The 5 Most Interesting Analyst Questions From Bentley's Q1 Earnings Call
Is now the time to buy BSY? Find out in our full research report (it's free).
Revenue: $370.5 million vs analyst estimates of $365.4 million (9.7% year-on-year growth, 1.4% beat)
Adjusted EPS: $0.35 vs analyst estimates of $0.30 (16.6% beat)
Adjusted Operating Income: $143.5 million vs analyst estimates of $130.7 million (38.7% margin, 9.8% beat)
Operating Margin: 31.1%, up from 27.2% in the same quarter last year
Net Revenue Retention Rate: 110%, in line with the previous quarter
Annual Recurring Revenue: $1.32 billion at quarter end, up 11.2% year on year
Billings: $368.8 million at quarter end, up 13.4% year on year
Market Capitalization: $16.94 billion
While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention.
Joe Vruwink (Baird) asked about the mix of state versus federal funding in U.S. infrastructure and the impact of shifting federal priorities. CEO Greg Bentley and CEO Nicholas Cumins explained that while the headline funding amount is steady, a greater focus on roads and permitting reform could benefit Bentley.
Matt Hedberg (RBC) inquired about macroeconomic pressures in sensitive segments like commercial facilities and industrial. Cumins noted continued softness in commercial facilities, but said industrial sentiment is improving due to U.S. manufacturing initiatives.
Jason Celino (KeyBanc) sought clarity on ARR growth seasonality and linearity through the year. CFO Werner Andre detailed that sequential growth is expected to be higher in Q2 and Q4, with Q3 as a seasonal low due to timing of deals.
Siti Panigrahi (Mizuho) asked about the progress integrating Cesium and the Google partnership into asset analytics. Cumins reported successful adoption and expects expanded reach and win rates, noting ongoing development of new use cases.
Blair Abernethy (Rosenblatt Securities) questioned how Bentley is using AI to address the engineering talent shortage. Cumins described automating drawing production and leveraging customer data—with consent—to train AI agents, while also using AI internally to improve developer productivity.
In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will be watching (1) the pace of adoption for AI-powered automation in Bentley's engineering applications, (2) the monetization and traction of asset analytics platforms, especially those integrating Google's data, and (3) continued growth in public sector infrastructure funding across key geographies. Expansion in asset operations and maintenance will also be a critical indicator for future recurring revenue growth.
Bentley currently trades at $53.86, up from $43.75 just before the earnings. Is the company at an inflection point that warrants a buy or sell? See for yourself in our full research report (it's free).
The market surged in 2024 and reached record highs after Donald Trump's presidential victory in November, but questions about new economic policies are adding much uncertainty for 2025.
While the crowd speculates what might happen next, we're homing in on the companies that can succeed regardless of the political or macroeconomic environment. Put yourself in the driver's seat and build a durable portfolio by checking out our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025).
Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Tecnoglass (+1,754% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Mercedes-AMG Super SUV Coming For Ferrari, Bentley, And Lamborghini
Mercedes-AMG Super SUV Coming For Ferrari, Bentley, And Lamborghini originally appeared on Autoblog. AMG GT XX Concept Spawning An SUV Next year, the Mercedes EQS SUV will be replaced with something that is styled a little less differently than its gas-powered alternative, the GLS. But for those who want the pinnacle of performance, the AMG division is working on an EV of its own. Well, technically, two, though both are on the same platform. The one pictured here will be a new entrant to the segment of super SUVs, while the sedan we spied last week will be the effective replacement for the $198,950 AMG GT 63 S E Performance 4-Door. But is a high-performance all-electric SUV a good idea? Rivals Are Anticipating Growth In The EV Niche View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article Mercedes is lagging far behind BMW in the sales race, and its slow-selling EVs are having incentives thrown at them from every direction, but Mercedes is doubling down and working hard to improve. A few days ago, CEO Ola Källenius said that Mercedes would launch 18 new vehicles by 2027, half of which would be electric, and although he admits that many "top-end [customers] still choose the Swiss watch of cars with a combustion engine," he must also see evidence that demand for EVs will increase by the end of the decade, when Mercedes intends to offer "the choice of an electric powertrain" in all "relevant" Mercedes-Benz models. Bentley is working on a smaller-than-Bentayga electric crossover, and Ferrari has its sights set on an EV by the end of the decade, too, as does Lamborghini. Admittedly, each of these manufacturers has delayed their respective all-electric projects at least once, with Sant'Agata even considering making the Lanzador a hybrid instead, but they would not continue development if they did not see demand spiking soon. Even Porsche, which has already experimented with the Macan, is still pursuing an electric Cayenne. Particularly in Europe, where emissions continue to be strictly monitored, these EVs will eventually be luxury brands' bread and butter. What We Can See From Spy Shots View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article Spotted on the Nürburgring, this AMG SUV was reportedly lapping the entire circuit on 285/40ZR22 XL tires on the front wheels and 325/35ZR22 XL rubber on the rear. That means the rear wheels will be over 12 inches wide, and the fronts will be close to 11 inches in width, indicating a lot of power through each axle. With the platform under this behemoth, we expect in the region of a thousand horsepower and fake V8 noises. As for the styling, this prototype closely resembles a lifted variant of the early AMG GT electric sedan development mules we saw last year, which means it'll soon look like the Taycan-rivaling sedan that the AMG GT XX concept foreshadows. A sloping roofline and a Kamm-tail-like rear end give Aston Martin DBX vibes from some angles, but with three-part round lighting units on either side of the tailgate rather than the ever-popular full-width lightbar, AMG's super SUV should have a unique overall aesthetic. Mercedes-AMG Super SUV Coming For Ferrari, Bentley, And Lamborghini first appeared on Autoblog on Aug 7, 2025 This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Aug 7, 2025, where it first appeared.
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
Rye grain from 1878 shipwreck opens door to rare whiskey revival efforts
Long before bourbon dominated the liquor market, rye whiskey reigned supreme. Now, a Midwestern distiller is teaming up with scientists to bring back a long-gone type of grain and turn it into spicy, bold whiskey. The source is a wooden schooner named the James R. Bentley that's been sitting in Lake Huron for nearly 150 years. The ship sank in Nov. 1878 after striking a shoal. Remarkably, all the crew members on the ship were rescued – and even more remarkably, the ship still contains the remnants of the rye it was shipping. Chad Munger, founder and CEO of Mammoth Distilling, talked to Fox News Digital about his efforts to revive the grain, which he calls "Bentley rye." "The shipwreck itself is a rarity in the Great Lakes," Munger said. "It's privately owned by a gentleman [who] lives in Illinois who won a lawsuit ... which resulted in some new laws in the state of Michigan that preclude individuals from owning shipwrecks." That legal quirk made the recovery possible. After Munger contacted the owner and obtained permission for a dive, his team retrieved samples of the 140-year-old rye from the ship's hold. "It was a really rare set of circumstances that brought that all together in this particular case," Munger said. Mammoth Distilling is no stranger to this type of effort. It has helped revive another old type of grain, called Rosen rye. Thanks to a U.S. Department of Agriculture seed bank in Idaho, the company obtained the seeds and germinated them back into existence. Bentley rye, however, has been trickier to germinate. Eric Olson, a wheat breeding and genetics professor at Michigan State University, has been working to sequence the genome of the DNA. Speaking to Fox News Digital on July 30, Olson called the Bentley rye variety a "historical treasure." "It gives us a snapshot of the exact variety of rye being grown in the Great Lakes region in the late 1800s," he said. "It's a tip of the spear in terms of a very, very large project to make rye better in the world." Olson reported that the project has made some "foundational progress" over the past several months, including growing 269 varieties of rye. "In the coming weeks, we will be extracting DNA and sequencing pieces of the chromosomes of the 269 rye varieties and then [comparing] them with the chromosomes of the Bentley rye variety," Olson detailed. "Once we find the existing varieties with chromosomes matching those from the Bentley rye, we start the process of hybridizing these existing varieties (using classical plant-breeding methods) to bring all of the Bentley rye chromosomes back together." Olson said the process will take between four and five years. Of the effort, Munger said, "They're essentially Frankenstein-ing the thing back into existence." "It's a tip of the spear in terms of a very, very large project to make rye better in the world." Munger explained that the majority of whiskey made before Prohibition was rye whiskey, which must contain at least 51% rye grain. "That's what everybody in the United States used to make whiskey," Munger said. "It was not bourbon." He added, "Bourbon took over because it's cheaper to make." "It's a much bigger story than just a cool shipwreck." But, Munger said, good grain is like good wine grapes – and it makes a huge difference in the final product. "The varieties of grain you use make a big difference in terms of the flavor character," he said. "You can get a lot of grassy notes and clove spice notes and base spice notes, depending on what variety of grain you're using." The project may also help the Great Lakes State become the top producer of rye again. "One hundred and fifty years ago, Michigan was the rye-growing capital of North America," Munger said. "The state of Michigan is where you came to buy rye for whatever reason you were buying rye. As soon as Prohibition happened, it wiped out the whole industry." He hopes that his project has the potential to help "reinvigorate a segment of the Michigan agricultural economy that's gone dormant and that really needs to be revived." "It's a much bigger story than just a cool shipwreck," Munger emphasized. "It's really the first step in what we hope is a reinvigoration of a whole segment of the Michigan economy."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Bentley (NASDAQ:BSY) Posts Q2 Sales In Line With Estimates
Infrastructure design software provider Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) met Wall Street's revenue expectations in Q2 CY2025, with sales up 10.2% year on year to $364.1 million. Its non-GAAP profit of $0.32 per share was 12% above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Bentley? Find out in our full research report. Bentley (BSY) Q2 CY2025 Highlights: Revenue: $364.1 million vs analyst estimates of $363.4 million (10.2% year-on-year growth, in line) Adjusted EPS: $0.32 vs analyst estimates of $0.29 (12% beat) Adjusted Operating Income: $124.5 million vs analyst estimates of $121.5 million (34.2% margin, 2.5% beat) Operating Margin: 23.2%, down from 24.3% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow Margin: 15.7%, down from 58.4% in the previous quarter Net Revenue Retention Rate: 109%, down from 110% in the previous quarter Annual Recurring Revenue: $1.38 billion at quarter end, up 13.4% year on year Market Capitalization: $18 billion CEO Nicholas Cumins said, 'We delivered another strong quarter despite ongoing global uncertainties. This performance underscores the resilience of our business model and the strength of our end markets, driven by secular infrastructure investment. One year into my new role as CEO, engaging with users and colleagues around the world, I am more energized than ever by how our software plays a crucial role in helping infrastructure engineers achieve more with less.' Company Overview Founded by brothers Keith and Barry Bentley, Bentley Systems (NASDAQ:BSY) offers a software-as-a-service platform that addresses the lifecycle of infrastructure projects such as road networks, tunnel systems, and wastewater facilities. Revenue Growth A company's long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Over the last three years, Bentley grew its sales at a 10.1% annual rate. Although this growth is acceptable on an absolute basis, it fell short of our standards for the software sector, which enjoys a number of secular tailwinds. Luckily, there are other things to like about Bentley. This quarter, Bentley's year-on-year revenue growth was 10.2%, and its $364.1 million of revenue was in line with Wall Street's estimates. Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 9.7% over the next 12 months, similar to its three-year rate. This projection doesn't excite us and suggests its newer products and services will not catalyze better top-line performance yet. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health. Today's young investors likely haven't read the timeless lessons in Gorilla Game: Picking Winners In High Technology because it was written more than 20 years ago when Microsoft and Apple were first establishing their supremacy. But if we apply the same principles, then enterprise software stocks leveraging their own generative AI capabilities may well be the Gorillas of the future. So, in that spirit, we are excited to present our Special Free Report on a profitable, fast-growing enterprise software stock that is already riding the automation wave and looking to catch the generative AI next. Annual Recurring Revenue While reported revenue for a software company can include low-margin items like implementation fees, annual recurring revenue (ARR) is a sum of the next 12 months of contracted revenue purely from software subscriptions, or the high-margin, predictable revenue streams that make SaaS businesses so valuable. Bentley's ARR punched in at $1.38 billion in Q2, and over the last four quarters, its growth slightly outpaced the sector as it averaged 11.7% year-on-year increases. This performance aligned with its total sales growth and shows the company is securing longer-term commitments. Its growth also contributes positively to Bentley's revenue predictability, a trait long-term investors typically prefer. 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. Bentley'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 Q2. This means Bentley would've grown its revenue by 9.5% even if it didn't win any new customers over the last 12 months. Bentley 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 Bentley's Q2 Results It was encouraging to see Bentley beat analysts' annual recurring revenue, EPS, and EBITDA expectations this quarter. Overall, this print had some key positives. The stock remained flat at $57 immediately after reporting. Is Bentley an attractive investment opportunity right now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it's free. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
