Diebold Nixdorf Incorporated Common stock

Hello, good day, and welcome to Diebold Next Door's fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call. My name is Ellie, and I'll be coordinating today's call. Following our speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. In order to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Thank you. I'd now like to turn the call over to our host, Maynard Um, Vice President of Investor Relations. Maynard? Please go ahead.

Hello, and welcome to our fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call. To accompany our prepared remarks, we posted our slide presentation to the investor relations section of our website. Before we start, I'll remind all participants that you'll hear forward-looking statements during this call. These statements reflect the expectations and beliefs of our management team at the time of the call, but they are subject to risks that could cause actual results different materially from these statements. You can find additional information on these factors in the company's periodic and annual filings with the SEC. Participants should be mindful that subsequent events may render this information to be out of date. We will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures on today's call. As noted on slide three, a reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures can be found in the supplemental schedules of the presentation. With that, I'll turn the call over to Octavio, who will begin on slide four.

Good morning and thank you for joining us. 2025 marked a defining year for Diebold Nakesport. We strengthened our foundation, delivered on our commitments, and most importantly, demonstrated that we are now operating a sustainable free cash flow generator with significantly more stable and predictable financial profiles. We grew revenue. expanded adjusted EBITDA to $485 million, and more than doubled free cash flow to a record $239 million. These results reflect the disciplined execution, the strength of our lean operating model, and a portfolio increasingly aligned to long-term automation trends in banking and retail. Today, the conversation will center on the durability of our operating model, our ability to generate strong and consistent cash flow, and the opportunities we have to deploy that capital in ways that drive long-term shareholder value. What matters most to us and what our results clearly demonstrate is that we are delivering on what we said we would do, quarter after quarter. This consistency is increasing predictability in our model and strengthening confidence in our long-term outlook. Our core businesses remain strong, and our growth initiatives are gaining traction. In banking, we are expanding our role beyond the ATM to orchestrate the broader branch and transaction ecosystem through expanded service offerings, software-enabled automation, cash management solutions, and innovative hardware. helping financial institutions operate more efficiently while improving the consumer experience. In retail, momentum continues to build, with three consecutive quarters of revenue growth as we expand in North America, win new logos, and scale AI-driven solutions that help customers reduce shrink, increase throughput at checkout, and operate more intelligently. We also delivered a record fifth consecutive quarter of positive free cash flows. Importantly, we also received two credit rating upgrades this year. Independent validation that our operating model and financial model continues to improve. With net leverage around one times and free cash flow growing, returning capital to shareholders will remain a core part of our value creation framework. Today, we're a stronger and more predictable company with multiple ways to win and create value. we are entering the year with momentum, a fortress balance sheet, and a clear focus on delivering another year of profitable growth and cash generation. With that, let me walk you through our key takeaways for the year. Please move to slide five. Slide five reflects the consistent execution and financial progress we delivered throughout 2025, reinforcing the strength of our operating model. We delivered strong year-over-year improvement across our key financial metrics, meeting and in several areas exceeding the commitments we established at the beginning of the year. Order entry grew 17% year-over-year, supported by healthy demand across both banking and retail, and demonstrating the continued relevance of our solutions as customers prioritize automation, efficiency, and innovation. Revenue performance reflects disciplined execution across the portfolio. In banking, the core ATM business remains stable, while our strategic growth initiatives gained traction. In retail, the core businesses in Europe recovered and strengthened as the year progressed, with accelerating momentum in the U.S. behind our SmartVision AI solution. We recently completed a pilot with one of the world's largest retailers in the U.S., and are now transitioning into multiple live store implementations, an important step towards scaling the opportunity. Adjusted EBITDA grew to $485 million, reaching the higher end of our guidance, with margins expanding 60 basis points. This improvement reflects the structural benefits of our lean operating model, continued cost discipline, and operating leverage as we simplify the business and scale more efficiently. Free cash flow was a standout in 2025. We generated a record $239 million, more than doubling prior year's cash flow and representing approximately 49% conversion, well above our original outlook and approaching our 2026 target of greater than 50%. We expect this momentum to continue. Stronger working capital, lower interest expense, and higher profitability demonstrate the growing cash generating capability of our models and enhance the financial flexibility to invest in growth while returning capital to shareholders. Adjusted earnings per share reached $5.59 for fiscal year 2025. We more than doubled EPS year over year, even excluding certain non-cash, non-operational favorable tax benefits. One year into our three-year plan, The financial algorithm we outlined is taking hold, and we are executing as committed. That consistency is strengthening confidence in our outlook and reflects an operating model with multiple ways to win and create value. Slide 6 highlights the growth engines that are strengthening the durability of our revenue and expanding our long-term opportunity across banking, retail, and services. we're gaining traction in the areas that matter the most, automation, software and service recurring revenue, all of which support higher quality growth over time. In banking, our role continues to expand beyond the ATM as financial institutions modernize their branches and optimize cash and transaction ecosystems. By automating manual processes, Reducing cash and transit visits and improving staffing efficiency, our solutions deliver measurable operational value for our customers, while positioning us to capture a larger share of their technology spend. During the year, our branch automation solutions built momentum with large multi-year wins in Europe and a key new multi-million dollar win in North America, reinforcing the relevance of our strategy across major markets. We also expanded the DN Series portfolio with the introduction of the DN Series 300 and 350. Combined with our VCP7 software that enables interoperability across devices are helping customers increase availability, lower operating costs, and simplify branch operations. Fit for Purpose continues to gain traction across both high capacity and our smaller energy efficient configuration. Notably, we received certification from one of the largest public banks in India, positioning us to compete in all public bank tenders and opening the door to one of the fastest growing ATM markets globally. In retail, we are encouraged by the momentum we are seeing, particularly in North America, where we secured nine new logos, including a win with one of our top targeted grocery accounts. The strategy that established our leadership position in Europe, centered around openness and modularity, is now gaining traction in North America and significantly expanding our addressable market. Our smart vision AI solution continues to differentiate our portfolio and generate strong customer interest. At the NRF show, we engage with more than 800 customers, partners, and prospects, reinforcing the growing relevance of AI-driven capabilities as retailers focus on shrink reduction, checkout throughput, and smarter store operations. In services, our focus remains on being the most trusted service provider in the industry. We continue to optimize our service and repair centers globally, improving turnaround times, driving greater consistency and quality, which led to higher uptime for our customers. This, coupled with the completed North America rollout of our enhanced field service technician software, resulted in our best SLA performance of the year. With this, we are strengthening customer loyalty, supporting product pull-through, and increasing the lifetime value of our install base, further enhancing the recurring nature of our revenue. In operations, teams have fully embraced leads. bringing new ideas to reshape legacy paradigms about how and where work gets done. Our local-for-local sourcing and manufacturing strategies are strategic advantages for our company and have allowed us to navigate market challenges like tariffs in 2025 and provide a strong foundation as we enter the new year. By leveraging common platforms and components across our ATM and branch automation portfolio, we are driving greater efficiency, scale, and simplified operations for our customers. Across the company, working capital improvements drove great results. Day's inventory outstanding and day sales outstanding again improved year over year. Tom will share details on the significant improvements in a moment. While we remain disciplined in our expectations, the traction we are seeing across the growth engines increases our confidence in the power of our model as we move into 2026. All these advancements position the company to deliver more predictable performance while expanding our long-term growth runway. Now let's turn to slide seven. Slide seven highlights how lean is becoming a structural advantage for us as we systematically lower our cost base, improve working capital, and continue to expand margins. What began as a manufacturing initiative has now scaled across supply chain, services, and business operations, embedding continuous improvement into how we operate and creating a more robust and scalable enterprise. Across global manufacturing, The implementation of a dynamic Kanban system spanning more than 400 high-use items has driven an approximately 30% sustained reduction in inventory, while eliminating expedites and improving part availability. These actions are releasing working capital, strengthening cash conversion, and enhancing operational predictability. In our shared business services organization, cross-functional teams from 11 countries Standardized order processing and accelerating invoice cycles. Reducing processing time by 17% and improving collection efficiencies. Just as importantly, these improvements are repeatable and are now being scaled across additional geographies. This is how we approach LEED. Identify structural efficiencies, institutionalizing them, and then extending those benefits across the entry. Our progress has also been recognized externally, including being named by Newsweek as one of America's most responsible companies, reflecting the strength of our supply chain, ethical standards, and community engagement. Proof that operational excellence and responsible business practices can advance together. As Lean continues to expand across the organization, we see meaningful opportunity to unlock further efficiencies strengthen margins, and improve cash flow. Importantly, many of the financial improvements Tom will discuss next are being enabled by these structural efficiencies. Lean is not a one-time initiative. It is a core capability that is reshaping how we operate. With that, I'll turn it over to Tom to walk through our financial results.

Thank you, Octavio. 2025 was an exceptionally strong year of performance for us. We grew revenue. expanded margins, and more than doubled free cash flow and adjusted EPS. These results reinforce that we have multiple ways to win and demonstrate our strong operational execution across the enterprise. Q4 revenue was $1.1 billion, up 12% year-over-year and 17% sequentially, driven by growth in both product and service. In banking, high-capacity, fit-for-purpose ATMs, and strong performance in Europe drove results. In retail, strong point-of-sale and self-checkout performance globally drove revenue increases. Total gross margin expanded to 27.1%, up 320 basis points year-over-year and 90 basis points sequential, reflecting favorable product and geographic mix. Product margins were 28.2 percent, up 80 basis points sequentially. Service margins increased to 26.2 percent, up 80 basis points sequentially. For the full year, 2025, total company gross margin was 26.4 percent, up 110 basis points year over year. Margin expansion was driven by products where gross margin increased to 27.4%, up 300 basis points year over year. Strength in product margins allowed us to accelerate investments in our service infrastructure, consolidating our repair and service centers, the deployment of our field service software, and additional field technicians. As a result of these investments, service margins finished the year at 25.6%. We delivered strong Q4 operating profit of $129 million, up 81% year-over-year and 48% sequentially, driven by higher revenues and continued margin benefits from our mix and our lean operating model. Operating margin expanded 440 basis points year-over-year to 11.6% in the core. Operating expense was relatively flat year over year on higher revenues. We continue executing against our plans to reduce SG&A, and we've made solid progress on the over 200 action items that are part of our cost reduction program. For the full year 2025, operating expense was up 3.7% driven by higher labor and benefit expenses partially offset by our savings initiatives. Exiting 26, we expect annualized run rate operating expense savings of up to $50 million, of which we expect to realize up to half of these savings in 26, resulting in a reduction of approximately 1 to 2% of operating expense. Lean methodology, disciplined execution are driving our strong improvements in our results. Continuing on to slide 9. We delivered record Q4 adjusted EBITDA, record full-year adjusted EPS, and generated record full-year free cash flow. Q4 adjusted EBITDA reached $164 million, up 46% year-over-year, with 350 basis points of margin expansion. Sequentially, we delivered 35% growth and drove an additional 200 basis points of margin improvement bringing EBITDA margins to 14.9%. Adjusted EPS for Q4 was $3.02, and for the full year 2025 was $5.59. This includes $1.08 of non-cash, non-operational, favorable items, including a tax valuation allowance release in the amount of $0.57 in Q4, And as we previously disclosed, a benefit of 51 cents recognized in Q3 due to lowering of the statutory rate in Germany. Excluding these items, 2025 EPS was $4.51. In 2025, we returned $128 million to shareholders through repurchases, representing 2.3 million shares or approximately 6% of the company. at an average share price of $55.47, representing a discount of more than 25% versus where our shares trade. Free cash flow in Q4 was $196 million, up 5% year-over-year, or approximately $10 million. For the full year of 2025, we generated $239 million of free cash flow. more than doubling 2024's result of $109 million and setting a new annual company record. Strong Q4 performance year-over-year was driven by lower interest expense following our late 2024 refinancing, continued progress in streamlining service contract collections, and additional working capital initiatives. Year-over-year days inventory outstanding improved by nine days and day sales outstanding improved by four days, and we continue to see further opportunities ahead in both. As I've shared with our teams internally, there is no finish line in our continuous improvement journey, only more opportunity. Moving to slide 10, banking delivered strong product and service revenue growth, with revenue up 11% year over year in Q4 and up 1.2% for the full year Banking product revenue in Q4 grew 20% year-over-year, driven by strong APM recycler adoption across our major markets. Banking services revenue grew 5% year-over-year in Q4, primarily driven by higher revenue contributions from Europe. Banking gross margin expanded 410 basis points year-over-year in Q4 and 160 basis points for the full year, driven by strong product margins allowing us to strategically accelerate the investment in services. As a result of these investments, service margins ended the year at around 25%. We're encouraged by customer feedback on these service investments, including engagements with large financial institutions, record net promoter scores, and our strongest SLA performance of the year. Together, these indicators reinforce our confidence improving banking service margins this year and over the long term. Turning to slide 11. We had a strong end to the year in retail, achieving our third consecutive quarter of sequential revenue growth. Q4 retail revenue increased 12% year over year to over $300 million, and retail revenue for the full year grew 2.1%. Retail product revenue grew supported by strength across point of sale and self-checkout in major markets. For the full year, retail product revenue increased 5.4%, driven by strong global point of sale unit growth and higher self-checkout shipments in North America. In retail service, revenue increased 8% year-over-year in Q4, driven by core service and higher installation work. For the full year, retail services revenue was comparable to prior year, due in part to certain large customers that experienced external cyber-related disruptions that reduced our ability to provide service to them. We have now resumed full service for those customers. Turning to profitability, strong demand and higher volumes drove overall retail gross margin expansion of 80 basis points year over year in Q4. For the full year, overall retail gross margins declined 20 basis points. This decrease is tied to the service disruptions I just mentioned. Looking ahead, retail is entering 2026 with strength. We're securing high-quality new business wins, including multiple new logos in the US grocery and QSR segments, in addition to growing our core European business. Overall, retail is positioned to continue growing revenue and gross profit dollars on a year-over-year basis. This will be driven by the acceleration of our growth initiatives in North America, continued new logo wins, sustained momentum in Europe, and the scaling of our differentiated AI-driven solutions. Turning to slide 12, our 2026 guidance reflects our increasing confidence in our operating model and the momentum we are carrying into the year. We're establishing our 2026 guidance for revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, all of which are higher than the original targets we shared at our 2025 investor day. For revenue, we're establishing a range of $3.86 to $3.94 billion. We expect the quarterly cadence for revenue to be consistent with 2021. based on each quarter's share of the full-year revenue. This outlook is supported by our $733 million of product backlog and the significant reduction in product delivery lead times. Additionally, our January order entry is very strong, which gives us clear line of sight to our first half revenue. We expect total gross margin in 2026 to increase by another 25% 50 basis points year over year. Coming off a record year where we expanded product margins by 300 basis points, we expect product margins to remain at these levels as we scale fit-for-purpose solutions. In services, we expect gross margin for the full year to increase up to 50 basis points year over year. In the first quarter, margins will be slightly lower year over year as we ramp up hiring in the U.S. in anticipation of converting strong service pipeline and further improving our SLAs. From G2 onward, we expect sequential year-over-year improvement as scale increases and these investments begin to deliver returns. For adjusted EBITDA, we project a range of $510 to $535 million, representing growth of approximately 8% at the midpoint. Turning to free cash flow, we forecast free cash flow in the range of $255 to $270 million, representing roughly 10% growth at the midpoint, supported by continued working capital improvements and disciplined capital allocation. Once again, we expect to generate positive free cash flow in every quarter of the year. Starting this year, we are introducing guidance for adjusted earnings per share. For 2026, we expect adjusted EPS to be in the range of $5.25 to $5.75, assuming an effective tax rate in the range of 35% to 40%. At the midpoint, this guidance reflects approximately 22% year-over-year growth on a comparable basis when excluding certain non-cash, non-operational tax benefits in 2025 that we previously mentioned. I would also like to point out that our free cash flow per share is significantly higher than our EPS as a result of stronger cash generation than earnings alone suggests. Overall, our 2026 outlook reflects the strong foundation built in 2025, the durability of our operating model that we've put in place, and the strength we're carrying forward. Turning to slide 13, we ended 2025 in an exceptionally strong financial position with more than $700 million of liquidity, including $416 million in cash and short-term investments, and an undrawn $310 million revolver with a net debt leverage ratio at 1.1 times. Our balance sheet strength is a reflection of disciplined execution throughout the year. 2025 was also a standout year for capital returns. We completed our initial $100 million share repurchase program in just over eight months and announced a new $200 million authorization in the fourth quarter. Through year end, we repurchased $128 million of our common shares, representing approximately 6% of the company's total shares outstanding. At an average share price, that is 25% below where our shares are trading, which we believe is an excellent return on our investment. We are targeting the completion of the $200 million program in a similar timeframe. Our balance sheet strength and consistent free cash flow generation were recognized externally as well. In Q4, Moody's upgraded our credit rating to B1 from B2, our second credit rating upgrade of 2025. underscoring the meaningful progress we've made. Looking ahead, our capital allocation strategy remains consistent and firmly aligned with shareholder value creation. Since the beginning of 2025, we've delivered substantial shareholder value through strong execution and consistent capital returns, with our stock appreciating more than 65 percent Given our performance and outlook, we believe that repurchasing our shares at today's valuation still represents one of the most compelling opportunities to continue to drive long-term shareholder value. We continue to believe that our stock is undervalued and our ability to generate free cash flow is underappreciated. In 2025, we returned over 50% of our free cash flow to shareholders. This despite having only begun our repurchase program in March of 2025. Going forward, we expect to increase our returns to shareholders as a percent of free cash flow. Supported by our balance sheet strength and our target of $800 million of cumulative free cash flow from 2025 through 2027, we're committed to prioritizing returns to shareholders through share repurchases by also maintaining the flexibility to pursue small strategic tuck-in acquisitions that strengthen our long-term growth profile. With that, I'll turn it back to Octavio for closing remarks.

Thank you, Tom. As we look to 2026, what is increasingly clear is the continued strengthening of our operating and financial foundation. We have built a strong, strategically aligned portfolio that balances strong core businesses in banking and retail with scalable growth platforms, positioning us to deliver sustained performance and long-term value. We are a company with a high-quality business model, fueled by a culture of continuous improvement, delivering consistent performance, generating substantial free cash flow, and embedding structural efficiency across the enterprise. I want to recognize our employees, customers, and partners whose execution and trust made these results possible. The progress we are reporting today reflects the strength of our teams and the depth and support of our partnerships around the globe. We are entering 2026 with momentum and confidence in our ability to continue strengthening the business. And with that, operator, please open the call for questions. Hello, Bob.

Thank you. We will now open the floor for question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. That's star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from the line of Matt Somerville of D.A. Davidson. Your line is now open.

Hi. Thanks. So maybe just start. with the kind of the first half, second half cadence a little bit, but more importantly, maybe if you can dig into some of the pluses and minuses we need to be thinking about with respect to Q1 in particular, and maybe, you know, kind of frame up, realize you might not want to give specific quarterly guidance, but kind of frame up how we should be thinking about, you know, the first quarter.

Yeah. Hey, Matt, good morning. Look, so we're starting the year with $730 million in product backlog. Plus the month of January was a very strong order entry month for us as well. So we have really strong visibility into the first half revenues. You know, we've guided our revenue cadence to be approximately 45% in the first half and 55% in the second half, very similar to 2025. So on a quarterly basis, expect our revenues to flow very similar to 2025 with q1 being approximately 22 percent of our total revenue for the year uh for adjusted ebitda we we guided to an approximate split of 40 percent first half and 61 percent uh second half which again is very similar to 2025 and in q1 specifically which i think address your question here we expect adjusted ebitda margins to be very comparable to Q1 of 2025, albeit on higher revenues.

And is that reflective of the incremental sort of step up in services investments? And is there any way that you can maybe quantify the level of organic investment you made into that service organization in 25 and what's on tap for 26? And then I have one more follow-up.

Yeah, sure. So, you know, as we talked about last quarter, our investments and services really comprise the field service software rollout in North America. That's primarily behind us right now, and now we're on to the rest of the world. So, you know, the cost of doing North America versus the rest will be slightly down. then we are also in the process of hiring additional field technicians to continue uh improving our net promoter scores and slas and as we mentioned on a call you know we have seen traction in that space so we're very hopeful that that'll lead to new wins uh and most of the consolidation of our our spares and service facilities uh is behind us as well you know having said that however In Q1, that investment will continue. So what you'll see in service margins is a slight decrease into Q1 as we wrap up those investments. And then starting in Q2, we expect sequential year-over-year improvement, you know, as the scale increases and these improvements begin to deliver returns. So, you know, stepping back for service margins, where we ended the year and looking forward to next year, we're expecting to grow them. perspective as well, coming off a really good year, being able to grow those, you know, 300 basis points. We expect to be able to maintain that. And look, obviously, we live by the lean culture, you know, and seeing another 25 basis points of improvement there wouldn't be unexpected either.

Thank you. And then maybe just another quick one. Can you contextualize the retail logo wins in the U.S. a bit? You know, is that Oz-driven, software-driven, SCO-driven? And, you know, how we should be thinking about, realizing it's off a low base, but how we should be thinking about kind of the go-forward tagger for U.S. retail, and when does that become a more consequential piece of the portfolio for you?

Gotcha. Hi, Matt. So we had nine new logos. I would split them between two very important ones in the grocery space, a very important one, I would say, in the pharmacy space, and then multiple wins in the QSR space where our products continue to really define the standard on what quick-serve restaurants are looking for. I would say that we have a very solid pipeline. Some of these wins, if you recall, at the beginning of the year, we said we were targeting 40 very specific accounts. On the grocery side, our largest win came from one of those targeted accounts. And we're now rolling out our AI software across still a limited number of their stores. But this is just to prove the case now in the real world, as I've explained before. These rollouts start with a POC, then some dark stores, and then rolling it out into real stores. So we're at that stage. So we're excited about that. So AI has played a very important role. I think what has been surprising in the U.S. is that many accounts outside our 40 targeted accounts have come to us. So some of the wins that we had this year, also in the grocery space, came out of point of sale. which, again, proves that the idea of modularity and having a better product does help. And again, during the NRF show, we had over 800 client meetings and prospect meetings. So we feel very good about the pipeline. We see our retail business, again, remember, a $1 billion business, the majority of it still in Europe. But we see the U.S. business growing double digits for the foreseeable future, and we're very excited about that. I think importantly, Matt, the retail business in Europe also recovered significantly, as you can see from the numbers from Q1 to Q2 to Q3 to Q4. And again, that is important to us as that trend we think will continue with important wins in self-checkout and the AI-driven platforms.

next question comes from the line of justin ages of cjs securities your line is now open hi morning all hi justin um nice improvement uh obviously in pre-cash flow and you mentioned you know day sales days inventory uh you know nine days and four days of improvement just wondering if you could give us a little insight into how much improvement do you see left in those? Eventually, there's going to be a lower limit. So I just wanted to try to triangulate that.

Yeah. So look, this year, DSO, as you mentioned, down four days. DSO for us ended the year at 50. And if you keep in mind that each day of DSO represents about 10 or so million-ish of free cash flow, We think that there's an opportunity for additional days there. You know, we're thinking four to five is kind of what our thought process is as we enter next year. You know, and being able to deliver DSO like we did in Q4 was a result of a lot of hard work. You know, we really ran multiple Kaizons throughout the year to improve our service collections, the down payments relating to our service collections in Q4, so that That really helped and manifested itself, you know, in our results. So very proud of the team for being able to execute that kind of delivery. And then DIO, right, the way we calculate it is based on a blend of our products and services. So down, you know, seven days year over year or thereabouts, you know, each day represents about seven. And we think that there's multiple opportunities involved. turning faster. You know, think about where we were just, you know, a year or two ago at 120 plus. Now we're more somewhere in a range of 70 to 80 days pretty consistently and really, really benefiting from our local to local manufacturing strategy and helping deploy that. So, you know, you think about Germany and in Paderborn and Canton in the U.S. and Manau in Brazil and then our partner in India, you know, we're that strategy has really worked well in terms of delivering and unlocking value for us.

Very helpful. Thank you. And then switching to capital allocation, I know you mentioned it in your notes. Just wondering, you know, as we try to balance share repurchases and tuck-ins and then the $950 million note, do you think you'll look at that note in the fourth quarter, if it makes sense to take that out. And when you mentioned Tuckins, is there a list of companies that you have your eye on, that you're following, that you're not ready to make an investment there yet because you see more value in repurchasing shares? Just trying to weigh the different capital allocation priorities you have.

Yeah, look, we're remaining very consistent to the capital framework that we rolled out a little bit over a year ago. Share repurchases, like I said on the call just now, we still view that as the best return on investment at where our stock is. We believe it's undervalued and the ability to generate free cash flow at this company, we feel still remains underappreciated. So the stock buyback will be the priority for us. This year we returned, I think just about 53% of our free cash flow to shareholders and you know keep in mind we didn't really begin our share repurchase program uh until March and we were able to wrap that up pretty quickly uh and then as you know we doubled the size of it so we're going to continue um on a similar albeit maybe slightly accelerated uh time frame with the 200 million dollar program but you know maintaining that flexibility uh to be able to do some tuck-ins and yes we have developed a pipeline across multiple categories. But right now, I would say we're primarily focused on some service opportunities as we see the ability to continue to consolidate in that space. And that, you know, obviously is one of our core strengths. And, you know, we define M&A acquisition as something that's got to be, you know, almost immediately accretive and a relatively low multiple for us. And we think that there's ample opportunities there to strengthen our growth portfolio.

Very helpful. Thank you for taking the question. Yeah. Thank you, Justin.

And if you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. That's star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Your next question comes from the line of Matt Somerville of DA Davidson. Your line is now open.

Yeah. Hi, Mr. Paul. the world in terms of what you're seeing from a demand standpoint on the ATM side of the business. And then if you can speak in maybe a little bit more detail, it was called out several times about the strength in particular you saw in order activity, you know, thus far in 26.

Sure, Matt. So I'll talk a little bit about ATM. So North America continues to, you know, to be very strong for us. So very positive momentum. Our initial branch automation wins are very significant. So this idea of a close end cash ecosystem, the ATM, the teller cash recycler, the automation software controlling both devices. really, really gaining traction and interest from customers. So we see that as a very, very positive catalyst. Add to that that every bank has now firmly decided that recycling is the way to go. So we continue to see that traction and those investments that we've made and continuing to improve our recycling capabilities will continue to pay dividends in the future. So North America, we feel very, very, very good about it. And In Tom's prior comment around the token acquisitions, think about also in North America, as we expand our service footprint into the branch, that's an area that we're really looking into. How do we create a stronger service experience, not just for ATMs, but for the branch? That is our main focus in North America and Europe. How do we move beyond the ATM into the branch ecosystem? So this resonates very well with customers. I would say staying in the Americas, Latin America, you know, which traditionally had been one of the highest growth markets in the world, had a, I would say, a slower year in 2025. As you know, there's a little bit of lumpiness. That's where some big projects that get delayed or move forward. But, you know, after Q1, we see very, very positive momentum in Latin America, and that will be also a catalyst for growth next year. Europe, I would say, Throughout the year, very positive momentum. We had very strong wins in Germany, particularly in the savings and credit union space. that now are still in the process of refreshing technology. And as you know, those thousands of small customers, not one of them is very big, but 10, 5 ATMs in each, but now fully in refresh cycle. So we're very excited about that. Same in France, big market where a lot of consolidation is happening in ATM networks, but we've been fortunate enough to capture the majority of those wins. So we're very excited about that. About Europe, we have a strong team there that is looking for, you know, how do we accelerate and how do they keep moving into the branch ecosystem. And lastly, I would say Asia Pacific, Middle East, you know, probably one of the things I'm the most excited right now, you know, great performance from the team last year. So very, very proud of them. Significant wins across the Middle East, significant wins in different markets in Asia. And I think the fit for purpose strategy where we have the high capacity recyclers that are really proved to be a great year for them and some key markets for us continues to gain traction. And in India, very importantly, we are now certified to participate in all government and all public government bids. As you know, these are thousands of devices in each bid, which we were not really allowed to participate as we needed to have a certain amount of our fit-for-purpose devices in the market, which we have since achieved. So I'm very excited about ATMs for next year. I think we see steady demand. And more importantly, in our core markets, the U.S. and Europe, We do see the strategy of expanding beyond the ATM and into the branch really proving to be a key differentiator for us.

I think that's helpful. And then, Tom, just so I kind of have it straight, when do you anticipate completing the remaining 172 million of share repo?

I would say in a similar timeframe to when we completed the 100 million. And then we would expect to be able to go back to the board, get another program authorized and potentially larger as well.

Understood. Thank you. Sure.

We'll take our final question from the line of Antoine de Gaulle of Wedbush Security. Your line is now open.

Hey, morning, and thank you for the questions. On the banking front, clearly a higher mix of recyclers is having a meaningful impact on your banking margins. Could you give us a sense of the opportunity remaining ahead in terms of continuing to grow that mix of recyclers? How under-penetrated are those products, are those machines, especially as customers refresh and upgrade their ATM plates? And then I have a follow-up.

Yeah. So, Anton, I would encourage you to think of this as a continued cycle. So, So we've been shipping roughly 60,000 to 70,000 machines every year for the past couple of years. We don't expect that to materially change anytime soon. I think that the penetration is still, you know, every year we get a little bit better. So, you know, I think that that will continue to improve. Keep in mind, though, that we are also now ramping up our fit for purpose in other parts in Asia, which tend to have a little bit lower margin profile. But, you know, as Tom said, we expect that even with that small change in margins in Asia, that we will be more than able to offset that and keep the margins at the high level that we have them right now. And through lean, continue looking for that upper, you know, opportunities to continue expanding margins every year.

Thank you. And then my last one is, when we look at your EPS guidance range for 2026, can you provide some puts and takes as to what might drive your results towards either the upper or lower end of that range? Overall, what are some of the factors or parameters that went into your guidance this year, and how should we think about it?

Yeah. So if you think about, you know, when we talked where we ended the year at about $5.59 and we had those two non-cash, non-operational items, right? So if you were to back those out, you get to a number that's probably closer to 451. You know, I think one of the drivers next year will be our continuation of our share buyback program. And then obviously sort of the post-tax operating profit will drive that as well. So it's really a combination of of both of those items, right? And when you look at the EBITDA guide, you know, being up from the mid-point 8%, you know, we're continuing to leverage our operating model and grow EBITDA at twice the rate of revenues. And, you know, free cash flow, very successful fourth quarter and overall year. And we expect to be able to sort of continue that same trend into next year.

At this time, we don't have further questions. I would now like to turn the call back to Maynard for his closing remarks.

Thanks, everyone, for joining today's call and your interest in Diebold Nixdorf. If you have any follow-up questions, post the call. Please feel free to reach out to the investor relations team. Thanks again, and have a great day.

Thank you for attending today's call. You may now disconnect. Goodbye.