Navan raises fiscal 2027 forecast on strong corporate travel demand, customer growth

Sept 9 — Navan raised its full-year forecasts for revenue and operating income on ​Wednesday, as strong demand for business travel and addition of new customers drive growth.

However, shares of the corporate travel and expense ‌platform fell 13% after the bell.

Business travel has remained resilient despite geopolitical uncertainty, with corporate investment ⁠in artificial intelligence prompting sales ​teams, engineers and executives to travel ⁠more frequently.

A fuller calendar of industrials conferences and an increase in cross-border ‌dealmaking have also ‌supported corporate booking volumes.

Navan, which went public in October last year, ⁠said gross booking volume grew 45% ⁠in its second quarter, while payment volume grew 34%.

"Demand for corporate travel has been very, very strong," CFO Aurélien Nolf told Reuters in an interview.

"On average, every traveler is (taking) more trips year over year. And each of those trips is on average generating higher bookings ‌than they were a year ago."

Navan now expects ​revenue of $927 million to $933 million for the fiscal year ending January 31, 2027, up from its prior forecast of $907 million to $913 million.

It forecast adjusted operating income in the range of $82 million to $86 million, compared with its earlier expectations of $76 million to $80 million

Separately, Navan said it would acquire AI-powered event-management platform BoomPop for an undisclosed amount. The deal ​was valued at up to $95 million in cash and stock, according to a ‌person familiar with ‌the matter.

Navan ⁠forecast third-quarter revenue in the range of $253 million to $255 million, compared with analysts' expectations of $248.27 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.

For the second quarter, the company reported an adjusted profit per share of 5 cents, compared ‌with 4 cents expected ​by the Wall Street.

Revenues for the same ‌period rose 35% to $233 ⁠million, beating analysts' ​expectations of $220.46 million.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary and Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Shailesh Kuber)

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