Q4 Performance Analysis of Software Development Sector
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Apr 13 2026
0mins
Should l Buy BAND?
Source: Yahoo Finance
- Industry Overview: The 12 software development stocks reported a collective revenue that exceeded analysts' expectations by 3.5% in Q4, indicating resilience in the sector, with an average stock price increase of 6.1% since earnings reports were released despite market volatility.
- Bandwidth Highlights: Bandwidth reported revenues of $207.7 million, down 1.1% year-on-year, yet its EBITDA guidance exceeded expectations, leading to a 24.3% stock price increase since the earnings report, reflecting market confidence in its future growth.
- Fastly's Strong Growth: Fastly achieved revenues of $172.6 million, a 22.8% year-on-year increase, outperforming analysts' expectations by 6.9%, with its stock soaring 146% since the earnings report, showcasing market enthusiasm for its edge cloud platform.
- Nutanix Challenges: Nutanix reported revenues of $722.8 million, up 10.4% year-on-year, exceeding expectations by 1.8%, but its next quarter guidance significantly missed analysts' forecasts, resulting in a 10.4% stock price decline, indicating market concerns about its growth outlook.
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Analyst Views on BAND
Wall Street analysts forecast BAND stock price to fall
1 Analyst Rating
1 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 23.010
Low
20.00
Averages
20.00
High
20.00
Current: 23.010
Low
20.00
Averages
20.00
High
20.00
About BAND
Bandwidth Inc. is a global cloud communications software company that helps enterprises deliver experiences through voice calling, text messaging and emergency services. The Company’s solutions and its communications cloud cover over 65 countries and have users in unified communications and cloud contact centers. It is a global communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) to offer a combination of composable application programming interfaces (APIs), owner-operated network and broad regulatory experience. Its Global Voice Plans serves the power platforms at the forefront of the communications transformation in unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and contact center as a service (CCaaS). Its Programmable Services comprises its text messaging solutions, through which it supports software as a service (SaaS) platform. The Enterprise Voice helps enterprises to leverage its voice, global number management, emergency services and other services in digital transformation.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Bandwidth Shares Surge 42.4% but Future Outlook Raises Concerns
- Stock Performance: Bandwidth's shares have surged 42.4% over the past six months, reaching $22.83 per share; however, analysts express concerns about the company's future performance, indicating potential investment risks.
- Weak Revenue Growth: Over the last five years, Bandwidth achieved a 17% compounded annual growth rate in sales, which, while acceptable, falls short of the software sector's standards, highlighting a lack of long-term growth potential.
- Low Gross Margin: Bandwidth's average gross margin of 39.1% over the past year is significantly lower than most software companies, indicating relatively high infrastructure costs that hinder profitability improvements.
- Poor Operating Margin: The company's GAAP operating margin was negative 1.9% over the trailing 12 months, suggesting that despite revenue growth, Bandwidth has not effectively leveraged its fixed costs, raising concerns about its profitability.
See More
Bandwidth to Report Q1 2026 Financial Results
- Earnings Report Schedule: Bandwidth Inc. will announce its financial results for Q1 2026 before market open on April 30, 2026, providing investors with critical performance data that may influence market perceptions of the company's growth potential.
- Conference Call Details: The earnings release will be accompanied by a conference call at 8:00 AM Eastern Time, where investors can dial in at 844-481-2707 (domestic) or 412-317-0663 (international) to stay updated on the latest company developments.
- Replay Information: Following the call, a replay will be available until May 7, 2026, by dialing 855-669-9658 (U.S.) or 412-317-0088 (international) and entering passcode 9573448, ensuring that those unable to attend live can still access the information.
- Investor Conference Participation: Members of Bandwidth management will participate in several investor conferences, offering one-on-one and small group meetings to showcase the company's leadership in cloud communications and its strategic growth plans.
See More
Q4 Performance Analysis of Software Development Sector
- Industry Overview: The 12 software development stocks reported a collective revenue that exceeded analysts' expectations by 3.5% in Q4, indicating resilience in the sector, with an average stock price increase of 6.1% since earnings reports were released despite market volatility.
- Bandwidth Highlights: Bandwidth reported revenues of $207.7 million, down 1.1% year-on-year, yet its EBITDA guidance exceeded expectations, leading to a 24.3% stock price increase since the earnings report, reflecting market confidence in its future growth.
- Fastly's Strong Growth: Fastly achieved revenues of $172.6 million, a 22.8% year-on-year increase, outperforming analysts' expectations by 6.9%, with its stock soaring 146% since the earnings report, showcasing market enthusiasm for its edge cloud platform.
- Nutanix Challenges: Nutanix reported revenues of $722.8 million, up 10.4% year-on-year, exceeding expectations by 1.8%, but its next quarter guidance significantly missed analysts' forecasts, resulting in a 10.4% stock price decline, indicating market concerns about its growth outlook.
See More
Bandwidth Partners with Salesforce for AI-Driven Contact Center Platform
- Strategic Partnership: Bandwidth's collaboration with Salesforce to launch the Agentforce Contact Center signifies the blurring lines between CRM systems, contact centers, and agentic AI, driving enterprises towards unified cloud architectures that enhance customer interaction intelligence and personalization.
- Technological Innovation: The new platform, built directly into the CRM, leverages comprehensive customer-360 data to re-architect customer engagement, enabling enterprises to conduct smarter and more personalized interactions, thereby improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Infrastructure Support: Bandwidth's Communications Cloud and Maestro™ software provide reliable voice and messaging infrastructure for AI-driven customer experiences, ensuring service quality and global reach while supporting low-latency voice infrastructure for enterprise-grade deployments.
- Market Leadership: Through its partnership with Salesforce, Bandwidth further solidifies its market leadership in CCaaS and UCaaS, showcasing its foundational role in AI-driven customer experiences, facilitating rapid innovation and enhanced economic benefits for enterprises.
See More
Bandwidth Partners with Salesforce for AI-Driven Contact Center Platform
- Strategic Partnership: Bandwidth has partnered with Salesforce to provide infrastructure for the newly launched Agentforce Contact Center, marking a trend where enterprises consolidate CRM systems, contact centers, and agentic AI under unified cloud architectures.
- Enhanced Customer Interaction: The new platform, built directly into the CRM, leverages comprehensive customer data to enable AI-driven personalized conversations, thereby enhancing the intelligence and contextual relevance of customer interactions and driving transformation in enterprise customer experience.
- Technological Advantage: Bandwidth's Communications Cloud and Maestro™ software deliver the performance and global reach required by AI, ensuring improvements in quality, reliability, and trust in customer engagement, while facilitating faster innovation cycles for enterprises.
- Market Leadership: This collaboration with Salesforce further solidifies Bandwidth's core role in foundational infrastructure for AI-driven customer experiences, supporting the leaders in CCaaS and UCaaS as identified in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant.
See More
Positive Outlook for Communication Infrastructure Sector
- Industry Growth Potential: The Zacks Communication Infrastructure sector has surged 60.2% over the past year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's 20.5% and the Computer and Technology sector's 28.4%, indicating strong market demand and investment confidence.
- Infrastructure Investment Demand: IHS Holding and Bandwidth Inc. are poised to benefit from robust demand for scalable infrastructure, particularly with the rapid proliferation of IoT and 5G technologies, enhancing their competitiveness in global markets.
- Improved Earnings Outlook: IHS Holding's consensus estimate for 2025 earnings has been revised upward by 8.3% to $0.78 per share, reflecting strong performance and market recognition in the shared communications infrastructure sector.
- Accelerated Technological Transformation: As video and bandwidth-intensive applications grow rapidly, industry participants are transitioning from traditional copper-based telecom companies to technology powerhouses to meet the increasing demand for data and communication solutions.
See More
Bandwidth Shares Surge 42.4% but Future Outlook Raises Concerns
- Stock Performance: Bandwidth's shares have surged 42.4% over the past six months, reaching $22.83 per share; however, analysts express concerns about the company's future performance, indicating potential investment risks.
- Weak Revenue Growth: Over the last five years, Bandwidth achieved a 17% compounded annual growth rate in sales, which, while acceptable, falls short of the software sector's standards, highlighting a lack of long-term growth potential.
- Low Gross Margin: Bandwidth's average gross margin of 39.1% over the past year is significantly lower than most software companies, indicating relatively high infrastructure costs that hinder profitability improvements.
- Poor Operating Margin: The company's GAAP operating margin was negative 1.9% over the trailing 12 months, suggesting that despite revenue growth, Bandwidth has not effectively leveraged its fixed costs, raising concerns about its profitability.
See More
Bandwidth to Report Q1 2026 Financial Results
- Earnings Report Schedule: Bandwidth Inc. will announce its financial results for Q1 2026 before market open on April 30, 2026, providing investors with critical performance data that may influence market perceptions of the company's growth potential.
- Conference Call Details: The earnings release will be accompanied by a conference call at 8:00 AM Eastern Time, where investors can dial in at 844-481-2707 (domestic) or 412-317-0663 (international) to stay updated on the latest company developments.
- Replay Information: Following the call, a replay will be available until May 7, 2026, by dialing 855-669-9658 (U.S.) or 412-317-0088 (international) and entering passcode 9573448, ensuring that those unable to attend live can still access the information.
- Investor Conference Participation: Members of Bandwidth management will participate in several investor conferences, offering one-on-one and small group meetings to showcase the company's leadership in cloud communications and its strategic growth plans.
See More
Q4 Performance Analysis of Software Development Sector
- Industry Overview: The 12 software development stocks reported a collective revenue that exceeded analysts' expectations by 3.5% in Q4, indicating resilience in the sector, with an average stock price increase of 6.1% since earnings reports were released despite market volatility.
- Bandwidth Highlights: Bandwidth reported revenues of $207.7 million, down 1.1% year-on-year, yet its EBITDA guidance exceeded expectations, leading to a 24.3% stock price increase since the earnings report, reflecting market confidence in its future growth.
- Fastly's Strong Growth: Fastly achieved revenues of $172.6 million, a 22.8% year-on-year increase, outperforming analysts' expectations by 6.9%, with its stock soaring 146% since the earnings report, showcasing market enthusiasm for its edge cloud platform.
- Nutanix Challenges: Nutanix reported revenues of $722.8 million, up 10.4% year-on-year, exceeding expectations by 1.8%, but its next quarter guidance significantly missed analysts' forecasts, resulting in a 10.4% stock price decline, indicating market concerns about its growth outlook.
See More
Bandwidth Partners with Salesforce for AI-Driven Contact Center Platform
- Strategic Partnership: Bandwidth's collaboration with Salesforce to launch the Agentforce Contact Center signifies the blurring lines between CRM systems, contact centers, and agentic AI, driving enterprises towards unified cloud architectures that enhance customer interaction intelligence and personalization.
- Technological Innovation: The new platform, built directly into the CRM, leverages comprehensive customer-360 data to re-architect customer engagement, enabling enterprises to conduct smarter and more personalized interactions, thereby improving customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Infrastructure Support: Bandwidth's Communications Cloud and Maestro™ software provide reliable voice and messaging infrastructure for AI-driven customer experiences, ensuring service quality and global reach while supporting low-latency voice infrastructure for enterprise-grade deployments.
- Market Leadership: Through its partnership with Salesforce, Bandwidth further solidifies its market leadership in CCaaS and UCaaS, showcasing its foundational role in AI-driven customer experiences, facilitating rapid innovation and enhanced economic benefits for enterprises.
See More
Bandwidth Partners with Salesforce for AI-Driven Contact Center Platform
- Strategic Partnership: Bandwidth has partnered with Salesforce to provide infrastructure for the newly launched Agentforce Contact Center, marking a trend where enterprises consolidate CRM systems, contact centers, and agentic AI under unified cloud architectures.
- Enhanced Customer Interaction: The new platform, built directly into the CRM, leverages comprehensive customer data to enable AI-driven personalized conversations, thereby enhancing the intelligence and contextual relevance of customer interactions and driving transformation in enterprise customer experience.
- Technological Advantage: Bandwidth's Communications Cloud and Maestro™ software deliver the performance and global reach required by AI, ensuring improvements in quality, reliability, and trust in customer engagement, while facilitating faster innovation cycles for enterprises.
- Market Leadership: This collaboration with Salesforce further solidifies Bandwidth's core role in foundational infrastructure for AI-driven customer experiences, supporting the leaders in CCaaS and UCaaS as identified in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant.
See More
Positive Outlook for Communication Infrastructure Sector
- Industry Growth Potential: The Zacks Communication Infrastructure sector has surged 60.2% over the past year, significantly outperforming the S&P 500's 20.5% and the Computer and Technology sector's 28.4%, indicating strong market demand and investment confidence.
- Infrastructure Investment Demand: IHS Holding and Bandwidth Inc. are poised to benefit from robust demand for scalable infrastructure, particularly with the rapid proliferation of IoT and 5G technologies, enhancing their competitiveness in global markets.
- Improved Earnings Outlook: IHS Holding's consensus estimate for 2025 earnings has been revised upward by 8.3% to $0.78 per share, reflecting strong performance and market recognition in the shared communications infrastructure sector.
- Accelerated Technological Transformation: As video and bandwidth-intensive applications grow rapidly, industry participants are transitioning from traditional copper-based telecom companies to technology powerhouses to meet the increasing demand for data and communication solutions.
See More
