Info Edg.(India) Q4 FY26 Earnings Call — Analysis (NSE: NAUKRI)
Info Edge Q4FY26 standalone revenue up 17% YoY to ₹805 Cr, operating profit up 39% YoY; 99acres resets billing processes and holds traffic share gains
The take
Q4FY26 Standalone Revenue ₹805 Cr ( +17% YoY ) . New guidance — FY29 99acres revenue at least double .
Results
Standalone revenue ₹805 Cr (+17% YoY), operating profit ₹323 Cr (+39% YoY), OPM 40%; Recruitment billings +10% YoY; 99acres billings +2% YoY impacted by sales org changes; Jeevansathi billings +21% YoY; Shiksha billings -13% YoY.
Financial highlights
| Metric | Value | Change | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standalone Billings | ₹1,057 Cr | +7% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| Standalone Revenue | ₹805 Cr | +17% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| Standalone Operating Profit | ₹323 Cr | +39% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| Standalone Operating Profit Margin | 40% | point_in_time · Q4FY26 · Q4FY26 | |
| Recruitment Billings (standalone) | ₹811 Cr | +10% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| Recruitment Operating Profit Margin | 58% | +400 bps | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| 99acres Billings | ₹163 Cr | +2% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| Jeevansathi Billings | ₹39 Cr | +21% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| Shiksha Billings | ₹45 Cr | −13% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
| Jobseeker Services Billings | ₹53 Cr | +33% | yoy · Q4FY26 |
Guidance
99acres expected to turn cash-generative in FY27, with medium-term goal to double revenue in 3 years and achieve 25-30% EBITDA margins; Naukri margins expected stable if topline grows 10%+.
What management committed to
- We expect [99acres] to turn cash-generative in FY27, if all goes well. — FY27
- We expect [99acres] billings growth to recover in Q1 [FY27] once again. — Q1FY27
- We should aim to at least double [99acres'] business [revenue] over the next 3 years. — at least double, FY29
- If we are able to do that [double 99acres revenue], then we should be able to generate at least a 25-30% EBITDA margin as well.
Key themes
AI adoption and 99acres market leadership gains
Operational commentary
- Naukri platform hosts 115 million resumes, adding ~21,000 resumes/day in Q4; online revenue mix shifted from 27% to 53% in 15 months; paid users as % of MAU rose from 1.2% to 2.2%.
- AI-Rex agentic recruitment platform onboarded over 1,000 clients and processed 30,000 job mandates; early adoption encouraging; enterprise sales cycles remain long.
- Talent Pulse data product generated ₹30-35 Cr revenue in FY26; new variants being rolled out to more customers.
- 99acres traffic share grew to 49% web, 54% app, overall 52% timeshare in April; supply share >50% in resale/rental; live resale/rental listings from brokers up 35% YoY, new project listings up 28% YoY.
- 99Shorts video-based new project discovery rolled out in NCR; planned expansion to more cities in FY27.
- Jeevansathi now market leader in daily logged-in users in Hindi-speaking markets; Aisle/Arike combined billing ₹182 Cr in FY26 (+29% YoY), operating losses halved.
- Shiksha facing persistent AI-driven search traffic headwinds; pivoting to domestic counselling and AI voicebots, and broadening study-abroad destination coverage to UK, UAE, Europe.
- Cash balance ₹4,963 Cr; dividend payout increased 40% YoY to ₹8.4/share; two new funds (Karkardooma Trust and B8) announced for growth-stage and deep-tech investments.
Analyst Q&A
Q. Color on hiring sentiment across GCC, IT, and non-IT sectors in the context of AI
Overall job market subdued, a lukewarm market; small GCCs hiring but larger ones shrinking headcount; non-IT slowed; pockets of hiring in AI/ML roles; sentiment tied to economy and geopolitics.
Q. Sustainability of 99acres operating performance given strong margins this quarter; competitive dynamics
Traffic share gains driven by strong execution; 99acres now leader in most cities; competition seeing leadership changes and high burn (Housing ~₹250 Cr/year); margin improvement aided by marketing cost cuts and one-time provision write-back.
Q. Client adoption and willingness to pay for AI-Rex; what is the monetization plan?
Changed approach to make AI-Rex free for recruiters to drive adoption; now 1,000+ clients, 30,000 mandates; early days, monetization will follow after proving productivity gains; aiming for a few hundred crores of incremental revenue from AI-Rex and Talent Pulse over 3 years.
Q. How should we think about 99acres growth trajectory and margin target given Q4 reset and market leadership?
Aim to achieve 60% traffic share; goal to double business in 3 years with 25-30% EBITDA margin; Q1 expected to see billing growth recovery; short-term bumps possible but medium-term foundation strong.
Q. What is the aim behind starting two new funds (Karkardooma Trust and B8)?
One fund for growth-stage investments seeing opportunity with available capital and team; the other for deep-tech investments after earlier fund (Capital2B) ran out of first-check money.
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