Navan Inc. (NASDAQ:NAVN) stock jumped in premarket trading Thursday after the travel and expense management platform reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 results that topped Wall Street estimates and raised its full-year outlook.

Revenue Growth Accelerates

Revenue rose 40% year over year to $220.2 million, beating analyst estimates of $205.3 million. The growth was driven by strength across regions, customer segments and sales channels.

Gross bookings climbed 50% to $3.1 billion as corporate travel demand remained strong. The company also benefited from growth in both its sales-led and product-led customer acquisition strategies.

Adjusted earnings came in at 8 cents per share, compared with analysts’ expectations for a loss of 1 cent.

Adjusted operating margin expanded to 11%, up about 900 basis points from a year earlier.

Navan ended the quarter with $681 million in cash and short-term investments.

AI Adoption Gains Momentum

Management highlighted increasing traction across both its Sales-Led Growth and Product-Led Growth initiatives, supported by higher request-for-proposal activity and broader adoption of the Navan platform.

The company also pointed to continued strength in business travel demand. Travel bookings to U.S. cities hosting the FIFA World Cup increased 46% from a year ago.

Artificial intelligence is becoming a larger contributor to growth and efficiency. Navan said usage of its proprietary AI model increased from 20% to 30% within a few weeks. The company said the shift improved accuracy, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency while lowering reliance on more costly frontier AI models.

Navan said growing industry consolidation is helping drive new customer opportunities, as companies reassess their existing travel and expense providers.

Management noted a sharp increase in request-for-proposal activity and said more enterprise customers are evaluating the platform as competitors merge or change strategy.

President Michael Sindicich said it increasingly feels like customers are "running to us," while the company reported RFP volume rose more than 200% year over year in the first quarter, signaling continued market share gains.

Navan Outlook Raised

Navan raised its fiscal 2027 revenue forecast to a range of $907 million to $913 million, above the analyst consensus estimate of $884.5 million.

The company now expects adjusted operating profit between $76 million and $80 million, representing an adjusted operating margin of about 9%.

For the second quarter, Navan expects revenue of $219 million to $221 million, ahead of Wall Street expectations of $213.8 million. It also forecasts adjusted operating profit of $13.5 million to $14.5 million.

NAVN Price Action: Navan shares were up 18.78% at $24.79 during premarket trading on Thursday. The stock is trading at a new 52-week high, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Photo via Shutterstock