Kyndryl F1Q First Look: Meet & Maintain; Solid Signings and Savings on the Way From Workforce Rebalancing

Research evidence excerpt

J P M O R G A N

North America Equity Research

05 August 2026

Kyndryl

F1Q First Look: Meet & Maintain; Solid Signings and

Savings on the Way From Workforce Rebalancing

Underweight

KD, KD US

Price (04 Aug 26):$14.69

Payments, Processors & IT Services

Kyndryl issued F1Q results that were a touch soft on revenue but in line on

earnings, altogether enough to enable the company to maintain its annual guidance

with solid signings and savings on the way from workforce rebalancing. Free cash

flow was weighed by the latter, with F1Q at -$457M; remember F1Q is consistently

a seasonal cash outflow of $100M+. Signings were a bright spot in the quarter, up

22% y/y (off an easier comp) with quarterly book-to-bill above 1.0x, helped by

large deals with more content. Hyperscaler revenue (+34% y/y) is now growing

faster than Consult (+10% y/y). We expect a neutral to slightly negative reaction,

given soft FCF but no major surprises and no change to guide.

F1Q results. F1Q revenue of $3.62B missed JPMe/Street $3.66/3.64B and

was -3% y/y FXN, or ~30bps below Street -2.7% FXN estimate, a modest

sequential improvement from -5% in F4Q. Evolving IBM content had a ~3ppt

unfavorable impact on revenue, consistent with similar trends over the LTM.

Consult improved sequentially, up 10% y/y, and Hyperscaler revenue was

strong at $530M, +34% y/y growth, and 15% of sales. Gross margin of 21.4%

fell short of JPMe/Street 22.0%/21.7% and expanded only 10bps y/y, while adj

pre-tax margin of -1.0% came roughly in line with JPMe/Street -0.8%/-1.3%,

or adj pre-tax income of -$37M vs. JPMe/Street -$30M/-$48M due mostly to

elevated workforce rebalancing which was well-broadcasted. F1Q free cash

flow of -$457M was a substantially more significant decline than JPMe

$144M, likely driven by elevated workforce rebalancing in F1Q. Signings

were solid at $3.9B (+22% y/y on a somewhat esay comp) or 1.08x book-to-bill

vs. JPMe $2.6B or 0.71x book-to-bill.

Guidance maintained. KD maintained its FY27 guidance across the board,

which calls for a constant-currency revenue decline of -2% to flat, adj pre-tax

income of $600-700M (including workforce rebalancing impact), and free

cash flow of $400-500M.

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