ACI Worldwide Raises 2026 Outlook After Connetic U.S. Wins

The Tip Desk · August 6, 2026 · 3 min read

Second-quarter revenue was $430 million, up 7%, and the company lifted full-year revenue guidance to $1.895 billion to $1.925 billion.

ACI Worldwide (ACIW), a provider of global payments technology, raised its full-year 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA outlook after a second quarter in which it enabled its cloud-native ACI Connetic platform across eight major U.S. payment networks and signed two U.S. customers.

The company now expects full-year 2026 revenue of $1.895 billion to $1.925 billion, up from a prior range of $1.890 billion to $1.920 billion, and adjusted EBITDA of $545 million to $560 million, up from $540 million to $555 million. President and CEO Thomas Warsop said the two U.S. Connetic signings were a significant milestone that validated demand for payments modernization in the world’s largest banking market.

Second-quarter revenue was $430 million, up 7% from a year earlier, or 6% in constant currency. That followed first-quarter revenue of $426 million, up 8%. Recurring revenue was $336 million, up 5%. GAAP net income was $32 million, compared with $12 million a year earlier, and GAAP diluted EPS was $0.31. Adjusted diluted EPS was $0.54, up 54%. Adjusted EBITDA was $91 million, up 12%, and net adjusted EBITDA margin was 34%.

Payment Software revenue was $196 million, up 9%, or 7% in constant currency, after 6% growth in the first quarter. Issuing and Acquiring revenue increased 33% in constant currency, attributed to large expansions with renewing customers. Payments Intelligence and Merchant Payments each increased 3% in constant currency. Real-Time Payments revenue was $23 million, down from last year due to renewal timing. Segment adjusted EBITDA was $94 million, with net adjusted EBITDA margin of 48%.

Biller revenue was $234 million, up 5% on a reported and constant currency basis, after 10% growth in the first quarter. Biller revenue net of interchange fees was $68 million, down 3%, reflecting a strong comparison with significant new onboarding and transactions a year earlier. Biller adjusted EBITDA was $35 million, down 13%, and net adjusted EBITDA margin net of interchange fees was 51%. Based on new business wins and current transaction trends, full-year 2026 Biller revenue growth in the high single digits remains expected.

Net new ARR bookings were $18 million, down 25% from the year-ago quarter, as strength in Biller ARR growth was offset by the timing of expected Payment Software contracts. New license and services bookings were $59 million, up 2%. Full-year 2026 growth is expected for both new ARR and new license and services bookings.

Cash on hand was $167 million and debt was $826 million, a net leverage ratio of 1.2x adjusted EBITDA. Total cash and available liquidity under the credit facility was $540 million. Operating cash flow for the six months ended June 30 was $135 million. In the quarter the company repurchased about 948,000 shares for about $41 million at an average price of $43.75. Year-to-date repurchases totaled 2.5 million shares for about $107 million. About $349 million remained on the authorization, and the company continues to expect to allocate 50% to 60% of operating cash flow to share repurchases for the full year, subject to market conditions.

For the second half of 2026, the company continues to expect an approximately 40% and 60% revenue weighting for the third and fourth quarters, driven by the timing of high-margin Payment Software license renewals. That equates to third-quarter revenue of $417 million to $427 million and adjusted EBITDA of $90 million to $95 million. Warsop said the company enters the second half with a healthy pipeline.