Research Solutions, Inc.

Total revenue in Q4 fiscal 2026 was $12.1 million, down from $12.4 million in Q4 fiscal 2025. Platform subscription revenue was $5.3 million versus $5.2 million a year ago, while transaction revenue was approximately $6.8 million versus $7.3 million, down about 6.7%. Gross margin was 53% in Q4, up 200 basis points year over year, and full-year gross margin was 51.9%, up 260 basis points. Full-year revenue was approximately $48.3 million versus $49.1 million. Q4 net income was $666,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, versus $2.4 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA was $1.4 million versus $1.6 million. For the full year, net income was $2.8 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, versus $1.3 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA was $5.8 million versus $5.3 million. Management did not provide formal FY 2027 guidance, but said it expects continued platform subscription growth, improving retention, further stabilization in transactions, another year of adjusted EBITDA growth, and strong cash generation; Roy Olivier also said transaction/DocDel sales likely face a low single-digit year-over-year decline and B2C remains challenging.

Roy Olivier framed FY 2026 as a year of operational change, with a reworked sales organization, higher average sales prices, and more structured selling leading to larger deals and 105 net new deployments. He emphasized that AI is changing how research is discovered and delivered, and said Research Solutions is positioning its products inside the tools researchers already use, like ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot. His tone was constructive and confident, but not celebratory; he acknowledged B2C pressure and transaction headwinds while highlighting a stronger B2B and AI opportunity.

Dave Kutil focused on the mix shift toward higher-margin platform revenue, which helped drive Q4 gross margin to 53% and full-year gross margin to 51.9%. He noted that platform subscription revenue rose roughly 10% for the year to $20.8 million, while transaction revenue fell to $27.5 million from $30.1 million. He also pointed out that operating expenses were $21.5 million for the year versus $21.7 million last year, cash from operations was $5.3 million versus about $7 million, and cash and equivalents ended at $12.6 million with no outstanding borrowings. He said the stronger cash position, despite earn-out payments, gives the company flexibility to complete remaining Scite earn-out obligations in fiscal 2027 and remain open to strategic alternatives.

Analysts focused on the new AI-related ARR disclosure, asking how much was incremental versus repricing, and management said it was a net ARR growth number that could include upsells or new sales, but they had not broken it out that way. Questions also centered on MCP pricing and whether it was seat-based or usage-based; management said pricing generally includes caps with additional usage purchased above that threshold. On product dynamics, management said MCP usage is rising sharply while assistant usage is declining, with users moving to MCP, and that customer adoption is improving retention. For the Gateway publisher product, management said traction is still early but interest from publishers is real, and Roy Olivier said the AI pipeline is now well over the prior disclosure of more than $1 million.