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IBEX 2026财年第四季度及全年业绩电话会:AI增长与2027财年业绩指引

TradingKey2026年9月10日 23:42
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IBEX公布2026财年第四季度及全年业绩,第四季度营收同比增长12%至1.643亿美元,全年营收增长15.4%至6.441亿美元,实现连续六个季度两位数增长。医疗科技表现亮眼,全年营收增长38%超管理层目标。公司积极布局AI智能体业务,已在多个垂直领域落地。管理层预计2027财年营收将在7.00亿至7.15亿美元之间,调整后EBITDA将在9000万至9400万美元之间。

该摘要由AI生成

核心要点

  • 2026财年第四季度营收同比增长12%,达到创纪录的1.643亿美元,标志着IBEX连续第六个季度实现两位数的营收增长。
  • 2026财年全年营收增长15.4%至6.441亿美元。GAAP稀释后每股收益(EPS)增长32.8%至3.13美元,调整后EPS增长28%至3.52美元。
  • 医疗科技(Health Tech)仍是增长最快的垂直领域,第四季度营收增长42%至2940万美元,全年营收增长38%至1.14亿美元,超出管理层设定的1亿美元目标。
  • IBEX在第四季度赢得了9个新的标杆客户,2026财年全年共赢得17个。营收留存率和客户留存率均保持在99%以上,客户净推荐值为71。
  • 管理层表示,AI驱动的产品与服务已成为更有力的增长贡献因素。IBEX在五个垂直领域部署了两位数数量的AI智能体,包括在菲律宾航空和BJ's Wholesale的部署。
  • 展望2027财年,管理层预计营收将在7.00亿美元至7.15亿美元之间,调整后EBITDA将在9000万美元至9400万美元之间。

重要财务数据

指标2026财年第四季度变化 / 比较2026财年变化 / 比较
营收1.643亿美元同比增长12%6.441亿美元同比增长15.4%
GAAP净利润870万美元上年同期为960万美元4630万美元上年同期为3690万美元
GAAP稀释后每股收益0.59美元上年同期为0.66美元3.13美元+32.8%
调整后EBITDA2020万美元上年同期为2050万美元8240万美元上年同期为7200万美元
调整后EBITDA利润率12.3%上年同期为13.9%12.8%上年同期为12.9%
调整后净利润1270万美元5220万美元+21%
调整后稀释每股收益0.85美元上年同期为0.87美元3.52美元+28%
经营性现金流5900万美元上年同期为4570万美元
自由现金流3120万美元上年同期为2730万美元

IBEX在第四财季末拥有3260万美元现金和170万美元债务,净现金为3090万美元。2026财年资本支出为2780万美元,占营收的4.3%。

业务与运营业绩

第四季度医疗科技营收增长42%,占季度总营收的17.9%。科技领域增长27%,旅游、交通与物流增长18%,零售与电子商务增长7%。金融科技营收增长3%,而电信业务由于传统运营商业务量下降,占营收比重从10.9%降至9.4%。

在近期拓展的客户及利润率较高的医疗科技业务推动下,第四季度在岸业务营收增长15%。离岸业务营收增长14%,占总营收的50%。近岸业务营收增长2%。

数字化与全渠道服务增长12%,占第四季度营收的82%。管理层将这一结构转变归因于数字化和AI驱动解决方案的贡献日益提升。

客户集中度持续下降。最大客户占第四季度营收的9%,而前五大、前十大和前25大客户分别占33%、53%和75%。全年来自前五大、前十大和前25大客户的营收分别增长了24%、22%和15%。

IBEX重点介绍了四种与AI相关的部署模式。菲律宾航空的概念验证采用了英语、他加禄语和塔加洛英语,解决率在20%以上,客户满意度超过4.7分(满分5.0)。BJ's Wholesale的解决率超过40%,客户满意度超过4.7分。管理层表示,这些部署产生的是增量增长,而非蚕食现有营收。

管理层业绩指引

期间营收指引增速调整后EBITDA指引增速
2027财年第一季度1.68亿美元–1.70亿美元11%–12%2200万美元–2300万美元13%–18%
2027财年7.00亿美元–7.15亿美元9%–11%9000万美元–9400万美元9%–14%

管理层预计2027财年资本支出为2500万美元至3000万美元。此外,管理层预计调整后EBITDA利润率将在2027财年第一季度恢复扩张,并指出未来20%至22%的常态化税率是合理的。

风险与关注事项

第四财季的盈利能力受到多重因素承压:包括获取新客户带来的相关培训成本、从近岸向离岸交付中心转移业务产生的临时影响,以及燃料价格上涨推高了公用事业和交通费用。GAAP业绩还包括200万美元的租赁终止损失和裁员补偿费,以及减值损失和资产处置收益。

管理层指出,AI智能体解决方案可能难以产生足够的投资回报或高质量的交互。IBEX正试图通过与Sierra AI的合作来解决这些局限性,但持续的部署表现和客户采用情况仍是需要关注的重要领域。

其他运营方面的考量因素包括:传统电信客户的业务量下降、支持离岸业务扩张导致的资本支出增加,以及在2026财年享受有利的离散税项后恢复至更高的常态化税率。

分析师问答环节要点

分析师关注的焦点在于AI是否已经推动增长以及是否能进一步拉动营收加速。首席执行官Robert Dechant表示,与Sierra AI的合作增强了IBEX的差异化优势,并缩短了从概念验证到规模化部署的路径。他指出,与招聘和培训同等规模的人工客服相比,AI智能体能够更快地承接20%至40%的企业业务量。

在垂直领域的增长方面,管理层认为在大型买方(付款方)和专科医疗机构需求的推动下,医疗科技将是2027财年的重大机遇。管理层还提及赢得了新客户、在电子商务领域的市场份额提升、巴基斯坦等低成本交付市场,以及AI在旅游和交通领域的扩展支持。

首席财务官Taylor Greenwald表示,投资者在财务建模时应采用20%至22%的税率,因为第四季度较低的税率得益于离散税项(包括一项税务事项的有利解决)。

业绩电话会议完整文字记录


完整财报电话会议逐字稿

管理层陈述

Operator

Hello, and welcome to ibex Fourth Quarter Full Year 2026 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] To note, there is an accompanying presentation available on the ibex Investor Relations website at investors.ibex.co.

I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Greg Bradbury, Investor Relations for ibex. Sir, you may begin.

Greg Bradbury

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us today. Before we begin, I want to remind you that matters discussed on today's call may include forward-looking statements related to our operating performance, financial goals, and business outlook, which are based on management's current beliefs and assumptions. Please note that these forward-looking statements reflect our opinion as of the date of this call, and we undertake no obligation to revise this information as a result of new developments which may occur.

Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expected and described today. For a more detailed description of our risk factors, please review our annual report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on September 10, 2026, and any other risk factors we include in the subsequent filings with the SEC.

With that, I will now turn the call over to ibex CEO, Bob Dechant.

Robert Dechant

Thanks, Greg. Good afternoon and thank you all for joining us today as we review our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 results. I am pleased to report that our fourth quarter marked another period of outperformance, continuing the momentum we have built throughout fiscal 2026, as we further expanded our differentiation while creating additional separation between ibex and the rest of the traditional BPO market.

We delivered record fourth quarter revenue, growing 12% to $164.3 million, bringing our full-year organic revenue growth to 15%, or $644.1 million. We also did this while generating full-year records for adjusted EBITDA, EPS, adjusted EPS, operating cash flow, and free cash flow. The quarter also marked our sixth straight quarter of double-digit revenue growth. These results demonstrate the strength of ibex and the separation we have from the competition. We have created a powerful flywheel that enables us to consistently outperform the market.

It starts with our differentiation and proven track record, which enables us to win trophy new logo clients across key verticals. We then operationally outperform our competition, allowing us to rapidly take significant market share. As a result, we have built a business with best-in-class client retention rates. The proof points of our flywheel are clear. In the fourth quarter, our new logo engine accelerated considerably. During the period, we added nine new trophy logos, bringing our annual total to 17 wins across multiple verticals and geographies. For the year, revenue from our top five, top 10, and top 25 clients grew 24%, 22%, and 15%, respectively.

This growth represents market share we are taking from our competitors. I am proud to report that ibex was named Partner of the Year by three different Fortune 500 companies, all of which are top 10 clients, highlighting that our clients clearly recognize the impact of our solutions on their business outcomes.

In fiscal year 2026, we recorded revenue and client retention rates north of 99%, indicating our ability to deliver not just for a select few clients, but across our client base. Additionally, our client Net Promoter Score remains world-class at 71. While our financial results already underscore this point, it is another strong validation that our clients remain incredibly supportive of the work we are doing. On the topic of growth, earlier this year we announced our target of growing the Health Tech vertical into a $100 million business by the end of the fiscal year. During the fourth quarter, the segment grew 42% to $29.4 million and grew 38% for the full year to $114 million, significantly surpassing the revenue goal we set for the business. What makes that performance especially compelling is that this growth has been built organically and will continue to be one of ibex's most important growth vectors in fiscal year 2027 and beyond.

While Health Tech represents a large and important vertical to us, it also serves as a strong showcase of our proven ability to build and scale new verticals organically across new geographies, further validating our ongoing investment and expansion into additional high-growth markets. One attribute of ibex that I am particularly proud of is our ability to improve as we grow. That applies to our business, our team, and our brand. I am pleased to report that our employee Net Promoter Score increased this year from an already impressive 77 to 82, with a 95% participation rate, putting us in unprecedented territory not only amongst traditional BPO peers, but across all industries. This is an important part of our competitive moat and a foundation for our ability to consistently outperform the competition.

Fiscal year 2026 also marked a transformational step forward in defining a new era of BPO, one powered by AI agents. Our strategic partnership with Sierra AI firmly establishes ibex as a leading provider of AI agents. We bring an integrated solution to market that enables us to deliver both effective AI agent call containment and high levels of customer satisfaction. Many studies, including one by MIT, have highlighted that AI agent solutions often fall short on ROI or deliver poor quality interactions. Our solution is designed to deliver both significant cost savings and high-quality AI-driven interactions. It combines a best-in-class AI agent engine with our best-in-class business insights to create customer journeys that deliver the end.

And we formalized the strategic partnership in late January and announced it publicly in May. In that short period of time, we have achieved tremendous traction across both new and existing clients, demonstrating that our AI strategy is translating into a transformational success for our clients and ibex. The following are four distinct and meaningful case studies that highlight the progress we are making at AI speed. In the first, ibex beat out a pure-play AI technology company, a SaaS technology company, and a traditional multi-billion dollar BPO peer to win and launch an AI agent partnership with Philippine Airlines, an existing ibex client.

We won the proof of concept in Q4 and reached full-scale deployment at the start of fiscal year 2027. During the proof-of-concept phase, ibex launched an AI agent solution in three languages, English, Tagalog, and Taglish, achieved resolution rates above 20% and delivered CSAT above 4.7 out of 5.0, on par with our traditional human agents while our competitors struggled. Importantly, and consistent with our thesis going in, this solution is not cannibalizing our revenues.

As we continue to be a critical partner, we are able to take share from our BPO competitors on the human agent side. This is a significant net win and a strong early proof point of how we intend to win in the evolving BPO 3.0 market. The second example is with BJ's Wholesale, a new trophy client win in which we led with our AI solution, not traditional BPO. We launched in June and achieved impressive results in weeks, not months.

We are attaining resolution rates above 40% and CSAT scores above 4.7 out of 5.0, exceeding the human agent scores delivered by the client's legacy BPO vendor. Based on the outstanding performance and the strength of the partnership we have forged, we now anticipate launching traditional human agents in the first half of fiscal year 2027. This adds another dimension to our powerful land and expand model. We believe BJ's is a great illustration of our ability to lead with AI, deliver meaningful client outcomes, and then win additional business, proving that our AI agent solutions are not merely an ancillary offering, but a leading solution that will drive future growth.

A third example comes from deploying Sierra AI on our digital customer acquisition business. In this case, we are leveraging AI agent solutions we built to take inbound call volume that were previously handled through traditional IVR and converting them into incremental sales opportunities for our human agents. This creates a virtuous cycle. We are easily able to scale to answer all the call volume generated through our own digital marketing efforts, efficiently convert them into additional revenue opportunities, and reinvest in new digital marketing campaigns to further expand this growing business.

The last and fourth example highlights the strength of our partnership. Not only are we winning new business by leading with the ibex Sierra solution, but we are also winning traditional CX business through the partnership. Earlier in the year, Sierra introduced us to a leading luxury activewear brand seeking the right partner to scale human agent support alongside its AI solution as the brand experiences hyper growth. Based on the strength of Sierra's partnership and the trust it had developed with the client, we signed and launched a proof of concept within 30 days. Following our outperformance versus the incumbent vendor, we signed a long-term agreement and are now executing an aggressive ramp.

This is a great example of how our traditional BPO can work and now move at the speed of AI, not BPO. Each of these four solutions are driving incremental growth for ibex. And we currently have double-digit client deployments with our AI agent solution spread across five verticals, creating additional vectors of growth. Importantly, we have now turned the perceived threat of AI for BPOs into an important growth opportunity for ibex. The result is a business that is strategically built for today and tomorrow. For many quarters, we have demonstrated our ability to outperform the traditional BPO market on the human agent side of the business.

Now we have created the ability to deliver best-in-class AI agents as well, which gives us confidence in our ability to continue to deliver on our growth trajectory, both near-term and long-term. To summarize, we will look back on fiscal 2026, not only as another banner year across the business, but also as the start of something greater. We began to define the new era of BPO, BPO 3.0, and we are confident in our ability to build on this momentum and solidify ibex's industry leadership position. I firmly believe our business today is stronger than ever, and that we are best positioned for the future. Lastly, I want to thank my team for their tireless efforts in making ibex the best in the industry.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Taylor to go into more detail on our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 financial results and guidance. Taylor?

Taylor Greenwald

Thank you, Bob, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining the call today. In my discussions of our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 financial results, references to revenue, net income, and net cash generated from operations are on a U.S. GAAP basis, while adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow are on a non-GAAP basis. Reconciliations of our U.S. GAAP to non-GAAP measures are included in the tables attached to our earnings press release. Turning to our results, we had a strong fourth quarter across many key operating metrics, including revenue, adjusted EBITDA, EPS, and free cash flow. This was our sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth, resulting in top-line growth of 12% for the quarter. Our differentiating solutions and execution are clearly separating us from the traditional BPO pack.

Fourth quarter revenue was $164.3 million, up from $147.1 million in the prior year quarter. Revenue growth was driven by vertical growth in Health Tech of 42%, Technology of 27%, Travel, Transportation, and Logistics of 18%, Retail & E-commerce of 7%, with help from growth in our AI agent solutions. We continue to win and grow in all geographic markets during the quarter. Our onshore region grew 15% compared to the prior year quarter, driven by clients won and launched during fiscal year 2026, including several clients in our higher margin Health Tech vertical. Our highest margin offshore region grew 14% from the prior year quarter, and our nearshore locations grew 2%. Offshore revenue comprised 50% of total revenue, allowing us to maintain our strong gross margin of 28.6% for the quarter. Onshore revenue expanded to 28% of total revenue from 27% in the prior year quarter.

Our higher margin digital and omnichannel services also continue to strengthen, growing 12% versus the prior year quarter to 82% of total revenue. This continued mix shift reflects the growing contribution of our digital and AI-enabled solutions and reinforces the strategic and financial impact as deployments begin to scale. We have structurally built ibex so that our growth vectors are our highest margins regions, services, and vertical markets, and we expect that we will continue to be successful driving long-term margin growth.

Fourth quarter GAAP net income was $8.7 million compared to $9.6 million in the prior year quarter. The results were primarily driven by training expenses related to the many new client wins in the quarter and temporary impact of work transferring from nearshore to offshore delivery centers, as well as the impact of higher fuel prices on utility and transportation expenses, particularly in our offshore region. Our GAAP results also include $2 million of lease termination losses and severance expense associated with a shift of work from our nearshore to offshore regions, as well as impairment losses and asset disposal gains. Our tax rate was 10% versus 19% in the prior year quarter, primarily attributable to changes in revenue mix across our taxable jurisdictions and discrete tax items, including a favorable resolution of uncertain tax position during the current year.

Fully diluted GAAP EPS was $0.59, down from $0.66 in the prior year quarter. Moving to non-GAAP measures, adjusted EBITDA decreased slightly to $20.2 million, or 12.3% of revenue, from $20.5 million, or 13.9% of revenue, for the same period last year and driven primarily by the expenses related to new client wins, the temporary impact of work transferring from nearshore to offshore, as well as the impact of higher fuel prices. We expect adjusted EBITDA margins to return to expanding in the first quarter of fiscal year 2027.

In addition to our customary non-GAAP adjustments of stock-based compensation and foreign currency gains and losses, our non-GAAP results also exclude the $2 million of lease termination losses, severance expense, impairment losses, and asset disposal gains discussed above. Adjusted net income remained consistent at $12.7 million when compared to the prior quarter. Non-GAAP fully diluted adjusted earnings per share was $0.85 compared to $0.87 in the prior year quarter. As a company, we are pleased with the client diversification we have established over the last several years.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, our largest client accounted for 9% of revenue, and our top five, top 10, and top 25 clients represented 33%, 53%, and 75%, respectively, of overall revenue, compared to 36%, 54%, and 79%, respectively, of overall revenue in the prior year quarter, representative of a well-diversified client portfolio which continues to diversify with new clients. Over the past decade, we have done a tremendous job of not only retaining our top 25 clients, but also winning and growing new strategic clients. Two great examples of this are two of our signature client wins from fiscal year '25 growing into top 25 clients, and one of our signature client wins from fiscal year '24 growing into a top 10 client.

Switching to our verticals, Health Tech grew 42% and increased to 17.9% of fourth quarter revenue versus 14% in the prior quarter. Technology grew 27% and increased to 8.4% compared to 7.4%. Travel, Transportation, and Logistics grew 18% and increased to 14.5% compared to 13.8%. And Retail & E-commerce grew 7% and comprised 24.2% of total revenue compared to 25.3% in the prior year quarter. These increases were driven by continued growth in multiple offshore geographies and our continued ability to win significant new clients in these verticals. Conversely, our exposure to the lower margin Telecommunications vertical decreased to 9.4% of revenue for the quarter versus 10.9% in the prior year quarter as we see lower volume from legacy carriers.

Revenues from the FinTech vertical were up 3% and represented 9.7% of revenue for the quarter versus 10.6% in the prior year quarter. Moving on to our full-year results, we achieved record full-year revenue, adjusted EBITDA, EPS, adjusted EPS, operating cash flow, and free cash flow for fiscal year 2026. Fiscal year 2026 revenue was $644.1 million, an increase of 15.4% from $558.3 million in the prior year. Revenue growth was driven by vertical growth in Health Tech of 38%, Technology of 26%, Travel, Transportation, and Logistics of 17%, and Retail & E-commerce of 14%, along with accelerating growth in our digital acquisition business and our AI agent solutions.

During fiscal year 2026, these AI-enabled offerings progressed from an emerging growth vector to becoming a more meaningful contributor to our results, supporting both new client wins and expansion within our embedded base. We grew in both our onshore and offshore regions throughout the year. Our onshore region grew 25% compared to prior year, driven by growth of several clients in our higher margin Health Tech vertical, in our high margin AI agent solutions, and digital acquisition business. Our highest margin offshore region comprised 51% of total revenue and grew 16% compared to prior year. Revenue from our nearshore locations grew 5% compared to the prior year.

Fiscal year 2026 net income increased to $46.3 million versus $36.9 million in the prior year. The increase was primarily driven by the continued revenue growth and operating leverage gained from SG&A expenses. Our effective tax rate was 14.7% versus 19.7% for fiscal year 2026, which was attributable to changes in revenue mix across our taxable jurisdictions and discrete items recognized in the current year. Excluding the discrete tax benefits from stock-based compensation and favorable resolution of uncertain tax positions, our effective tax rate would have been 18.2% for fiscal year 2026. We expect our normalized tax rate going forward to be in a 20% to 22% range, benefiting from higher net income and lower diluted shares outstanding. Our GAAP fully diluted earnings per share increased 32.8% to $3.13.

Reviewing our non-GAAP measures for the full year, adjusted EBITDA increased to a record of $82.4 million compared to $72 million for the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 12.8% for fiscal year 2026, consistent with 12.9% for the prior year. Adjusted net income increased 21% to $52.2 million compared to $43 million in the prior year. Non-GAAP fully diluted adjusted earnings per share increased 28% to $3.52 compared to $2.75. The increase in non-GAAP adjusted net income and non-GAAP fully diluted earnings per share was primarily driven by the top and bottom line operating performance discussed earlier and our lower tax rate and share count.

Moving to cash flow, net cash generated from operating activities was a record $59 million for fiscal year 2026 compared to $45.7 million for fiscal year 2025, which was driven by an increase in our revenues and profitability offset by a higher use of working capital. Our DSOs were 69 days for the quarter, down from 72 days at the end of last year. We expect our DSOs to remain stable in the low to mid-70s on a go-forward basis. Capital expenditures were $27.8 million or 4.3% of revenue for fiscal year 2026, versus $18.4 million or 3.3% of revenue in the prior year. This increase was primarily driven by expansions in our offshore regions and purchases of IT and telecommunications equipment to support the company's continued growth.

Free cash flow for fiscal year 2026 was a record inflow of $31.2 million compared to an inflow of $27.3 million in the prior year. This increase was primarily driven by the increase in net cash generated from operating activities offset by the planned increase in capital expenditures. We are proud to have achieved record cash flow levels while investing for high growth. During the quarter, we repurchased 143,000 shares for $4.3 million at an average price of $29.83, bringing our fiscal year share repurchases to 453,000 shares for $14.4 million at an average price of $31.70.

On May 11, 2026, the Board authorized a new share repurchase program for $20 million, and the total amount available for repurchase as of June 30, 2026, was $17.9 million. We ended the fourth quarter with $32.6 million of cash and debt of $1.7 million for a net cash position of $30.9 million, an improvement of $16.9 million compared to net cash of $14 million at the end of the third quarter, an improvement of $17.2 million compared to net cash of $13.7 million at the end of our last fiscal year.

I am also pleased to mention two additional items. First, we just renewed our revolving HSBC credit facilities through October 2029 with a total capacity of up to $76 million. Additionally, as it has now been over five years since our IPO, we have exited emerging growth status and are well prepared for the SOX certification process to attest to the effectiveness of our financial reporting and disclosure controls. Looking back, fiscal year 2026 was a banner year that included record performance across many key operating metrics, including revenue, adjusted EBITDA, EPS, and free cash flow. Our financial results were driven by consistent performance throughout the year, supported by our differentiated strategy and increased traction in our AI-enabled solution offerings.

Looking ahead, this momentum gives us confidence that our strategy will continue generating results that outpace our market as we head to fiscal year 2027. Forecasting the year ahead, our healthy balance sheet and cash flows are enabling us to continue to make smart investments to support increased capacity for anticipated growth, as well as to further extend our current AI leadership position. Reflective of our current position and forward momentum, we are providing initial first quarter and fiscal year 2027 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance.

For fiscal year 2027, revenue is expected to be in the range of $700 million to $715 million or 9% to 11% growth. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $90 million to $94 million or 9% to 14% growth. For the first quarter fiscal year 2027, revenue is expected to be in the range of $168 million to $170 million or 11% to 12% growth. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $22 million to $23 million or 13% to 18% growth. Capital expenditures for the year are expected to be in the range of $25 million to $30 million. Our business is well positioned for today and the years ahead, and we are excited about the momentum we have built as we head into fiscal year 2027 and beyond.

With that, Bob and I will now take questions. Operator, please open the line.

Operator

[Operator Instructions]

Our first question comes from the line of Jacob Haggarty with Baird.

分析师问答

Jacob Haggarty

Congrats on another great quarter here. Just a question real quick, could you -- like, your growth has accelerated pretty nicely since the AI fears have kicked in, ironically. Are you guys already seeing benefits from AI? Is that part of what's driving this growth, or can that be an accelerating factor in the years to come here?

Robert Dechant

Hey, Jacob, it's Bob, and thanks for the question and appreciate your being on the call. So here is my belief is our performance continues to stand out, and that is noticed by potential clients that are looking at us, et cetera. But when we do the announcement with Sierra, such a strong player in the AI world, it also helps them take notice, and it puts us, I think, into a different classification versus the rest of the pack. And really moves us into that position of being a BPO player that can be their partner for today in the human world, but also be their partner as they now evolve and the -- bring AI agents to market.

And so it further differentiates us. And I think that is what we are seeing is the acceleration of our business, our traditional business, our business to -- our ability to win new logos, but it also now creates what we are really excited about is another dimension for growth. Because if you think about our implementations, we go from a proof of concept to rapidly full deployment.

We go to 20% to 40% of their enterprise volume, as I highlighted in those case studies. Now, do you know how long that would take to hire to 20% to 40% on the human side between training and hiring? It takes a long time to build that type of scale. And now we are building that scale almost immediately with the scale of the AI agent solution. So we think pathway to revenue for that is really exciting. So we just think that, that adds a whole lot, another dimension of growth to our business. And like I said, in the face of the threat of AI, and we are out in front of it, so we actually truly believe we future-proofed this business.

Jacob Haggarty

Yes, no, that makes a lot of sense. And just a modeling question really quick on FQ4 tax rate. It was a bit lower. How do you think about that for the coming year? Like, should that go back to near 20% or does that stay structurally lower for a little bit?

Taylor Greenwald

Good question. Jacob, good to hear from you. You are right. So going forward, we would expect our tax rate to continue to be in that 20% to 22% range. The fourth quarter we benefited from some discrete tax items, including a favorable resolution from a tax matter with the tax authority. So I think for modeling purposes, 20% to 22% would be the right range.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of David Paige with RBC.

David Paige Papadogonas

Congrats on the good results. Looks like a broad-based growth across all four verticals. So I was just wondering if you could provide a little bit more color on each vertical out into 1Q and to 2027. Is growth going to be accelerating? Or where should we be focused on?

Robert Dechant

Sure, David, thank you for joining. Thank you for that question. And you -- I like how you touched on that because we are seeing growth in our key verticals, and that's something that we believe is important, how we have built ourselves, a diversified as a business from a client and a vertical standpoint. Let's start with the Health care, Health Tech vertical. We are doing an amazing job with the big payers and the pipeline is really strong in that space with those players. And we feel, like, that will continue to fuel a lot of growth for us as we win those throughout the course of this year. Our pipeline is really strong there. But we have also won in what I'll call more specialty areas of the health care ecosystem. Things like non-emergency medical transportation, where we are just winning deal after deal after deal.

And so we are really excited because we have the strength of those that have massive budgets for CX, and then we are winning in with the specialty companies that allow us to really, kind of, have a really strong one-two punch. When I think about the e-commerce world, we are doing very well in the e-commerce world. We are winning new logos. We are winning as e-commerce world is looking for disruptive markets, low price points. Our Pakistan market is on fire, growing rapidly as are several of our other low-cost markets.

But we are -- one area of growth there is we're just winning massive market share against our competitors by simply outperforming them, which is a really good position to be in because that's obviously then really sticky if you are outperforming, if you are growing with them. And then if you are bringing some of these innovative solutions, you become a more and more trusted partner. And so I think we're doing very well in that space. I'd say similarly in the Travel, Transportation, where we are winning.

Look, we highlighted what we did with Philippine Airlines. Well, we are deferring and containing a lot of calls that were going to humans with AI, but we are doing that. We are winning market share and we are growing with them. And so we are able to win new businesses just based on, kind of, what we are doing in as a business, our differentiated value proposition. As I look into '27, I feel really strong about the trajectory of the business. The 9 new logos, I don't think are a one-off that we did in the Q4. I really think that's a -- that is a combination of the brand that we've created, the differentiation that we continually highlight, and then our strong AI play, and in particular, AI agent play.

We're -- our competition in the BPO space, they are not leaning into this. And so we are well ahead of anybody in the pack. And as clients look at that, they want a provider that can deliver successful AI agents. And that's the solution that we built with Sierra, leveraging the strength of them and the strength of us. We put it together. And as you can see, we are delivering the end. That's resonating and that is driving growth. So I feel really strong about the trajectory of this business.

David Paige Papadogonas

Congrats on the good results.

Robert Dechant

Great. Thank you. Yes, we are really proud of what we have done.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, I am showing no further questions in the queue. I would now like to turn the call back over to CEO Bob Dechant for closing remarks.

Robert Dechant

Thanks, operator, and thanks all for participating today. As you can tell, we are really proud of the work that we've done here. And again, it's all driven by the best team in the industry. So I just want to thank them, a special call out to them. I appreciate all your efforts that you put out throughout the entire year. I couldn't be more proud of what you've done and what we've done as a company. Thank you all for joining us today. And we look forward to speaking with you shortly next quarter in November. Have a good night.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

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