DFIN 2026 年第三季法說會:營收成長 5.5% 且利潤率擴張
2026年第三季淨銷售額年增5.5%至1.85億美元,調整後EBITDA成長近10%至5,440萬美元,利潤率擴增120個基點至29.4%。軟體解決方案成長5%佔營收51.5%,其中ActiveDisclosure成長24%且營收突破1億美元。自由現金流增至8,580萬美元,淨槓桿率為0.4倍。管理階層預估第四季淨銷售額為1.75億至1.80億美元,並預期2027年軟體業務將持續成長。
重點摘要
- 2026 年第三季淨銷售額年增 5.5% 至 1.85 億美元,達到管理階層指引區間的上限。
- 調整後 EBITDA 成長近 10% 至 5,440 萬美元,調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴增約 120 個基點至 29.4%。
- 軟體解決方案銷售額成長 5%,佔季度營收的 51.5%。ActiveDisclosure 營收成長約 24%,創下連續五個季度成長超過 20% 的紀錄。
- 自由現金流增加 2,660 萬美元至 8,580 萬美元。DFIN 在本季結束時的非 GAAP 淨負債為 9,980 萬美元,淨槓桿率為 0.4 倍。
- 管理階層預估第四季淨銷售額為 1.75 億至 1.80 億美元,調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 26% 至 27%。
- 在傳統服務進一步過渡至 SaaS 以及 ArcFlex 商業化推動的支撐下,管理階層預期 2027 年軟體業務將持續成長。
主要財務結果
| 指標 | 2026 年第三季 | 年增減 | 評論說明 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 淨銷售額 | 1.850 億美元 | +5.5% | 達到管理階層指引上限 |
| 調整後非 GAAP 毛利率 | 64.8% | +210 bps | 受惠於軟體成長、交易銷售、定價及成本控制 |
| 調整後 EBITDA | 5,440 萬美元 | +490 萬美元;接近 +10% | 銷售額增加與營運效率提升 |
| 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率 | 29.4% | +120 bps | 銷售組合改善及成本控制 |
| 自由現金流 | 8,580 萬美元 | +2,660 萬美元 | 受惠於營運資金改善、EBITDA 提高及資本支出減少 |
| 總負債 | 1.270 億美元 | — | 包含循環貸款動用金額 2,100 萬美元 |
| 非 GAAP 淨負債 | 9,980 萬美元 | — | 淨槓桿率為 0.4 倍 |
以近十二個月(TTM)基準計算,DFIN 產生了 2.531 億美元的調整後 EBITDA、32.2% 的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率,以及將近 1.8 億美元的自由現金流。銷售額增長 4.8%,其中包括軟體解決方案成長 8% 與科技賦能服務成長 3.4%,但部分被印刷與分銷業務下滑 1.4% 所抵銷。
業務與營運表現
ActiveDisclosure 推動軟體成長
資本市場軟體解決方案營收成長 8.6% 至 6,410 萬美元。ActiveDisclosure 貢獻了 540 萬美元的年成長額,隨著淨客戶數及每戶平均價值提升,營收成長約 24%。
用於創建與申報與 IPO 相關的 S-1 文件之 ActiveDisclosure 使用量增加,占其本季成長的一半以上。管理階層亦指出未上市公司採用率持續上升,這能建立從 IPO 登記到後續上市公司合規業務的發展途徑。
ActiveDisclosure 過去十二個月營收突破 1 億美元。DFIN 的三大軟體產品目前每項年營收皆超過 1 億美元。
Venue 地區成長表現不均
Venue 產生了 3,600 萬美元營收,年減約 1%。在升級版產品的採用以及與大型投資銀行深化合作的帶動下,美國營收成長約 7%;但這被較弱的國際業務表現所抵銷,特別是在交易活動放緩的 EMEA 地區。
Arc Suite 面臨高基期挑戰
投資公司軟體解決方案銷售額下滑 1.9% 至 3,110 萬美元。訂閱營收持平,而服務營收下降約 15%,部分原因為去年同期包含了與客製化股東報告相關的客戶導入項目。
ArcFlex 仍處於商業化採用的初期階段。隨著 DFIN 將業務擴展至私募基金與替代投資領域,管理階層預期 2026 年營收有限,並將自 2027 年起加速成長。
交易營收持續復甦
資本市場合規與通訊管理營收成長 8.2% 至 6,190 萬美元。資本市場交易營收增加 390 萬美元至 4,570 萬美元,為連續第四個季度實現年增長。
管理階層表示交易活動仍顯參差不齊。本季美國 IPO 活動走軟,但大型併購交易維持強勁。該部門的調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴增約 640 個基點至 40.7%。
管理階層財測指引
針對 2026 年第四季,管理階層提供以下展望:
| 指標 | 2026 年第四季預估 | 補充說明 |
|---|---|---|
| 合併淨銷售額 | 1.75 億至 1.80 億美元 | 中位數意味著年增約 3% |
| 調整後 EBITDA 利潤率 | 26%-27% | 中位數 26.5% 與去年同期持平;2025 年第四季包含了約 300 萬美元的停損保險理賠金 |
| 資本市場交易銷售額 | 約 5,000 萬美元 | 較 2025 年第四季增加約 100 萬美元,其中包括來自資本市場軟體解決方案的微小貢獻 |
交易營收預測假設 IPO 活動將比第三季略為強勁,而併購環境則大致相似。
展望 2027 年,管理階層預計將延續軟體成長動能,加速將傳統服務過渡至 SaaS,並持續投資於新成長機會。公司未對 2027 年展望給出具體量化數字。
風險與關注焦點
- 資本市場活動在不同交易類型間表現仍不均衡。第三季美國 IPO 發行放緩,儘管大型併購活動依舊強勁。
- Venue 在美國的成長被國際市場的疲軟表現所抵銷,特別是在 EMEA 地區。
- 印刷與分銷需求長期持續下降,影響了投資公司合規與通訊管理部門。
- 美國證管會(SEC)提議的電子交付規則可能會使需求從印刷轉向軟體。管理階層預計軟體帶來的效益可抵銷部分(而非全部)印刷量的減少,任何影響可能要在敲定並分階段實施後、接近 2028 年時才會顯現。
- 調整後銷售、一般及行政費用(SG&A)增加 490 萬美元,主要是由於獎勵薪酬與銷售成本增加。獎勵薪酬費用較去年同期增加約 310 萬美元。
分析師問答重點
- ActiveDisclosure 成長:管理階層將此動能歸因於升級版產品、銷售執行力、客戶數量增加、混合服務方案,以及與 IPO 相關的業務從傳統平台過渡轉移。
- 競爭地位:DFIN 表示整體而言,不論是在未上市或上市公司案例中,公司都在擴大市占率,而更廣泛的競爭格局與先前時期基本一致。
- Venue 展望:管理階層強調了在美國的成長以及大型投資銀行的採用,但也承認需要進一步努力以把握國際市場的機會。
- 資本市場布局:DFIN 的業務橫跨多個產業領域,不過管理階層指出其在生物科技領域的市占率可能稍高。若各領域的 IPO 市場整體回溫,將對公司業務有利。
- 資本配置:DFIN 本季以 46.98 美元的平均價格回購約 14.7 萬股股票,總計 690 萬美元。截至 2026 年 9 月 30 日,在其 1.5 億美元的授權額度中,仍有 1.185 億美元可用於庫藏股回購。
電話會議完整逐字稿
完整財報電話會議逐字稿
管理層陳述
Operator
Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Donnelley Financial Solutions Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]
I will now hand the conference over to Mike Zhao, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Michael Zhao
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining Donnelley Financial Solutions Third Quarter 2026 Results Conference Call. This morning, we released our earnings report, including a set of supplemental trending schedules of historical results, copies of which can be found in the Investors section of our website at dfinsolutions.com. During this call, we'll refer to forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. For a complete discussion, please refer to the cautionary statements included in our earnings release and further detailed in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC. Further, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial information, such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin. We believe the presentation of non-GAAP financial information provides you with useful supplementary information concerning the company's ongoing operations and is an appropriate way for you to evaluate the company's performance. They are, however, provided for informational purposes only. Please refer to the earnings release and related tables for GAAP financial information and reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP financial information. I am joined this morning by Dan Leib and Dave Gardella.
I will now turn the call over to Dan.
Daniel Leib
Thank you, Mike, and good morning, everyone. Our third quarter results continued the solid performance we achieved during the first half of 2026, demonstrating the progress we are making towards sustained profitable growth by delivering another quarter of sales growth, an increase in adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin expansion and improvements in both operating cash flow and free cash flow. We delivered third quarter sales of $185 million, which was at the high end of our guidance range and increased 5.5% compared to the third quarter of 2025. The combination of sales growth and focused execution yielded third quarter adjusted EBITDA of $54.4 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 29.4%, both of which are significantly stronger than comparable historical periods.
On a trailing 4-quarter basis, sales increased 4.8%, driven by Software Solutions, which increased 8% and tech-enabled services growth of 3.4%, more than offsetting a modest decline in Print and distribution of 1.4%. Excluding Print and distribution, sales grew 5.9%. During the trailing 4-quarter period, we delivered an adjusted EBITDA of $253.1 million, adjusted EBITDA margin of 32.2% and generated nearly $180 million of free cash flow, combined, representing the strongest trailing 4-quarter performance in DFIN's history. This performance and associated financial profile represent a good beginning to DFIN's next chapter to deliver consistent consolidated sales growth supported by a more favorable business mix with continued strong profitability and cash flow.
Specific to our third quarter performance, I'm pleased with the continued demand for our software offerings, where we delivered year-over-year sales growth of 5%. Software solutions sales represented 51.5% of total sales in the quarter as we continue to transform into a software-led company. On a trailing 4-quarter basis, software solutions sales reached approximately $377 million, growing 8% from the third quarter 2025 trailing 4 quarters and accounted for 47.9% of trailing 4-quarter sales, an increase of approximately 140 basis points from the third quarter 2025 trailing 4-quarter sales.
Our third quarter software solutions sales growth continues to be led by the performance of ActiveDisclosure, which grew approximately 24% year-over-year, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of 20% plus growth. Importantly, our strong growth over the past year has propelled ActiveDisclosure beyond $100 million in revenue on a trailing 4-quarter basis. As such, each of our 3 software solutions offerings now generates more than $100 million in annual revenue, underscoring the growth and scale of our software portfolio. We are encouraged by the continued growth in ActiveDisclosure net client count and higher average value per client.
In addition, as I discussed previously, we are serving additional use cases via hybrid model that combines our software solution with an unmatched service offering. Within this context, ActiveDisclosure has been increasingly chosen by our clients for their IPO registrations, which historically were managed in a traditional model. In the third quarter, we saw higher ActiveDisclosure sales associated with IPO registrations being completed on the platform compared to last year's third quarter, a trend we expect to continue going forward. With the most modern technology in the market, improved go-to-market execution and expanding AI-driven capabilities, ActiveDisclosure is well positioned for future growth.
In the case of Venue, sales in the third quarter were approximately flat compared to the third quarter of last year. We delivered solid growth in the United States, where we continue to see encouraging commercial adoption of new Venue and benefit from our increased focus on key investment banks within the deal ecosystem. This growth was offset by softer performance internationally, particularly in EMEA, reflecting a more tempered deal environment in those markets. We remain encouraged by the progress we are making with new Venue and continue to believe the combination of the upgraded product and our go-to-market execution provides a strong foundation for growth.
As it relates to Arc Suite, we experienced a modest sales decline of approximately 2%, consistent with the year-over-year sales trajectory over the last 3 quarters, during which we overlapped stronger growth as a result of the tailored shareholder reports regulation. As I commented previously, we expect the growth profile of Arc Suite over the longer term to produce the strong growth we have delivered historically based in part on a dynamic and evolving regulatory environment. In addition to serving regulatory changes as they occur, we continue to see attractive long-term market opportunities associated with the expansion of private investments, for which we developed ArcFlex to extend DFIN's financial and regulatory reporting capabilities into the growing private funds market. Built on the DFIN compliance software platform, ArcFlex shares many of the core capabilities of ActiveDisclosure. while we continue to develop and expand purpose-built functionality to meet the needs of private funds and other alternative investment clients.
Positioning ArcFlex as a module within ActiveDisclosure reflects our broader platform strategy of leveraging common technology and capabilities across our software offerings to serve distinct client needs and markets. Over time, we believe this approach will provide a path to bring together additional capabilities across the DFIN platform and serve a broader range of financial and regulatory reporting needs. ArcFlex remains in the early stages of its commercial adoption, and we expect the ramp-up to continue in 2027.
Before I turn the call over to Dave, I would like to recognize an important milestone. October marks DFIN's 10-year anniversary as a public company. Over the past decade, we have successfully transformed the business by strengthening our portfolio and upgrading our talent and business processes, resulting in a stronger financial foundation. From our origins as a predominantly print and services provider, we have evolved into a software-centric regulatory and compliance company, while maintaining the domain expertise, service capabilities and client relationships that have differentiated DFIN throughout our history. Since 2016, we have more than tripled Software Solutions net sales, excluding the impact of divestitures, while successfully navigating the migration away from print.
As a result, software solutions have increased from approximately 14% of our revenue in 2016 to nearly 50% today. While Print and distribution has declined from approximately 40% to approximately 14% over the same period. This significant shift toward higher-margin software solutions has fundamentally increased DFIN's value proposition to clients, creating a business with significantly higher profitability and stronger cash generation. We expect our business mix to continue to evolve in the same direction, driven by changing client preferences towards software solutions, complemented by services where needed. In addition, new regulations such as the SEC's proposed e-delivery rule will redirect demand toward our software-based solutions for e-delivery and away from Print and distribution. We will continue to monitor developments in the rule-making process and provide more specific plans and expectations if and when the ruling is finalized.
Looking forward, we remain focused on building on the progress we have made over the past decade and identifying new opportunities to deliver sustained profitable growth. We are focused on identifying and scaling opportunities across our portfolio, including greater adoption of our existing offerings, new capabilities and solutions and expansion into new markets and use cases, all supported by our differentiated combination of software and tech-enabled services, domain and service expertise and trusted client relationships. We believe our opportunities ahead are greater than we have accomplished so far, and we remain very well positioned to drive increased value for our clients, employees and shareholders in the years to come.
Before I share a few closing remarks, I would like to turn the call over to Dave to provide more details on our third quarter results and our outlook for the fourth quarter. Dave?
David Gardella
Thanks, Dan, and good morning, everyone. As Dan noted, we delivered strong third quarter results, which continued the positive operating momentum we have generated throughout 2026, highlighted by consolidated net sales growth, a year-over-year increase in adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion. Our continued focus on driving a more favorable sales mix and operating efficiencies contributed to adjusted EBITDA margin of 29.4% in the quarter, an increase of approximately 120 basis points over last year's third quarter.
On a consolidated basis, total net sales for the third quarter of 2026 were $185 million, an increase of $9.7 million or 5.5% from the third quarter of 2025 and matched the high end of our guidance range. The increase in year-over-year consolidated net sales was primarily driven by the growth in Software Solutions net sales, which increased $4.5 million or 5% compared to the third quarter of last year, combined with higher event-driven capital markets transactional revenue. Third quarter adjusted non-GAAP gross margin was 64.8%, approximately 210 basis points higher than the third quarter of 2025, primarily driven by the growth in software solutions and capital markets transactional net sales, the impact of cost control initiatives and price uplifts.
Adjusted non-GAAP SG&A expense in the quarter was $65.4 million, a $4.9 million increase from the third quarter of 2025. The increase in adjusted non-GAAP SG&A expense was primarily driven by higher incentive compensation expense, reflecting both our strong year-to-date performance and full year expectation, as well as an increase in selling expense related to higher sales volume, partially offset by lower health care expense and lower bad debt expense.
Our third quarter adjusted EBITDA was $54.4 million, an increase of $4.9 million, nearly 10% higher than the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter was 29.4%, an increase of approximately 120 basis points from the third quarter of 2025, primarily driven by higher overall sales and cost control initiatives.
Turning now to our third quarter segment results. Net sales in our Capital Markets Software Solutions segment were $64.1 million, an increase of $5.1 million or 8.6% from the third quarter of last year, driven by ActiveDisclosure, which was up $5.4 million year-over-year. During the third quarter, ActiveDisclosure sales grew approximately 24%, a continuation of the stronger growth trend we experienced over the last 4 quarters, primarily driven by the continued growth in ActiveDisclosure net client count and the ongoing migration of certain activities historically performed on our traditional services platform.
Specific to the shift of the traditional activities to ActiveDisclosure, we experienced a higher usage of ActiveDisclosure in the creation and filing of S-1 documents for certain IPO transactions compared to last year, which accounted for slightly more than half of total third quarter growth. While we expect this shift to continue, we also see continued growth opportunities within our core compliance business through expanding our net client count and increasing value per client. Together, these opportunities are supported by the capabilities of our software platform and evolving client preferences to work in a hybrid environment, leveraging both our software and unmatched service and domain expertise. We remain encouraged by ActiveDisclosure's solid foundation for future revenue growth.
During the third quarter, Venue posted $36 million in revenue, a decrease of approximately 1% compared to the third quarter of last year. We achieved solid growth of approximately 7% in the U.S. market, which was offset by a revenue decline internationally, most notably in the EMEA region, where market activity slowed. We remain encouraged by the market reception of new Venue, which serves as a strong foundation for sales growth going forward.
Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 30%, a decrease of approximately 490 basis points from the third quarter of 2025, primarily due to higher selling expense and higher incentive compensation expense. Net sales in our Capital Markets, Compliance and Communications Management segment were $61.9 million, an increase of $4.7 million or 8.2% from the third quarter of 2025, driven by higher transactional revenue, as well as an increase in compliance volume, part of which was related to higher Print and distribution sales.
In the third quarter, we recorded $45.7 million of capital markets transactional revenue, the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year increase, up $3.9 million from last year's third quarter as the recovery in capital markets deal activity continued to take hold in the third quarter, though the uptick in activity was uneven across transaction types compared to the first half of the year. Specifically, the market for new equity issuances in the U.S. softened in the third quarter with the number of regular way IPO transactions that raised over $100 million falling short of last year's levels, while the market for large M&A deals remained strong.
For transactions that were completed in the third quarter, we maintain our historical market share reflective of DFIN's strong market position. We are encouraged by resilience that the transactional market has demonstrated throughout the year and expect that to continue into the fourth quarter. Capital Markets compliance revenue increased by $0.8 million or 5.2% compared to the third quarter of 2025, driven by the timing shift of printing and distribution related to certain proxy projects completed in the third quarter of this year, which were completed in the second quarter of 2025.
The increase in Print and distribution revenue was partially offset by lower market demand for certain event-driven filings such as 8-K and special proxies associated with corporate transactions. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 40.7%, an increase of approximately 640 basis points from the third quarter of 2025. The increase in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to higher transactional sales, lower bad debt expense and cost control initiatives. Sales in our Investment Company Software Solutions segment were $31.1 million, a decrease of $0.6 million or 1.9% versus the third quarter of 2025. Subscription revenue was flat in the quarter, while services revenue declined approximately 15%, driven in part by the overlapping of certain client implementations associated with tailored shareholder reports in last year's third quarter.
We remain focused on expanding adoption, adding new clients and extending Arc Suite into additional markets and use cases in addition to serving new regulations as they develop. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 36%, a decrease of approximately 60 basis points from the third quarter of 2025. The decrease in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to lower sales. Net sales in our Investment Companies Compliance and Communications Management segment were $27.9 million, an increase of $0.5 million or 1.8% from the third quarter of 2025, primarily driven by higher services revenue, partially offset by lower print and distribution volume, consistent with the long-term trend.
Going forward, we expect the broader secular decline in the demand for printed products will continue to result in lower Print and distribution revenue within this segment in addition to any future regulatory change-driven impacts. Adjusted EBITDA margin for the segment was 38.7%, approximately 400 basis points higher than the third quarter of 2025. The increase in adjusted EBITDA margin was primarily due to a favorable sales mix and cost control initiatives. Non-GAAP unallocated corporate expenses were $12 million in the quarter, an increase of $0.2 million from the third quarter of 2025, primarily due to higher incentive compensation expense, partially offset by lower health care expense compared to the third quarter of last year.
Free cash flow in the quarter was $85.8 million, $26.6 million higher than the third quarter of 2025. Approximately half of the year-over-year improvement is a function of overlapping last year's pension plan settlement payment with the remaining improvement primarily driven by favorable working capital, higher adjusted EBITDA and lower capital expenditures. We ended the quarter with $127 million of total debt and $99.8 million of non-GAAP net debt, including $21 million drawn on our revolver.
As of September 30, 2026, our non-GAAP net leverage ratio was 0.4x. Regarding capital deployment, we repurchased approximately 147,000 shares of common stock during the third quarter for $6.9 million at an average price of $46.98 per share. Year-to-date through September 30, we've repurchased approximately 1.5 million shares for $69.9 million at an average price of $46.46 per share. As of September 30, 2026, we had $118.5 million remaining on our current $150 million stock repurchase authorization. Our capital deployment priorities are unchanged. We continue to view organic investments to drive our transformation, share repurchases and net debt reduction as key components of our capital deployment strategy, and we'll remain disciplined in this area.
As it relates to our outlook for the fourth quarter of 2026, we expect consolidated fourth quarter net sales in the range of $175 million to $180 million, which at the midpoint implies a year-over-year growth of approximately 3%, in line with our year-to-date growth rate through the first 3 quarters. Further, we expect adjusted EBITDA margin in the range of 26% to 27%, the midpoint of which 26.5% is flat to last year's fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA margin, which, as a reminder, included a reimbursement of approximately $3 million related to a stop-loss insurance policy.
I'll also provide a bit more color on our assumptions for the Capital Markets transactional sales. Our estimates assume Capital Markets transactional net sales of $50 million, which includes a small portion reflected within the Capital Markets Software Solutions segment for transactions being performed using ActiveDisclosure and is up approximately $1 million from last year's fourth quarter.
With that, I'll now pass it back to Dan.
Daniel Leib
Thanks, Dave. Our third quarter results further demonstrate the progress we are making toward our long-term objective of delivering consistent profitable growth. As we discussed earlier, over the past decade, we have fundamentally transformed DFIN, creating a more software-led business, a more favorable sales mix and a stronger financial profile. As we look ahead, our focus is on building on that progress by continuing to execute in the markets we serve today, while identifying and scaling the opportunities that can drive our next phase of growth. We are in the midst of preparing our 2027 operating plan. In 2027, we expect to build on the positive momentum in growing our software solutions portfolio, including accelerating the shift of traditional services to SaaS, continued investments to drive new avenues of future growth and the execution of our strategy, all aimed at delivering higher value for our clients, our employees and our shareholders. Before we open it up for Q&A, I'd like to thank the DFIN employees around the world.
Now with that, we are ready for questions.
Operator
[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Charles Strauzer with CJS Securities, Inc.
分析師問答
Charles Strauzer
Just looking at the guidance to start off here, the $50 million of transactional that you're leading us to, what are kind of the assumptions behind that in terms of areas like IPOs, M&A, et cetera? What are your thoughts behind that?
David Gardella
Yes, Charlie, I think when you look at what we've delivered this year as it relates to transactional and the year-over-year trend, broadly, I would say the guide for fourth quarter is generally in line with the year-over-year improvement that we've seen so far this year. I think when you look at the key components, as we mentioned, in the third quarter, IPO was a little bit softer than what we had seen earlier in the year and M&A stronger. I think based on the forecast assumes a little bit more strength than we saw in the third quarter on IPO. And I'd say pretty similar from an M&A perspective.
Charles Strauzer
Got it. And then looking at -- talking about e-delivery and just maybe give us a brief update there, just perhaps maybe a little bit more color behind that.
David Gardella
Yes, sure. So comment letters have been put into the regulation or in response to the regulation, and we are awaiting final regulation, which then will have a phase-in. As we commented in the prepared remarks, the expectation in the trend towards e-delivery is we'll have benefit on the software side, which will offset in part, not fully, but offset in part the reduction in print and distribution. And typical phase-in, we would think that the impact would be more towards 2028.
Charles Strauzer
Got it. And I would assume that we'll probably get more color once the RFPs and commentaries are all kind of back in the SEC's hands.
David Gardella
Yes, for sure. Yes. Once the regulation comes out and we have a better sense of timing and better sense of the actual means of distribution of investor materials, we will provide an update.
Charles Strauzer
Great. And then just a little more color on the additional incentive comp expense in the quarter?
David Gardella
Yes. So the incentive comp accrual really based on the full year expected expense and that's obviously a function of the outlook for full year performance. So I'd say, given the strength in both the performance within the third quarter and the outlook we provided for the fourth quarter call for recording of additional expense. Just to quantify it relative to last year's third quarter expense was up about $3.1 million, about $1.7 million of that hits in SG&A, the balance in cost of sales. And then probably the last thing I'd say, when you look at the expense on a sequential basis, it was about $3.7 million higher in Q3 than what we have been averaging in the first half of the year. And again, just reflective of the strength of the full year outlook and again, driven by both Q3 and the Q4 expectation.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Pete Heckmann with D.A. Davidson.
Peter Heckmann
Really impressive trends in ActiveDisclosure and glad to see that sustained through just 4 quarters, now 5 quarters of really very strong growth. Can you talk about some of the things underpinning that and whether the -- I believe there's a private company module there that -- whether that's contributing yet. But then just kind of second question and a related question is that how much -- in terms of like that private company solution and then ArcFlex for alternatives, how much do you see that expanding the TAM and overall? And then when do you expect those solutions to really start being additive to the company's overall growth rate or the software growth rate?
David Gardella
Yes, Pete, it's Dave. So a handful of questions there. I'll try to unpack it. I'll start with the last one as it relates specifically to ArcFlex. There's a de minimis amount of revenue that we'll record this year, and that will start to ramp up in 2027, as we said in the prepared remarks. We haven't specifically quantified that yet. I would say, certainly, we expect to see that happen next year. And then as we get better estimates on what the run rate could look like, not only for us, but then also the overall TAM, et cetera, we'll provide more color on that. I think back to the first part of your question, as it relates to AD, I appreciate your comments, really strong performance by the team over the last year or so, really starting to see the combination of the new product, some changes in the sales organization, et cetera, really start to take hold in that market. And it's really across the board.
We commented throughout the year, growth in net client count, subscription packages around services for those clients leveraging the hybrid model. And then more recently, we've seen a little bit of activity shifting over from the traditional platform on to ActiveDisclosure. Most of that -- as it relates to compliance has happened historically. I think what we've seen more recently is the IPO activity coming on to ActiveDisclosure. And to your question about private company, there's absolutely private company use case and active -- we're growing that as well. That's part of the net client count growth that I talked about. But importantly, that translates into very often, to the extent that the company is on an IPO track, getting the IPO likely happening in ActiveDisclosure and then really that the ramp to the ongoing compliance as a newly formed public company.
So we like what we've done there, both on the product side and the execution side and more work to do in that area.
Peter Heckmann
Great. Great. That's helpful. And then just in terms of that growth in client count, I guess, how do you see -- or how have you seen the overall software market on the corporate side evolve over the last few years? I guess, do you see the number of companies that can offer a more modern automation software solution? Or do you see more share kind of accruing to companies like DFIN who have a modern software solution? And I guess when you look at kind of some of your smaller competitors, I guess, do you feel like they really have the resources to make the investments necessary to compete with ActiveDisclosure?
David Gardella
Yes. So -- and again, I'll start with that last one. I mean, look, I wouldn't comment on any of the other smaller competitors out there. In part, it's not my place. In part, I don't know exactly what they have. I would say that from what we see, we are taking share in aggregate. And so we feel good about that. Again, a combination of private company, some share trades on public company stuff. But overall, it's going to be more of the same going forward.
Daniel Leib
Yes. And not seeing to your first comment, there are some new entrants that are playing around at the pieces of the offering. But as our offering expands, it's really the same competitive set that we've seen historically.
Operator
Your next question comes from the line of Kyle Peterson with Needham.
Kyle Peterson
Nice results. But I wanted to start off maybe a reminder for everyone on the capital markets exposure just in terms of mix that you guys have. So I guess we've seen some bifurcation here like life sciences and biotech seems to be holding up well, while maybe some other stuff seems to be slowing down, particularly in tech. So I guess maybe just any color as to where you guys might be over or under-indexed to by vertical, I think it would be really helpful as we're trying to parse through the pipeline and read through here.
David Gardella
Yes, Kyle, thanks for the question. I would say, generally, we're playing across the board. And certainly, any given quarter or year, more heavily weighted, both from any one of those verticals and also from a share perspective. If anything, I'd say maybe our share is a little bit heavier on the biotech side. But broadly, I think a strong IPO market regardless of which vertical it comes in would be beneficial for us.
Kyle Peterson
Got it. Appreciate that. And then I wanted to follow up a bit. It's been great to see, especially the AD business doing as well as it has. But I know Venue seems like it's probably been a little slower on the growth front than you guys would like to see, but I know there are several initiatives there to try to reignite that growth. But maybe just any update you guys have there on the pipeline, go-to-market initiatives, products and how you see that unfolding to revenue would be great.
David Gardella
Sure. Yes. So if we rolled out Saturn or the new Venue in the fourth quarter of last year and have seen very good sales execution. We've commented on this a few times about getting into the larger bulge bracket banks and serving their needs. We saw in the quarter just over 7% sales growth in the United States, which seems respectable given the market that we're in and where we saw the biggest challenge in performance was in EMEA. We feel good about the opportunity there. We clearly have some work to do to take advantage of those markets. Those markets have some different dynamics. But we feel very good about Venue and the path forward and what we've developed in the product and the improvements that we've made along the go-to-market area as well.
Operator
[Operator Instructions] There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Dan Leib for closing remarks.
Daniel Leib
Thank you, and thank you, everyone, for joining. We look forward to speaking to you soon. Thank you.
Operator
This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.
本文部分內容由 AI 生成和翻譯,並經人工審核,僅供參考且做為一般資訊用途,不構成投資建議。










