent cx strategy.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the top threat is an awkward shift from seat-based licenses to AI task-based pricing.
high
pricing-model transition risk
five9 is changing how customers are billed as AI changes how contact centers operate. When you change the meter, customer behavior changes too, and your clean comparisons disappear before your investors' doubts do.
all $1.1B of current revenue sits inside the platform being repriced in stages.
high
customer retention and expansion risk
contact-center software is sticky until budgets tighten or customers decide they can do more with fewer seats. If AI usage replaces spend instead of adding to it, growth slows before the new pricing model gets credit.
the company has one main revenue stream, so pressure on renewals hits the full revenue base rather than a small side segment.
med
debt plus stock volatility
this is not a balance-sheet emergency, but it is not a bunker stock either. Five9 carries meaningful debt and the share price has almost no stability cushion if execution slips.
$736M in long-term debt equals 34% of capital, and price stability is just 10 / 100.
a stumble in adoption or pricing hits a single $1.1B revenue engine while you are already carrying $736M of debt and a 10 / 100 stability profile.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
enterprise AI ARR
it just crossed $100M after 50% growth from a year ago. This is the cleanest read on whether the AI pitch is turning into real dollars.
calendar
next earnings call
listen for how management talks about seat-based revenue versus task-based usage. If the language gets cleaner, the transition is getting cleaner too.
risk
customer retention
with one platform driving $1.1B in revenue, you want proof that AI adoption adds spend rather than cannibalizing it.
trend
new ceo execution
amit mathradas took over on february 2. If growth, margins, and messaging all get clearer, the valuation gap starts to matter more.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts see a stock moving with the pack until management gives them a cleaner story.
risk profile
below average
stability score 4 — more volatile than most stocks. You should expect sharper swings, not a smooth line.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the chart is not confirming a turnaround yet.
earnings predictability
20 / 100
only 20 / 100. In plain English: one quarter can move the whole story because the earnings line is still lumpy.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 2 consecutive quarters — 109 buyers vs. 101 sellers in 4q2025. total institutional holdings: 84.7M shares. net buying for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$15
$54
$18
current price
$35
target midpoint · +97% from current · 3-5yr high: $55 (+210% · 32% ann'l return)
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