Skillsoft Q1 Earnings Call Highlights Written by MarketBeat June 9, 2026 Share Link copied to clipboard. Image from MarketBeat Media, LLC. Key Points Skillsoft’s Q1 revenue fell 4.7% year over year to $94.5 million as government booking softness and declines in the consumer business weighed on results. Even so, adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 28.2% and operating expenses declined. The company expects to close the sale of Global Knowledge in fiscal Q2, which management says will sharpen Skillsoft’s focus on its AI-native skills management platform and eventually improve profitability and cash flow. Management also said debt refinancing will become the top financial priority after the deal closes. Platform adoption and retention are improving , with new platform customer agreements up 67% sequentially and dollar retention at 105% in the quarter. Skillsoft also said AI-related product adoption is ahead of internal targets and kept its full-year fiscal 2027 guidance unchanged. Interested in Skillsoft? Here are five stocks we like better . Skillsoft Stock is a Labor and Talent Development Play Skillsoft NYSE: SKIL reported lower first-quarter fiscal 2027 revenue as expected weakness in government bookings and the company’s consumer business weighed on results, while management pointed to improving customer retention, platform adoption and bookings as signs that its transformation plan is gaining traction. On the company’s earnings call for the quarter ended April 30, 2026, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer Ron Hovsepian said revenue declined about 5% year over year, driven by “booking softness in our government business in the first half of last year” and “anticipated declines in our consumer business.” He said some expected offsets from labor-based offerings, including professional services and coaching, shifted to later periods in the fiscal year. Get Skillsoft alerts: Sign Up “The underlying business is performing in line with our plan, and the strategic progress is visible in the numbers,” Hovsepian said. He cited new platform customer agreements rising 67% sequentially, from 15 to 25, and dollar retention reaching 105% in the quarter. Revenue declines, but margins improve Chief Financial Officer Ron Kisling, who recently joined the company, said first-quarter revenue from continuing operations was $94.5 million, down 4.7% from the prior-year period. The company’s continuing operations are comprised of its Talent Development Solutions business, which management said will be referred to as Skillsoft after the planned sale of Global Knowledge. Kisling said first-quarter dollar retention rate was 105%, up from 91% in the prior-year quarter. The last-12-month dollar retention rate was 98%, compared with 99% a year earlier. He said revenue and last-12-month retention were affected by softness in government bookings in the first half of fiscal 2026, while revenue was also pressured by declines in the consumer business. Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations was $26.6 million, essentially flat with $26.8 million in the year-earlier quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to 28.2% from 27.1%. Skillsoft reported a GAAP net loss from continuing operations of $18.7 million, compared with a loss of $29.6 million in the prior-year period. GAAP net loss per share from continuing operations was $2.12, compared with a loss of $3.56 per share a year earlier. Adjusted net income was $10.2 million, or $1.16 per share, compared with $9.5 million, or $1.15 per share, in the prior-year quarter. Total adjusted operating expenses were $67.9 million, down $4.5 million, or 6.2%, year over year. Selling and marketing expenses fell 8.4% to $26.3 million, reflecting lower spending following the company’s go-to-market redesign, while general and administrative expenses declined 13.7% to $13.2 million. Global Knowledge divestiture expected to sharpen focus A major theme of the call was Skillsoft’s pending sale of its Global Knowledge business to an affiliate of Enduring Ventures. Hovsepian said the transaction is expected to close in fiscal Q2 and will allow Skillsoft to concentrate on its “AI-native skills management platform.” “We believe this is the right direction for Skillsoft,” Hovsepian said. “GK served an important purpose, but post-close, we will concentrate fully on our AI-native skills management platform, where we see the greatest opportunity to help organizations build workforce readiness and prove the impact of skills on business outcomes.” Kisling said Global Knowledge has been in decline for many years and is expected to continue generating adjusted EBITDA losses of $10 million to $15 million on an annualized basis until the divestiture and transition are complete. He said eliminating that negative impact should benefit profitability and cash flow beginning in fiscal 2028. From a liquidity standpoint, Kisling said Skillsoft expects proceeds net of cash divested and excluding transaction costs of $5 millio