ACCESS Newswire (NYSEAMERICAN:ACCS) reported lower first-quarter revenue but pointed to improving subscription retention, higher average recurring revenue per subscriber and new product monetization as key signals for the rest of fiscal 2026.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Brian Balbirnie opened the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call by acknowledging that revenue of $5.3 million was “not where we want to be.” The total was down $472,000 sequentially from the fourth quarter of 2025 and down $149,000 from the prior-year period.
Revenue Slips as Press Release Volume Weighs on Results
Chief Financial Officer Steve Knerr said first-quarter revenue declined 8% from the fourth quarter and 3% year over year. He attributed part of the sequential decline to normal seasonality following year-end, when press release volumes tend to be lower than in the fourth quarter.
Core press release revenue was approximately $4.4 million, down from $4.8 million in the fourth quarter but consistent with the first quarter of 2025. Revenue from the company’s PR platform and media suite increased $200,000, up 23% both sequentially and year over year, which Knerr said reflected early monetization of new subscription tiers and platform adoption.
Revenue from the PRO plan was flat with the fourth quarter but down $126,000, or 46%, from the prior-year period. During the question-and-answer portion of the call, Balbirnie said some PRO plan customers are moving to the company’s ACCESS PR subscription and a more self-service model, which could continue to reduce the contribution from the PRO product over time.
Retention Improves as Subscription Mix Grows
Balbirnie emphasized customer retention as one of the strongest developments in the quarter. He said retention improved from the high-80% range in 2025 to 92% in the first quarter of 2026, adding that the company is targeting retention of more than 95% by year-end.
“Churn was the story we talked about as risks in our Q4 call, and that is no longer the dominant story,” Balbirnie said, citing quarterly and annual billing changes and the rebuilding of customer success teams.
Subscription revenue represented approximately 60% of total revenue in the quarter. Balbirnie said the company wants that figure to approach 80% by the same time next year, which he said would lessen the effect of seasonal fluctuations tied to press release and event volume.
The company ended the quarter with 1,119 subscribers, up 17% from 955. Balbirnie said subscribers increased 10% sequentially, while annual recurring revenue per subscriber rose 15% year over year, from $11,139 to $12,803, and 2% sequentially. He said ARR per subscriber has increased in seven of the past eight quarters.
Margins and Costs Remain in Focus
Gross margin was 74% in the first quarter, compared with 77% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 78% in the first quarter of 2025. Knerr said the decline reflected a lower revenue base and a modest increase in cost of revenue, primarily from higher distribution costs. He said management believes gross margin can recover as volume and subscription revenue grow.
Total operating costs were $4.7 million, down $580,000, or 11%, from the fourth quarter and down $281,000, or 6%, year over year. General and administrative expenses were $1.8 million, while product development expenses were $560,000. Sales and marketing expenses were $1.68 million, essentially flat sequentially and up modestly year over year as the company invested in the PressRelease.com brand and trade show activity.
The company reported an operating loss of $718,000. Net loss from continuing operations was $611,000, compared with $509,000 in the fourth quarter and $765,000 in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA was $564,000, representing 11% of revenue, compared with $881,000, or 15% of revenue, in the fourth quarter.
Knerr said the sequential decline in adjusted EBITDA was primarily due to lower revenue. He also said the company ended the quarter with a solid cash position and continued to generate adjusted free cash flow. Cash flow from operations increased to $871,000, compared with $258,000 in the fourth quarter and $747,000 in the year-earlier period.
New Products Drive Upsell Strategy
Management highlighted several product initiatives intended to support customer retention and upselling. Balbirnie said social monitoring is now enabled as both a subscription upgrade and part of new ACCESS PR subscription plans. He said customers adopting social monitoring are generating a 20% ARR lift, with the feature contributing an implied $550,000 in ARR over the next 12 months from initial ACCESS PR customers that opted in.
ACCESS Verified, described by Balbirnie as an AI-powered editorial assistant, is now customer-facing and has received early feedback from customers reporting time savings and greater confidence in content before distribution. He also discussed the company’s dynamic Model Context Protocol analytics product, previously referred to as “Kill the Report,” which is designed to provide real-time content performance and analytics reporting.
Balbirnie said the analytics engine is live for customers and will be offered on either a per-release or subscription basis. He said management expects it to contribute incremental revenue in the second quarter and support both retention and upsell activity.
The company also said its marketplace is operational, with Hootsuite as its first integration partner. Balbirnie said the ability to schedule, publish and analyze social content within the same platform used for press release distribution is something enterprise customers have requested, and he expects the integration to contribute to new enterprise customer acquisition in the second half of the year.
Analysts Ask About Growth Priorities and Competition
During the Q&A session, Northland Securities analyst Luke Horton asked which product development initiatives management was most excited about in 2026. Balbirnie said social monitoring stands out because it has already shown revenue traction through customer upgrades, while also expressing enthusiasm for ACCESS Verified and the company’s new analytics reporting product.
Horton also asked how the company balances new customer acquisition with cross-selling and upselling existing customers. Balbirnie said the sales team is responsible for both, including customer outreach, events and new product education. He said the company has added staff to help drive outbound activity.
Lake Street Capital Markets analyst Jacob Stephan asked about revenue declines and industry press release volume. Balbirnie said the industry has seen some volume softness, but he described the declines as modest and said ACCESS remains “neck and neck” with Business Wire for the third position by volume, behind GlobeNewswire and PR Newswire.
Balbirnie also said the company continued to repurchase common shares during the quarter and has a little more than half of its repurchase plan remaining. He said management looks forward to completing the plan and pursuing further repurchases this year.
About ACCESS Newswire (NYSEAMERICAN:ACCS)
Issuer Direct Corporation operates as a communications and compliance company, provides solutions for both public relations and investor relations professionals in the United States and internationally. The company provides press release distribution, media databases, media monitoring, and newsrooms through media advantage platform; ACCESSWIRE, a news dissemination and media outreach service; and Webcaster Platform, a cloud-based webcast, webinar, and virtual meeting platform that delivers live and on-demand streaming of events to audiences of various sizes, as well as allows customers to create, produce, and deliver events.
