NICE plunges as investors focus on margin pressure and softer near-term outlook despite a Q1 beat

NICE Ltd (NICE) is down 23.0% today. Here is some analysis on what might have caused this price movement.

Analysis: The selloff appears tied less to Q1 headline revenue and more to profitability trends and the near-term outlook, with margins and earnings down year over year and Q2 guidance implying slower growth. Investors also seem to be weighing the near-term cost of integration and investment spending against the company’s longer-term CX AI growth narrative.

Details:

NICE posted Q1 revenue of $768.6 million (+9.8% year over year) and cloud revenue growth of 14.6%, but both GAAP and non-GAAP margins fell versus last year, indicating near-term profitability pressure.

GAAP net income dropped sharply year over year (and GAAP EPS fell to $0.77), a dynamic often associated with acquisition-related amortization and other items that can compress reported earnings.

Q2 guidance called for non-GAAP revenue of $761 million to $771 million (about 5.5% year-over-year growth at the midpoint) and non-GAAP EPS of $2.60 to $2.70, which may have been viewed as a deceleration versus recent growth rates.

While NICE raised full-year non-GAAP EPS guidance and reiterated full-year revenue guidance, the market reaction suggests concern about the timing of margin recovery rather than the full-year targets.

Sources:

NiCE, SEC, Benzinga

Disclaimer: This price movement analysis was generated with the help of AI. Please double-check the information provided for mistakes.

$NICE Hedge Fund Activity

We have seen 197 institutional investors add shares of $NICE stock to their portfolio, and 199 decrease their positions in their most recent quarter.

Here are some of the largest recent moves:

PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL GROUP INC added 4,315,414 shares (+1637.6%) to their portfolio in Q1 2026, for an estimated $475,817,547
BARROW HANLEY MEWHINNEY & STRAUSS LLC removed 2,768,870 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $312,993,064
UBS AM, A DISTINCT BUSINESS UNIT OF UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC removed 1,778,736 shares (-72.7%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $201,068,317
RPD FUND MANAGEMENT LLC added 886,005 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $100,154,005
HMI CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, L.P. removed 770,390 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $87,084,885
VULCAN VALUE PARTNERS, LLC removed 753,316 shares (-100.0%) from their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $85,154,840
BRANDES INVESTMENT PARTNERS, LP added 707,208 shares (+inf%) to their portfolio in Q4 2025, for an estimated $79,942,792

To track hedge funds' stock portfolios, check out Quiver Quantitative's institutional holdings dashboard. You can access data on hedge funds moves and 13F filings through the Quiver Quantitative API.

$NICE Government Contracts

We have seen $23,248,346 of award payments to $NICE over the last year.

Here are some of the awards which we have have seen pay out the most over the last year:

NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM VOICE RECORDER: $15,408,674
CONTRACT FOR NAS VOICE RECORDERS: $3,819,578
NAS VOICE RECORDER PROGRAM MANAGEMENT: $1,504,728
NAS VOICE RECORDER SYSTEMS: $838,525
NATIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM (NAS) VOICE RECORDER AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES NAVY.: $723,428

To track government contracts to publicy traded companies, check out Quiver Quantitative's government contracts dashboard.

$NICE Analyst Ratings

Wall Street analysts have issued reports on $NICE in the last several months. We have seen 7 firms issue buy ratings on the stock, and 0 firms issue sell ratings.

Here are some recent analyst ratings:

Barclays issued a "Overweight" rating on 11/19/2025
Citigroup issued a "Buy" rating on 11/19/2025
Rosenblatt issued a "Buy" rating on 11/18/2025
RBC Capital issued a "Outperform" rating on 11/18/2025
Morgan Stanley issued a "Overweight" rating on 11/18/2025
Mizuho issued a "Outperform" rating on 11/18/2025
Citizens issued a "Market Outperform" rating on 11/14/2025

To track analyst ratings and price targets for $NICE, check out Quiver Quantitative's $NICE forecast page.

$NICE Price Targets

Multiple analysts have issued price targets for $NICE recently. We have seen 11 analysts offer price targets for $NICE in the last 6 months, with a median target of $150.0.

Here are some recent targets:

Tyler Radke from Citigroup set a target price of $119.0 on 04/10/2026
Dan Ives from Wedbush set a target price of $120.0 on 02/20/2026
Rishi Jaluria from RBC Capital set a target price of $150.0 on 02/20/2026
Catharine Trebnick from Rosenblatt set a target price of $155.0 on 02/20/2026
Tavy Rosner from Barclays set a target price of $165.0 on 11/19/2025
Samad Samana from Jefferies set a target price of $136.0 on 11/18/2025
Clark Wright from DA Davidson set a target price of $130.0 on 11/18/2025

This article is not financial advice. See Quiver Quantitative's disclaimers for more information. Note that there may be inaccuracies due to mistakes in ticker-mapping, and other anomalies.