Customer engagement platform Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE) reported Q1 CY2026 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 30.2% year on year to $211 million. Guidance for next quarter’s revenue was better than expected at $220 million at the midpoint, 1.6% above analysts’ estimates. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.10 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy Braze? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.
Braze (BRZE) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
- Revenue: $211 million vs analyst estimates of $205.2 million (30.2% year-on-year growth, 2.8% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $0.10 vs analyst estimates of $0.10 (in line)
- Adjusted Operating Income: $10.47 million vs analyst estimates of $10.63 million (5% margin, 1.5% miss)
- The company lifted its revenue guidance for the full year to $897 million at the midpoint from $886.5 million, a 1.2% increase
- Management reiterated its full-year Adjusted EPS guidance of $0.63 at the midpoint
- Operating Margin: -13%, up from -24.8% in the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 12.7%, up from 6.8% in the previous quarter
- Customers: 2,713, up from 2,609 in the previous quarter
- Net Revenue Retention Rate: 110%, up from 109% in the previous quarter
- Billings: $249.2 million at quarter end, up 33.2% year on year
- Market Capitalization: $2.89 billion
Company Overview
With its technology powering interactions with 6.2 billion monthly active users across the digital landscape, Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE) provides a platform that helps brands build and maintain direct relationships with their customers through personalized, cross-channel messaging and engagement.
Revenue Growth
Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Over the last five years, Braze grew its sales at an exceptional 36.5% compounded annual growth rate. Its growth beat the average software company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a helpful starting point for our analysis.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within software, a half-decade historical view may miss new innovations or demand cycles. Braze’s annualized revenue growth of 24.8% over the last two years is below its five-year trend, but we still think the results suggest healthy demand. 
This quarter, Braze reported wonderful year-on-year revenue growth of 30.2%, and its $211 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.8%. Company management is currently guiding for a 22.1% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 17.4% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last two years. Still, this projection is healthy and suggests the market is forecasting success for its products and services.
ONE MORE THING: 3 Hidden Platforms Growing 3X Faster than Amazon, Google, and PayPal. Amazon, Google, and Meta all followed the same playbook: Dominate an ignored market. Build an unbeatable moat. Scale until you’re unstoppable.
These three platforms are running that exact playbook right now. The early investors in Amazon made fortunes. The early investors in these could do the same. Get All 3 Stocks Here for FREE.
Billings
Billings is a non-GAAP metric that is often called “cash revenue” because it shows how much money the company has collected from customers in a certain period. This is different from revenue, which must be recognized in pieces over the length of a contract.
Braze’s billings punched in at $249.2 million in Q1, and over the last four quarters, its growth was fantastic as it averaged 32.1% year-on-year increases. This alternate topline metric grew faster than total sales, meaning the company collects cash upfront and then recognizes the revenue over the length of its contracts - a boost for its liquidity and future revenue prospects. 
Customer Retention
One of the best parts about the software-as-a-service business model (and a reason why they trade at high valuation multiples) is that customers typically spend more on a company’s products and services over time.
Braze’s net revenue retention rate, a key performance metric measuring how much money existing customers from a year ago are spending today, was 110% in Q1. This means Braze would’ve grown its revenue by 10% even if it didn’t win any new customers over the last 12 months.
Braze has a decent net retention rate, showing us that its customers not only tend to stick around but also get increasing value from its software over time.
Key Takeaways from Braze’s Q1 Results
We were impressed by how significantly Braze blew past analysts’ billings expectations this quarter. We were also glad its customer growth accelerated. On the other hand, its full-year EPS guidance slightly missed. Overall, we think this was a decent quarter with some key metrics above expectations. Investors were likely hoping for more, and shares traded down 16.1% to $21.22 immediately after reporting.
So should you invest in Braze right now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
