Ribbon Communications Inc. reports fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results

PLANO, Texas -- Ribbon Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: RBBN), a global leader in real-time communications technology and IP optical networking solutions, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year of 2025. Ribbon Communications is dedicated to assisting the world's largest service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure operators in modernizing and safeguarding their networks and services.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Highlights

Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Results¹:

• Revenue was $227 million, compared to $251 million for the fourth quarter of 2024
• GAAP Operating Income was $9 million, compared to $33 million for the fourth quarter of 2024
• Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA was $40 million, compared to $55 million for the fourth quarter of 2024
• GAAP Gross Margin was 53.3%, compared to 55.7% for the fourth quarter of 2024
• Non-GAAP Gross Margin was 55.4%, compared to 58.1% for the fourth quarter of 2024

Full Year 2025 Financial Results¹:

• Full-Year Revenue was $845 million, compared to $834 million for 2024
• GAAP Operating Income was a loss of ($3) million, compared to $17 million for 2024
• Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA was $107 million, compared to $119 million for 2024
• GAAP Gross Margin was 49.8%, compared to 52.7% for 2024
• Non-GAAP Gross Margin was 52.3%, compared to 55.9% for 2024

"Although our fourth quarter results were impacted by several customer and project delays, we generated a new record level of Product and Services bookings in the quarter including over $50 million associated with new voice modernization programs for a growing number of customers across multiple regions. The delayed projects are not lost business and included deliverables already in backlog but with delayed deployment schedules. We also had several orders impacted by budget availability," stated Bruce McClelland, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ribbon Communications. "As we look into 2026, we are accounting for these dynamic market conditions with a more conservative growth rate projection, particularly in the first half of the year where we expect continued lower U.S. Federal agency spending and recent industry M&A to cause timing uncertainty."

Mr. McClelland continued, "In the mid-term, we expect to have multiple growth vectors fueled by accelerating adoption of AI across the Enterprise and the industry's shift towards achieving the goal of fully autonomous networking – an area where our new Acumen AIOps platform is purpose built to lead. We also expect increased global government and defense spending where we can leverage the strong foundation we have established in the U.S. and Europe to expand into other similar agencies. In parallel, we are considering select investments in rapidly growing private technology companies to further differentiate our portfolio and expand into high growth adjacent markets."

John Townsend, Chief Financial Officer of Ribbon Communications, remarked, "In support of these goals, we expect to continue to improve our cost efficiency and working capital levels to drive better cash conversion. These efforts will receive a major boost from the tax benefit we recognized in the fourth quarter, which we expect will reduce our future cash tax payments by approximately $15-$20 million over the next several years, starting in 2026."

^{1 Please see the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and additional information about non-GAAP measures in the section entitled "Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" in the attached schedules.} 

Business Highlights:

• Intech Deploys Ribbon's NPT 2100 IP Router to Address India's Evolving Connectivity Landscape
• Seren Juno and Ribbon Achieve 20Tbps Transmission on 10,000 km JUNO Trans-Pacific Cable
• One NZ and Ribbon Partner to Deliver Cloud Native Voice Network
• Aircall Leverages Ribbon and AWS to Power Global Communications Connectivity
• Nasstar Taps Ribbon to Power UK Voice Network Transformation for Cloud Era

Business Outlook²  
For the full year 2026, the Company projects revenue of $840 million to $875 million. Non-GAAP gross margin is projected in a range of 52.5% to 53.5%. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in a range of $105 million to $120 million.

For the first quarter of 2026, the Company projects revenue of $160 million to $170 million. Non-GAAP gross margin is projected in a range of 48% to 49%. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in a range of ($3) million to $1 million.

The Company's outlook is based on current indications for its business, which are subject to change.