Trimble sees freight recovery signs as AI tools fuel Q1 beat

Trimble Inc. reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings Wednesday, fueled by double-digit revenue growth, expanding margins and continued momentum in its transportation and construction software businesses.

The software and industrial tech giant posted first-quarter revenue of $939.9 million, up 12% year over year, while adjusted earnings per share came in at 79 cents. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $257.7 million, representing 27.4% of revenue.

Trimble also raised its full-year 2026 guidance, citing strong recurring revenue growth and improving visibility into customer demand. The company now expects full-year revenue between $3.835 billion and $3.915 billion, with non-GAAP EPS projected between $3.47 and $3.64.

“We began the year with strong momentum, delivering record annualized recurring revenue of $2.435 billion in the first quarter, and surpassing expectations on both top and bottom lines,” CEO Rob Painter said in the earnings release.

Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) is a provider of technology solutions for trucking companies, freight brokerages and 3PLs. The company also operates in industries such as buildings and infrastructure, geospatial hardware and software, and resources and utilities.

Transportation and logistics revenue rose 7% year over year to $140 million during the quarter, while annual recurring revenue for the segment increased 9% to $525 million. Segment operating margins expanded 300 basis points to 24.2%.

Painter said Trimble’s transportation business is seeing improving momentum despite lingering softness in freight markets.

“While the macro environment remains challenged, the North American market is beginning to show some signs of market recovery,” Painter said during an earnings call before the market opened on Wednesday. “In Europe, we continue to hold our competitive win ratios and grow our network density.”

Painter also highlighted accelerating adoption of AI-enabled freight technologies within the transportation segment.

“With a couple of recent customer wins in selling autonomous procurement and autonomous quotation in North America, we are building momentum and demonstrating that we can bring Transporeon capabilities to North America and that we can cross-sell into our carrier base,” Painter said.

During the earnings call Q&A session, Painter said AI-driven transaction tools are generating stronger monetization rates than traditional software features in transportation.

“If you take autonomous procurement and autonomous quotation within transportation, I think that’s a great example of that because what we’re monetizing through those particular product motions is happening at a higher rate than the traditional non-AI capabilities that we have,” Painter said. “And we can charge more because we’re demonstrating a higher ROI to our customers when we do that.”

Painter said Trimble sees AI as a way to expand its addressable market across transportation and construction workflows.

“We think we can take market share over time,” Painter said. “We see opportunities to increase the size of the addressable market. We see opportunities to monetize through our fair share capture of the value of an ROI that we deliver to our customers.”

The company said more than 90% of transportation and logistics revenue is now recurring revenue, helping support margin expansion and earnings visibility.

Painter also pointed to accelerating adoption of AI tools internally across Trimble’s transportation software development operations.

“Today, the vast majority of new code is generated with AI tools, and our product development organization is fundamentally rewiring how we work, which in turn is increasing our velocity,” Painter said.

The company said transportation new-logo growth increased more than 50% year over year during the first quarter.

Outside transportation, Trimble’s largest segment — Architects, Engineers, Construction and Owners (AECO) — posted 14% organic revenue growth to $391 million during the quarter, while Field Systems revenue rose 12% to $409 million.

Painter said infrastructure projects, data center construction and road-building activity continue to support demand for Trimble’s field technology and machine-control products.

Trimble repurchased approximately $317 million of stock during the quarter and ended Q1 with net leverage of 1.1 times trailing adjusted EBITDA.

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