EXLService二季度业绩后上调2026年收入和EPS指引，同时提示下半年投资加大、利润率走低

Earnings Call Insights: ExlService Holdings, Inc. (EXLS) Q2 2026
Management View
- "EXL delivered strong second quarter results, posting revenues of $595 million, up 16% year-over-year and adjusted earnings per share of $0.59" (CEO Rohit Kapoor), while attributing momentum to "broad-based growth across every segment of our business" and increased enterprise focus on moving "from proof-of-concept to AI implementation."
- Kapoor framed the quarter’s mix shift as intentional, stating, "Reported digital operations revenue was down approximately 1.5% year-over-year... This decline is by design," and adding that as AI becomes "more IP-led and higher value" the revenue "moves into our data and AI-led category."
- On AI-led growth disclosure, Kapoor said, "Data and AI-led revenue has accelerated over the past 4 quarters... and now 30% year-over-year in Q2 2026," and "Data and AI-led services and solutions represent 61% of revenue," while emphasizing that "total operations revenue in Q2 were up 10% year-over-year" as the preferred health indicator for operations.
- Kapoor highlighted a senior leadership change tied to geographic expansion, saying, "This quarter, we welcomed Bhupender Singh as President and Head of International Growth Markets," and positioned international as "one of our largest long-term growth opportunities."
- The largest strategic development was M&A: "Last month, we announced the acquisition of iMerit, which we expect to close on July 31" (CEO Rohit Kapoor), calling it "a transformational pivot for EXL" that adds "relationships with leading foundation model companies" and expands capabilities in "AI model training, evaluation and reinforcement learning."
- "SG&A expenses as a percentage of revenue increased 170 basis points year-over-year to 20.9%, primarily driven by higher investments in front-end sales and support" (CFO Maurizio Nicolelli).
Outlook
- "We now expect 2026 revenue to be in the range of $2.39 billion to $2.415 billion" (CEO Rohit Kapoor), up from "our prior guidance of $2.3 billion to $2.33 billion," and he specified, "iMerit accounts for approximately $28 million to $32 million of that revenue for the remaining 5 months of the year."
- "We are also raising our adjusted diluted EPS guidance to a range of $2.25 to $2.29" (CEO Kapoor), up from "our prior guidance of $2.18 to $2.23."
- "Based on the strong market opportunity and the need for us to continue to stay ahead in AI, we will increase our investments in front-end sales, data and AI capabilities and solutions for the rest of the year, and our adjusted operating margin will be lower in the second half of the year compared to the first half" (CFO Nicolelli).
- Additional guideposts included: "We expect a foreign exchange gain of approximately $3 million," "net interest expense of approximately $16 million to $18 million," "our full year effective tax rate to be in the range of 21% to 22%," and "capital expenditures to be in the range of $58 million to $62 million" (CFO Nicolelli).
Financial Results
- "Our adjusted operating margin for the quarter was 19.7%, up 10 basis points year-over-year" (CFO Maurizio Nicolelli), alongside an "effective tax rate for the quarter was 21.3%, down 110 basis points year-over-year."
- Balance sheet and cash deployment were a focal point: "Our cash, including short- and long-term investments as of June 30 was $284 million and revolver debt was $381 million for a net debt position of $97 million" (CFO Nicolelli); he added, "We generated cash flow from operations of $90 million for the first 6 months of the year" and "repurchased 5.8 million shares... totaling $179 million."
Q&A
- Bryan Bergin, TD Cowen: Asked what’s driving data and AI growth and durability; CEO Kapoor responded, "it really is a mix of both" modernizations and newer work, adding that "the newer areas of data management, AI services and AI solutions... are growing very, very rapidly" and should "remain a high growth driver." Bergin also asked about token optimization; Kapoor said EXL is "building up capabilities" to provide "advanced signals" and reduce "cost on token economics."
- Surinder Thind, Jefferies: Asked if International Growth Markets acceleration can continue; CEO Kapoor said it is "a huge opportunity" and EXL is "investing quite aggressively" to serve clients locally. Thind asked about incremental investments; Kapoor said data/AI spend is "building out solutions and product capability" and sales investment reflects that "the velocity of decision-making of deals by clients is actually coming -- the velocity is increasing."
- Puneet Jain, JPMorgan: Asked if AI complexity changes outsourcing willingness; CEO Kapoor said clients are moving "away from pilots" toward "deploy AI in production" and the enterprise effort is "massive." Jain asked about AI embedded in operations; Kapoor described embedding "agentic AI into claims and into underwriting" with "guardrails" and a blend of "deterministic" and "probabilistic" models.
- Margaret Nolan, William Blair: Pressed on margin priorities amid multiple moving parts; CFO Nicolelli said, "I don't think anything has really changed" and that 2026 overall margin should be "comparable to 2025," while investments rise in 2H. Nolan asked about mid-market traction; CEO Kapoor said, "the mid-market needs a lot more help than the large enterprises" and EXL is seeing "a fair amount of traction."
- David Grossman, Stifel: Asked what drove Q2 acceleration; CEO Kapoor said, "Every single service line actually delivered with strength." Grossman challenged implied deceleration in 2H; Kapoor pointed to "unsettled" macro, need to "demonstrate the ROI," and iMerit integration focus. Grossman asked about share count; CFO Nicolelli said EXL will keep buying back shares, "just most likely not at the accelerated pace of the first half."
- Vincent Colicchio, Barrington: Asked how much AI revenue is new vs modernized; CEO Kapoor said stand-alone AI is "still a very small portion" and AI enablement penetration in operations "remains quite low" across "2,000 unique processes." Colicchio asked about international cross-sell; Kapoor said, "we have not been able to do a good job of that" and called it a focus for the new IGM leader.
- David Koning, Baird: Asked drivers of acceleration (unfreezing spend, reallocation, share gains); CEO Kapoor said most AI spend has gone to "AI infrastructure" and "AI models" with "very little" to enablement, and "going forward... that is going to change," while adding "our growth rate suggests" market share gains. Koning asked about iMerit vertical mix; Kapoor said it is primarily in "diversified industries" and also meaningful in "health care and life sciences."
Sentiment Analysis
- Slightly negative analyst tone, with pointed scrutiny on sustainability and deceleration (e.g., David Grossman: "the guidance implies growth decelerating in the back half of the year").
- Slightly positive management tone in prepared remarks and mostly measured in Q&A; CEO Kapoor emphasized visibility but acknowledged uncertainty: "the macroeconomic environment continues to be a little bit unsettled" and described the guide as "a prudent way" to plan amid integration work.
- Versus Q1’s emphasis on momentum, awards/partnerships, and "excellent visibility," Q2 added more caution around macro and integration while still raising guidance.
Quarter-over-Quarter Comparison
- Guidance changed materially: Q2 raised full-year revenue to $2.39B-$2.415B from Q1’s $2.3B-$2.33B, and raised adjusted EPS to $2.25-$2.29 from $2.18-$2.23, with Q2 explicitly adding iMerit’s $28M-$32M expected 2026 contribution.
- Strategic focus broadened from Q1’s partner awards and AI-in-production narrative to Q2’s "transformational" M&A and explicit entry into foundation-model-company relationships via iMerit.
- Analyst questioning shifted from Q1’s commercial model and operating model mechanics to Q2’s durability of AI growth, token economics, international acceleration, and why guidance implies deceleration despite strong momentum.
Risks and Concerns
- "We continue to monitor the evolving macroeconomic and geopolitical environment" (CFO Maurizio Nicolelli), and CEO Kapoor said EXL must "continue to win the hearts and minds of the CIOs" and "demonstrate the ROI" to sustain adoption.
- Integration risk and attention bandwidth were highlighted by management: "We are also doing a major acquisition with iMerit, and we are going to be integrating that" (CEO Rohit Kapoor).
- Investment intensity and margin cadence risk was made explicit: "our adjusted operating margin will be lower in the second half of the year compared to the first half" (CFO Nicolelli).
Final Takeaway
Management characterized Q2 as a quarter of broad-based execution and accelerating data-and-AI mix shift, while positioning the pending iMerit acquisition (expected to close July 31) as a strategic expansion into model training and evaluation and a new client segment. Alongside higher full-year revenue and adjusted EPS guidance, management simultaneously signaled heavier second-half investment in sales and AI capabilities, framed the outlook as prudent given unsettled macro conditions, and prepared investors for a lower operating margin cadence in the back half versus the first half.
Read the full Earnings Call Transcript