Nuix tumbles 22pc as investors ‘overreact’ to light first half results

Nuix shares fell as much as 27 per cent on Wednesday as the investigative software analytics provider failed to convince investors that contracts would pick up in the second half.

Nuix CEO Jonathan Rubinsztein told investors its sales were not ‘linear over the course of the year’. Picture: Britta Campion

Nuix shares fell as much as 27 per cent on Wednesday as the investigative software analytics provider failed to convince investors that contracts would pick up in the second half.

Chief executive Jonathan ­Rubinsztein assured shareholders that Nuix’s weaker first half was due to the majority of its sales not being “linear”, but that did not stop a sell-off that analysts ­ described as an “overreaction”.

“Nuix’s sales are not linear over the course of the year, and our current expectations are that growth will be weighted towards the second half of the fiscal year,” Mr ­Rubinsztein told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting.

Just 30 minutes after the market opened, Nuix shares were trading at $5.51, down 27 per cent, before closing at $5.90, down 22 per cent for the day.

Shaw and Partners senior analyst Jules Cooper said the drop in share price was “potentially” the market’s reacting to Mr Rubin­sztein’s comments.

While Nuix did not have a ­seasonal skew, Mr Cooper said the timing of annual contract value (ACV) was dependent on re­newals.

“We expect this statement to highlight that a greater proportion of renewals are scheduled for the second half and the timing of new business closing might be also,” he said.

“In our view, this does not highlight a change in demand or a change in execution success. As such, we view the commentary as being on track and in line with prior communications.”

The company received majority support for its remuneration schemes, with just 7.53 per cent voting against them.

Nuix’s ACV was $221.5m at the end of the 2024 fiscal year came in at $211.5m, with its new ­artificial intelligence offering Nuix Neo having contributed $12.1m of that.

“Nuix Neo sales to both new and existing customers were … a significant contributor to growth,” Mr Rubinsztein said.

He said Nuix remained focused on further rollout of the product, which he said let customers leverage AI large language models to understand data better.

On the back of ongoing success for Nuix Neo, the company is targeting a 15 per cent growth in ACV, revenue to exceed operating costs and positive operating cash flow for the full 2025 fiscal year.

Originally published as Nuix tumbles 22pc as investors ‘overreact’ to light first half results