tapebrief
ADSK · Q2 2026
ADSK · Q4 2026

ADSK · Q3 2026 Earnings

Bullish

Autodesk

Reported November 25, 2025

30-second summary

30-second take: Q3 revenue of $1.853B (+18% YoY) beat the prior guide midpoint by ~$48M, non-GAAP EPS of $2.67 cleared the high end of guide by $0.16, and management raised FY26 revenue, billings, non-GAAP EPS, free cash flow, and both operating margin lines. AECO held above 20% for a third consecutive quarter at +23%, billings ripped +21% to $1.855B, and the new Q4 guide ($1.901–1.917B) implies the FY beat carries through cleanly. The H2 macro caution that survived two prior raises is now visibly unused; management is no longer pretending otherwise.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q3 FY2026

$2.67

Revenue

Q3 FY2026

$1.85B

+18.0% YoY

Gross margin

Q3 FY2026

91.1%

Free cash flow

Q3 FY2026

$0.43B

Operating margin

Q3 FY2026

25.4%

Key financials

Q3 FY2026
MetricQ3 FY2026YoYQ2 FY2026QoQ
Revenue$1.85B+18.0%$1.76B+5.1%
EPS$2.67—$2.62+1.9%
Gross margin91.1%—91.0%+12bps
Operating margin25.4%—25.0%+40bps
Free cash flow$0.43B—$0.45B-4.7%

Guidance

Guidance is issued for both next quarter and the full year. Both may appear below.

Actuals vs prior guidance

MetricPeriodPrior guideActualΔResult
RevenueQ3 FY2026$1,800 - $1,810 million$1,853 million+$43-53 million above guideBeat
EPS (Non-GAAP)Q3 FY2026$2.48 - $2.51$2.67+$0.16-0.19 above guideBeat
EPS (GAAP)Q3 FY2026$1.34 - $1.42$1.60+$0.18-0.26 above guideBeat

New guidance

MetricPeriodGuideYoY
RevenueQ4 FY2026$1,901 - $1,917 million—
EPS (Non-GAAP)Q4 FY2026$2.59 - $2.67—
EPS (GAAP)Q4 FY2026$1.40 - $1.57—

Changes to prior guidance

MetricPeriodPrior guideNew guideΔResult
Revenue
FY2026
$7,025 - $7,075 million$7,150 - $7,165 million+$75-140 millionRaised
EPS (Non-GAAP)
FY2026
$9.80 - $9.98$10.18 - $10.25+$0.20-0.45Raised
Billings
FY2026
$7,355 - $7,445 million$7,465 - $7,525 million+$20-170 millionRaised
Free Cash Flow
FY2026
$2,200 - $2,275 million$2,260 - $2,290 million+$0-90 millionRaised
GAAP Operating Margin
FY2026
21% - 22%~23%+1.0-2.0 percentage pointsRaised
Non-GAAP Operating Margin
FY2026
~37%~37.5%+0.5 percentage pointsRaised

Segment performance

Q3 FY2026
SegmentQ3 FY2026YoY
AECO$0.921B+23.0%
AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT$0.458B+15.0%
Manufacturing (MFG)$0.355B+16.0%
Media and Entertainment (M&E)$0.086B+4.0%
Design$1.537B+19.0%
Make$0.205B+20.0%

Platform metrics

Q3 FY2026
SegmentQ3 FY2026
Billings$1,855M
Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO)$7,361M
Current RPO$4,830M
Deferred Revenue$3,846M
Unbilled Deferred Revenue$3,515M
Subscription and Maintenance Revenue$1,742M
Billings YoY Growth21%

Profitability

Q3 FY2026
SegmentQ3 FY2026
Non-GAAP Operating Margin38%

Other KPIs

Q3 FY2026
SegmentQ3 FY2026YoY
Americas$0.82B+16.0%
EMEA$0.715B+23.0%
APAC$0.318B+12.0%

Management tone

Q1 anchor: Macro caution layered in → Q2 anchor: Caution preserved through H1 raise → Q3 anchor: Caution finally being shed.

The "unused defensive cushion" thesis from last quarter is now resolved. A quarter ago, Janesh kept the same macro assumptions intact while raising every operational line; the H2 caution was preserved rather than consumed. This quarter Janesh told Josh Tilton at Wolfe the outperformance reflected "consistent team execution and more stable macro environment than assumed at low end of guidance" — a direct concession that the conservative bar set in Q1 was not warranted by what actually showed up. The FY revenue range tightened to $15M wide from $50M, which is the structural tell: management knows where the year is landing.

Channel transition has moved from "past disruption" to active restructuring. Q1 framed channel onboarding as the open wound; Q2 called the rollout phase "easing." This quarter Andrew detailed an active redesign of channel incentives — "transitioning from renewal focus to new business focus through better customer intelligence, automation of renewals, reduced renewal commissions, increased new business commissions." The transition isn't behind them; it has become offense. That's a different posture than "we got through it."

AI monetization framework hardened with specific adoption metrics. Q1 Andrew explicitly deferred AI pricing detail to Autodesk University. Q2 he laid out the three-tier architecture (task → workflow → systems). This quarter he gave Elizabeth Porter at Morgan Stanley quantified proof points: "auto-constraint delivered 2.6 million constraints since launch with 60% acceptance rates, 90% of sketches with auto-constraints fully constrained." That's a >4x jump in cumulative constraints from Q1's 580K with similar acceptance rates — the productivity flywheel is real and measurable.

The FY27 normalization story is now being prepped in public. Janesh's response to Taylor McGinnis at UBS flagged that billings/revenue growth this year is inflated by the new transaction model (~$124M revenue, ~$135M billings contribution in Q3) and the multi-year-to-annual-billing transition completing in Q1 FY27. Both reported growth rates "will normalize next year." Management is pre-seeding the conversation about a step-down in reported growth, which is what disciplined CFOs do two quarters before it shows up in the print.

Q&A highlights

Saket Kalea · Barclays

Weighing in on seats versus consumption AI monetization debate for Autodesk and broader ecosystem of partners and customers

Andrew explained three key dynamics: fundamental capacity challenge in AEC and manufacturing; future mix of projects requiring intensive human engagement versus less human-intensive machine-executed projects; and goal to decrease people per project while increasing total projects executed, capturing incremental consumption value through machine-based execution while supporting people-based work

Capacity challenge across AEC and manufacturing industriesBalance between human-intensive and machine-executed projects in futureMonetization of both machine-based execution and people-based workCustomers shifting from billable hours to consumptive execution models

Adam Borg · Stifel

Penetration of Autodesk Construction Cloud in existing customer base and expansion opportunities within ACC portfolio including payments and pre-construction

Andrew noted ACC's unique design-to-execution solution on modern cloud platform; explained low penetration of existing accounts with significant upside as new projects launch and old projects sunset; additional expansion driven by value proposition strength. On PLM market, emphasized targeting mid-market customers who lack PLM solutions, positioning Fusion as delivering enterprise-level capabilities to mid-market on modern SaaS platform

ACC has unique design to pre-construction through execution solutionModern cloud-based platform differentiates from aging competitive platformsLow penetration within existing customer accounts creates expansion opportunityMid-market Fusion customers typically have no PLM, rely on spreadsheets and ad hoc ERP connectivity

Elizabeth Porter · Morgan Stanley

Observable changes in retention, multi-product adoption, and expansion from AI capabilities like auto-constraints; pricing power and approach to price increases tied to AI-driven capabilities

Andrew outlined multi-year AI monetization journey starting with task automation (auto-constraints), moving to workflow automations (incremental monetization), then systems-level optimization (greatest value). Task automation is highly retentive with measurable satisfaction gains; workflow automations offer additional monetization; system optimizations will capture most value but take time. Mix of included and incremental pricing for different levels

Auto-constraint delivered 2.6 million constraints since launch with 60% acceptance rates90% of sketches with auto-constraints fully constrainedTask automation highly protective of existing business and retentiveWorkflow automation offers incremental monetization opportunities

Taylor McGinnis · UBS

Customer spending plans and early insights for calendar 2026 and fiscal 2027; mechanics of billings versus revenue growth normalization as multi-year annual billing transition completes

Andrew noted customers flagging continuation of investment and preparing for future productivity enhancements through digital infrastructure investment. Janesh detailed that billings/revenue growth this year inflated by new transaction model and annual billing transition for multi-year contracts; transition expected to complete Q1 FY27; both reported growth rates will normalize next year; new transaction model will have smaller impact in FY27 but operating margins face incremental headwinds

Customer spending patterns showing no changes in consistency levelSome areas flagging increased investmentBillings growth inflated by multi-year to annual billing transitionAnnual billing transition expected to complete in Q1 FY27

Josh Tilton · Wolf Research

Drivers of significant billings guidance increase going into Q4; lever to incentivize newly formed channel to drive new business growth

Janesh attributed outperformance to consistent team execution and more stable macro environment than assumed at low end of guidance. Andrew discussed channel incentive restructuring: transitioning from renewal focus to new business focus through better customer intelligence, automation of renewals, reduced renewal commissions, increased new business commissions, more efficient self-service renewal automation

Strong team execution in Q3Macro environment more stable than conservative Q4 guidance assumptionsShifting channel incentives from renewals to new businessAutomating more renewal processes

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Whether the FY26 free cash flow guide of $2.20–2.275B requires another raise — Yes, narrowly. FY FCF guide was raised and tightened to $2.260–2.290B, +$37.5M at midpoint, with the range cut from $75M to $30M wide. Q3 FCF of $430M brings YTD to ~$1.44B against the new $2.275B midpoint, implying ~$835M Q4 — achievable but not trivial.
Resolved positively
AECO sustaining 20%+ growth — AECO printed +23% for a third consecutive quarter at $921M. The load-bearing segment held.
Resolved positively
AU AI monetization specifics — Andrew quantified adoption (2.6M auto-constraints, 60% acceptance, 90% sketch completion) and articulated the included-plus-incremental pricing approach for task/workflow/systems tiers. Specific list pricing for AI SKUs was not disclosed. The framework is now public; the dollar attach rate is not.
Continue monitoring
Billings vs. revenue convergence — Gap widened, not narrowed. Billings $1.855B vs. revenue $1.853B in Q3 — effectively converged this quarter — but FY billings guide ($7.495B midpoint) vs. FY revenue guide ($7.1575B midpoint) implies the cRPO build continues. Janesh attributed this to the multi-year-to-annual-billing transition completing in Q1 FY27. Status: Resolved positively (mechanically explained)
Non-GAAP op margin holding at/above 39% — Q3 printed 38%, down 100bps from Q2's 39%, but FY guide was raised to ~37.5% from ~37%. The Q3 step-down likely reflects timing of S&M spend and channel transition costs.
Continue monitoring

What to watch into next quarter

Whether Q4 revenue lands above the $1.917B high end of guide — three consecutive beats above the high end would mean management is structurally guiding conservative; a print inside the range would signal the conservatism is finally calibrated.

FY27 preliminary commentary on the call or at analyst day — Janesh has now publicly flagged that both billings and revenue growth normalize next year. Watch the magnitude of the step-down implied and whether organic growth ex-transition-noise is disclosed.

AECO holding 20%+ for a fourth consecutive quarter — the segment is now the entire growth thesis. Any deceleration toward mid-teens changes the narrative.

Channel incentive restructuring proof points — Andrew committed publicly to shifting commissions from renewals to new business; watch for any disclosed new-business growth acceleration or partner-productivity metric in Q4.

Non-GAAP op margin trajectory — Q3's 38% is below Q2's 39% and only 50bps above the raised FY guide. Whether Q4 holds the line or signals expense reinvestment for FY27 matters for the operating leverage story.

Sources

  1. Autodesk Q3 FY2026 press release: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/769397/000076939725000126/q326pressrelease.htm
  2. Autodesk Q3 FY2026 earnings call Q&A (analyst exchanges referenced inline)
  3. Tapebrief Q1 FY2026 and Q2 FY2026 ADSK briefs for trend context

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