On September 10, IBEX Limited (NASDAQ:IBEX) held its fourth-quarter and full fiscal year 2026 earnings call, where the company announced record revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow. Management’s message has been building toward this moment for months, and the numbers now support it: IBEX has made AI its largest growth engine rather than letting it flatten the business.
Here is how it happened.
Record Numbers Across The Board
Revenue for the full year came to $644.1 million, with organic growth of 15.4%. The fourth quarter brought in $164.3 million, up 11.6% from the same period a year ago. This marks six quarters in a row of double-digit growth, which points to sustained momentum rather than a brief spike.
The HealthTech segment took the lead, rising from 38.5% to $114 million for the year and surpassing the $100 million goal that management had set for it. The increase was driven by demand from major insurance payers. In the quarter, Technology grew 27.4%, and travel and logistics added 17.8%, aided by a new AI agent partnership with Philippine Airlines.
The numbers are concrete evidence of growth across several fronts, with HealthTech taking the lead while technology and logistics both outpace the general rate. The $100 million goal was surpassed by a wide margin rather than simply reached.
The Philippine Airlines Deal Proves Sierra Works
The Philippine Airlines agreement stands as the clearest sign that IBEX’s Sierra AI partnership, made official in January and revealed to the public in May, goes beyond what appears on a slide in an investor presentation. Throughout the proof of concept, the AI agent managed conversations in English, Tagalog, and Taglish, reached resolution rates above 20%, and earned a 4.7 out of 5.0 customer satisfaction score, matching the performance of human agents.
A distinct setup for BJ’s Wholesale pushed resolution rates above 40% and matched that same satisfaction score, beating the marks the client’s existed before their BPO vendor, and it relied solely on human agents. That outcome is what turns a pitch into a case study.
Across the year, the company brought on board 17 new trophy logo clients, while its top five clients now account for 33% of revenue, down from 36%. This suggests the business is not dependent on a dwindling group of customers to drive results.
Costs Are Rising Behind The Scenes
The bottom line did not improve across the board. In the fourth quarter, GAAP net income declined to $8.7 million from $9.6 million in the prior-year period, while diluted EPS dropped to $0.59 from $0.66. Management attributed the decline to several factors:
- Training expenses associated with all those new client wins
- A short-term loss from moving work out of nearshore centers into offshore ones
- Increased fuel costs driving up utility and transportation expenses, especially offshore
The adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter dropped to 12.3% from 13.9%, with the same pressures now appearing in the profitability line instead of just net income. The trend holds: the revenue growth is genuine, but the expenses tied to producing it are hitting the bottom line.
What The Numbers Actually Tell Us
The tale of IBEX is straightforward: AI does not pose a danger to its enterprise — it serves as the force propelling it forward. The firm is expanding more rapidly than it has in recent years, and it achieves this growth by placing AI assistants before clients instead of allowing them to displace human representatives entirely.
The sector has spent the last two years bracing for automation to gut it, and IBEX is arguing the opposite: automation is making it stronger. A proof of concept with Philippine Airlines demonstrates the AI agent can handle three languages, resolve issues at a 20% rate, and score 4.7 out of 5 on satisfaction — on par with human agents. That is a notable claim to back with actual client wins.
BJ’s took its deployment further, with resolution rates topping 40% and satisfaction matching the human benchmark. The company has posted record revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, which makes that a real win.
The Costs Of Growth
There is a clear drawback to report. The company’s net income declined, its EPS dropped, and its EBITDA margin shrank. Management offered three explanations for the decline.
- Training costs tied to new client wins
- Shifting work out of nearshore centers into offshore ones
- Higher fuel prices hitting utility and transportation costs, particularly offshore
Those are temporary hits, according to management.
What Comes Next
The proof of IBEX’s growth with AI at the center of its strategy already exists. Now the test is whether the margins can endure. Will they remain steady as the company shifts more labor to lower-cost locations? Or will the strain of reduced expenses worsen before the next round of customer victories arrives?
The company has demonstrated its ability to attract customers through an AI agent that performs on par with humans, with the BJ’s deployment serving as evidence and the Philippine Airlines proof of concept reinforcing it.
The real question now is whether the expansion can keep moving forward without the expenses eventually overtaking it. The company has reported record revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, and it has achieved those numbers by turning the AI story to its own advantage instead of falling victim to it. That is an extraordinary position for a firm operating in a field that has spent two years preparing for automation to dismantle it.
The margins will be under close scrutiny from traders. Should IBEX manage to push revenues upward while keeping costs stable, those record results may come to appear even stronger than they do today.
The demonstration with Philippine Airlines and the BJ’s deployment show that AI is helping the business instead of hurting it. That is an unusual spot to be in, and IBEX has earned the right to take pleasure in it.
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