By Katherine Hamilton

UiPath reported top- and bottom-line gains in the fiscal fourth quarter, but its stock declined after the company guided for a slowdown in full-year revenue growth.

The automation software platform on Wednesday guided for fiscal 2027 revenue between $1.75 billion and $1.76 billion, an increase of about 9% at the high end, compared with 13% top-line growth for the previous full year.

Shares declined 5% to $11.79 in after-hours trading Wednesday, after closing up 7%, as worries about software stocks linger.

Wall Street was watching UiPath's report to see how software tools are performing at a time when AI is threatening to disrupt their business models. The company's stock had shed nearly a third of its value over the past three months because investors were selling off software stocks en masse.

Chief Executive Daniel Dines said advances in AI are reducing the time and cost required to create software, but he doesn't expect software to be replaced altogether.

"Historically, moments like these don't eliminate software. They shift where value is captured," he told investors.

Dines argued that customers will still come to UiPath for the reliability and security it offers in addition to pure coding. He also said he thinks AI will help build more software products as processes get automated and coding becomes cheaper.

On Tuesday night, Oracle's management team made similar claims, saying it was building more software products with fewer people thanks to AI. Oracle's report was well-received, and helped buoy other software stocks during Wednesday's session.

While Oracle -- whose market cap is nearing half a trillion dollars -- is managing to stay relevant, its executives said they expect smaller, more single-focused software companies to be more challenged by AI.

UiPath posted a profit of $104.5 million, or 19 cents a share, for the quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with $51.8 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted per-share earnings were 30 cents, 4 cents ahead of consensus estimates.

Revenue rose 14% to $481.1 million, ahead of the $464.9 million analysts predicted. Annual recurring revenue was up 11% to $1.85 billion.

The growth was driven by enterprise customers moving from experimenting with AI to scaling deployment, Dines said.

UiPath's number of deals worth more than $1 million increased 50% year over year, reflecting improved sales execution and deepening enterprise platform adoption, Dines said.

UiPath also authorized a $500 million share-buyback program.

In the first quarter, it expects sales to be between $395 million and $400 million, compared with analysts' forecast of $393.8 million.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 11, 2026 18:55 ET (22:55 GMT)

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