What is the current focus of sales efforts, balancing growth with existing clients and acquiring new customers, especially with new product enhancements?

Sales and marketing investment is bifurcated. The first half focused on trade shows and conferences and hiring sales headcount. Previously, the focus was on converting existing customers to higher ARR tiers. Now, the focus is shifting more towards outbound new customer acquisition to drive top-line growth, while maintaining the current account base. “But right now, we're really wanting to maintain our current account base. We still feel like there'll be small percentages of our customers will see value from a bundled product to a subscription, but the growth really over the next 6 to 12 months is going to come from new customers coming into the platform.”

Does the company have a specific CAC or payback period, and will increased sales and marketing efforts translate into subscriber growth in the second half of the year?

The company tracks CAC differently for subscriptions and non-subscription customers. Non-subscription CAC is self-funding after the first release. Subscriber CAC is higher due to longer conversion times (3-6 months) but has been decreasing and is expected to continue to do so. Management is confident in growing the business without significantly increasing CAC, citing market research and new business formations. “The CAC is you appreciate. It's a little more expensive on a subscriber because the length of time takes to convert somebody, generally a 3- to 6-month window is what you're really looking at from pipeline building. So the cost to do that is a little higher. However, it has come down over the last quarter or 2.”

What is driving the slight sequential decrease in ARR per subscription customer, and is it related to lower ARPU or specific customer segments?

The slight sequential decrease is attributed to the company's push into the private company space, where they are finding success with lower-priced ARR products to scale customer subscription members. While public company customers are still growing their values, this is an expected outcome of experimenting with new entry points. New product additions are anticipated to help stabilize this trend in Q3 and drive growth in Q4. “I think it's the private company space. We talked about it being a big incremental push to us. We are trying to find entry points... So we are going into certain verticals, trying to find a lower-priced ARR product that can get us into those markets and try to find a way to learn, iterate and scale fast. So that's the result of what it is.”

ACCS

ACCESS Newswire (ACCS) Q2 FY26 earnings call: guidance and Q&A

Earnings call· Jun 2026 (Q2 FY26)· Communication Services· Aug 11, 2026

Source: earnings call transcript

Executive summary

ACCESS Newswire Q2 FY26 — Strong ARR Growth and Product Innovation Drive Future Strategy

ACCESS Newswire delivered strong subscription metrics in Q2 FY26, with significant growth in average ARR per customer and net revenue retention, driven by new product releases. While overall revenue remained flat year-over-year due to declines in webcasting, the company is strategically investing in sales and marketing and product development to convert innovation into new customer acquisition and higher-value subscriptions, aiming for higher gross margins and an 80% recurring revenue mix by next year.

Highlights

Average ARR per subscription customer increased 15% year-over-year to $12,718, demonstrating successful platform strategy.
Total subscriptions grew 4% quarter-over-quarter to 1,162, with private customer growth up 24% year-over-year.
Net revenue retention (NRR) ended Q2 at 124%, indicating strong customer value expansion.
Operating expenses decreased 4% for the first half of 2026, with G&A down 23% year-over-year due to cost discipline.
Company repurchased 40,000 shares for over $300,000 in Q2, returning over 2% of common shares outstanding.

Concerns

Total revenue for Q2 2026 was essentially unchanged year-over-year at $5.6 million, impacted by lower webcasting revenue.
Gross margin percentage declined to 73% in Q2 2026 from 76% in Q2 2025, due to higher press release distribution costs.
Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $0.6 million (11% of revenue) in Q2 2026 from $0.8 million (15% of revenue) in Q2 2025.
Non-GAAP net income decreased to $0.3 million ($0.08 per diluted share) in Q2 2026 from $0.6 million ($0.14 per diluted share) in Q2 2025.

Guidance & targets

Category	Target	Timeline	Confidence
Cost of revenue reduction	approximately $150,000 medium materiality	H2 FY26	High
Gross margin	higher 70% range medium materiality	H2 FY26	Medium
Recurring revenue (ARR) mix of total revenue	closer to 80% high materiality	Q2 · FY27	Medium
Average ARR per subscription customer	$15,000 high materiality	long-term	High

Orderbook & backlog

Deferred revenue balance $5.1 million June 30, 2026

compared to $5.3 million at December 31, 2025

Expected to recognize over the next 12 months.

Product announcements

Product	Type	Timeline
Social Monitoring Platform	launch	Q2 FY26
New Insights and Analytics Report (Kilda Report)	launch	Q2 FY26
ACCESS Verified for Financials	launch	this coming week (August 2026)
Upgraded ACCESS Events Platform	update	upcoming (IR product front)
New Content Distribution Component	launch	upcoming
ACCESS Content Studio	launch	early Q4 FY26
Full Studio Toolbox Concept	roadmap	end of FY26 and into FY27

Risks & headwinds

Lower revenues from webcast business Q2 FY26

offset core press release revenue growth

Mitigation:Not explicitly stated, but focus on subscription growth and new products implies a shift away from reliance on this segment.

Higher press release distribution costs Q2 FY26

year-over-year decline in gross margin percentage (76% to 73%)

Mitigation:Implemented initiatives designed to reduce cost of revenues by approximately $150,000 in H2 FY26.

Overall industry contraction past several years

industry overall over the last several years, obviously, there's been a trend of contraction

Mitigation:Positioning the company as a leader in AI-enabled PR, targeting the 'hustle generation' of new businesses, and expanding product offerings to address evolving customer needs.

What to watch in Q3 FY26

Gross margin trajectory

H2 FY26

Current 73% in Q2 FY26

Target higher 70% range

Why it matters

Indicates effectiveness of cost-saving initiatives and new product pricing in improving profitability.

Having the incremental gross margin savings and anticipated customer revenue growth will help us also improve to move our gross margins back into the higher 70% range in the back half of the year.

Find out whether ACCS delivers this. Inve re-checks your case every morning.

Q&A highlights

How will pricing increases and add-on pricing be implemented with the upcoming product enhancements?

New products like Insight and Analytics offer incremental fees per press release, increasing average price. Social monitoring will be offered on a 'try before you commit' basis. The strategy is to release two products quarterly: one free workflow improvement and one value-add with an economic benefit. Future products like the content studio ($200-$300/month add-on) and toolkit will drive towards the long-term $15,000 ARR target.

“So this always ties back to our strategic view a couple of years ago when we guided to $15,000 in ARR, we have a product pipeline that will get us there. So the content studio will be another incremental $200 to $300 a month.”

asked by Luke Horton · answered by Brian Balbirnie

2 min read 4 chapters

Detailed narrative

Product Innovation and Roadmap

ACCESS Newswire launched its social monitoring platform and new insights and analytics report in Q2 FY26, driving higher average purchases. The company plans to release several more products by year-end, including an "ACCESS Verified for Financials" platform for IR clients to ensure financial reporting consistency, and an upgraded "ACCESS events platform" for streamlined earnings call scheduling.

On the PR side, a new content distribution component will allow tailored messaging across social platforms, and the "ACCESS content studio" will offer AI-powered content generation and distribution, expected to increase subscription revenue by 10% to 15%.

Market Opportunity and Growth Strategy

Management believes the PR industry will return to double-digit growth by 2027, driven by AI and an increase in new business formations from the "hustle generation." The company is strategically targeting this demographic with lower-tier subscription products and e-commerce initiatives.

Investments in sales and marketing are bifurcated, focusing on both existing customer expansion and new customer acquisition, with a goal to shift the revenue mix towards 80% recurring ARR by Q2 FY27.

Capital Allocation and Cost Discipline

The company repurchased 40,000 shares for over $300,000 in Q2 FY26, bringing total repurchases to 90,000 shares or $700,000 since December 2025, returning over 2% of common shares outstanding. Management expects to complete the current buyback plan and potentially institute another.

Cost-saving initiatives are expected to reduce cost of revenue by $150,000 in H2 FY26, improving gross margins, with savings reinvested into sales and marketing for customer acquisition.

Subscription Performance and Retention

Average ARR per subscription customer increased 15% year-over-year to $12,718. Total subscriptions grew 4% quarter-over-quarter to 1,162, with private customer growth up 24% year-over-year. Retention for the quarter was 94%, up 2% from Q1, and net revenue retention (NRR) ended Q2 at 124%. The company aims to maintain these retention thresholds while focusing on new subscription growth in the second half of the year.

Summary of the company's earnings call; see how call summaries are prepared. Not investment advice.