Start here if you're new
what it is
Workday sells cloud software that helps companies manage HR, payroll, spending, and finance without wrecking the back office.
how it gets paid
Last year Workday made $9.6B in revenue.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 13.1% last year. The key number was $2.47 in EPS because it beat the $2.34 estimate and showed margin discipline matters more than a flashy headline right now.
what just happened
Workday posted $2.47 in quarterly EPS, above the $2.34 consensus, on $2.532B of fourth-quarter revenue.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
15/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
23.6x trailing p/e — priced about right
22.5% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 58/100 — below average
What they do
Workday sells cloud software that helps companies manage HR, payroll, spending, and finance without wrecking the back office.
Workday sits inside the systems your company cannot casually swap out: payroll, HR, and finance. That creates switching costs (painful to replace core software) — so what: customers stay because breaking payroll is a career-limiting event. The numbers back it up: annual revenue reached $9.6B on the same full-year line as the earnings section (fiscal year labels for revenue vs. quoted EPS targets can differ—check the filing), and return on capital was 22.5%, even while R&D consumed 31% of revenue.
How they make money
$9.6B
annual revenue · their business grew +13.1% last year
total revenue
$9.6B
+13.1%
The products that matter
core hr and payroll software
Human resources and payroll
part of the $9.6B revenue base
this sits inside the same $9.6B subscription engine and handles systems companies do not swap out casually. stickiness shows up in ~26% net margin in the health block vs ~7.5% operating margin in KPIs—different lines, both from this feed.
sticky core
enterprise finance software
Financial management
part of the $9.6B revenue base
finance software helps explain why this business earns more than a generic application vendor. the page does not break out revenue by product, which means you cannot fully see where the 13.1% growth is coming from.
profit center
ai and hiring workflow tools
AI hiring tools
$1.1B deal + lawsuit exposure
this is the part investors want to believe can re-rate the stock. workday spent $1.1B on sana labs while a nationwide collective action lawsuit challenges its hiring tools. upside and friction showed up at the same time.
prove it
Key numbers
22.5%
return on capital
This measures how well management turns invested money into profit. Workday is producing elite returns while still spending heavily on growth.
31%
R&D spend
R&D has run near ~31% of revenue in recent fiscal years (check the same fiscal year as the $9.6B revenue line). Plain English: still pouring cash into product, not just harvesting.
7.5%
operating margin
Operating margin means profit after running the business. So what: the company is profitable, but not yet at the fat-software-margin stage.
$266
18-month target
That target is about 24% above the current $214.9 price. You are being paid for execution, not for hope alone.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 50 / 100
- long-term debt $3.0B (5% of capital)
- net profit margin 26.4% — keeps 26 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 26% — $0.26 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 WDAY 3 years ago → it's now worth $12,250.
The index would have given you $13,920.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Workday posted $2.47 in quarterly EPS, above the $2.34 consensus, on $2.532B of fourth-quarter revenue.
The beat was modest at 5.56%, but it kept the growth story alive. Full-year revenue reached $9.6B, up 13.1%, while fiscal 2025 adjusted EPS was targeted at $9.10 versus $7.30 in fiscal 2024.
$2.53B
revenue
$2.47
eps
75.87%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number was $2.47 in EPS because it beat the $2.34 estimate and showed margin discipline matters more than a flashy headline right now.
-
workday is carrying some momentum heading into year’s end.operating results surpassed consensus expectations in each of the last two quarters, with leadership raising its full-year outlook on both occasions. much of the upside came from strength in its subscription services business, where customer adoption trends remained healthy on the back of platform and ai-related innovation initiatives, as well as increased market penetration abroad. contributions from acquisitions have also been supportive of recent comparisons, with workday completing several purchases this year including hiredscore and paradox.
-
it just closed a $1.1 billion deal for sana labs in november, further bolstering its ai strategy.
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we are targeting adjusted earnings to reach $9.10 a share in fiscal 2025.
-
our estimate represents strong improvement versus the $7.30 tally reported in fiscal 2024.as mentioned in the footnotes, we have shifted our presentation to reflect non-gaap earnings beginning in fiscal 2025 and will not be restating previous years. the non-gaap metric aims to provide a clearer view of a company’s financial performance by excluding restructuring expenses, intangible asset charges, and various other items that can distort results from core operations. in workday’s case, the variance between gaap and non-gaap has been quite substantial in recent years, due in part to restructuring initiatives aimed at prioritizing investments in ai and global expansion.
-
this included a 8.5% workforce reduction in february.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is the lawsuit challenging workday's ai hiring tools.
med
ai hiring-tools lawsuit
a nationwide collective action lawsuit hangs over the same hiring workflow story management is trying to modernize. when hr software gets linked to hiring-bias claims, customer trust is part of the product.
if the case forces product changes or slows adoption, the damage lands on the core software brand rather than some tiny experiment.
med
$1.1B sana labs integration
workday spent $1.1B to add AI capability. that deal only earns its keep if the technology folds into the platform cleanly and customers pay for the upgrade.
if integration drags, you are left with a higher-cost story and the same 13.1% revenue growth rate investors already knew about.
med
one-engine revenue base
this page shows one $9.6B cloud software revenue stream. focus looks efficient when enterprise budgets are healthy. it looks exposed when customers slow new spending or stretch sales cycles.
because the whole business grew 13.1% off one main engine, a slowdown pressures the model everywhere at once.
the same $9.6B revenue base supports the whole story, so legal friction, messy integration, or weaker enterprise demand would hit the main engine directly.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
next earnings report
the next print matters because workday just posted $0.94 EPS on $2.4B revenue. you want to see whether a beat becomes a habit instead of a headline.
growth
revenue holding above 13.1%
this is a $9.6B base now. if growth stays at or above 13.1%, the core subscription engine still has room. if it slips, the multiple gets harder to defend.
risk
lawsuit developments around hiring tools
watch for any sign the case expands, forces product changes, or starts showing up as a recurring customer objection in sales conversations.
integration
sana labs showing up in product releases
a $1.1B acquisition needs visible follow-through in launches, demos, or adoption. otherwise it is an expensive promise with nice branding.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts see a stock moving with the pack, not one forcing a rerating.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — this sits in the middle. not a bunker stock, not a chaos trade.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the tape is not doing you favors right now.
earnings predictability
15 / 100
earnings are harder to model here than you would expect for a company this mature. that keeps the market cautious even when quarters beat.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
497 buyers vs. 587 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.2B shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$172
$359
$215
current price
$266
target midpoint · +24% from current · 3-5yr high: $425 (+100% · 19% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
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