CCC Intelligent Solutions reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $281.3 million on April 30, a 12% year-over-year increase that was entirely organic and exceeded the high end of company guidance, according to the company's Q1 2026 press release. For the collision repair industry, a key number from the quarter was AI adoption: more than 6,500 repair facilities are now using CCC's AI estimating capability, Chairman and CEO Githesh Ramamurthy said on the April 30 earnings call.
"CCC delivered a strong start to 2026, with first quarter revenue growth of 12% and adjusted EBITDA margin expanding approximately 300 basis points year over year to 43%. These results reflect strong demand, disciplined execution, and increasing adoption of our core platform and AI-based solutions across our customer base," said Ramamurthy in the press release.
Strong Margins Across the Board
Adjusted EBITDA was $120.2 million for the first quarter, up 21% from $99.1 million in the first quarter of 2025.
GAAP gross profit was $208.9 million, representing a gross margin of 74%. GAAP operating income was $48.8 million, compared with a GAAP operating loss of $10.7 million for the first quarter of 2025. GAAP net income was $15.4 million, compared with a GAAP net loss of $17.4 million in the same period last year.
Adjusted gross profit was $215.6 million, representing an adjusted gross profit margin of 77%. Adjusted operating income was $106.8 million, compared with $85.3 million in Q1 2025. Adjusted net income was $66.8 million, compared with $54.5 million in the prior-year period.
CCC had $36.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and $1.288 billion in total debt as of March 31. The company generated $57.5 million in cash from operating activities and free cash flow of $41.6 million for Q1.
Software gross dollar retention was 98% and software net dollar retention was 107%, up from 106% in the full year 2025, per the earnings call.
AI Solutions Driving One-Third of Growth
"In Q1, our AI-based solutions drove approximately 1/3 of our overall year-over-year growth, growing at roughly 3.5x the total company growth rate. AI solutions are now approximately 10% of revenue or about $120 million in run rate," Ramamurthy said on the earnings call.
He described the AI tools as entirely incremental to core products, with ROI that customers validate through "intense piloting and testing," per the call.
Emerging Solutions — led by EvolutionIQ and AI-based APD diagnostics — represented approximately 11% of total revenue in Q1 and grew approximately 50% year-over-year, contributing about four percentage points to overall revenue growth, CFO Brian Herb said on the call.
Enterprise Agreements and Casualty Platform Wins
CCC said it expanded its relationship with a top-five insurer (based on 2024 direct premium written) through a multi-year enterprise agreement covering core Auto Physical Damage solutions and adoption of its full suite of AI-enabled solutions, following an extensive two-year test of those capabilities.
On the casualty side, CCC signed a multi-year agreement with a different top-five insurer to move a significant portion of its Casualty operations onto CCC's platform. This follows a Q4 2025 decision by a top-six insurer to move a significant portion of its Casualty business to CCC, per the press release.
On the earnings call, Ramamurthy identified the Q4 2025 casualty win by name: "Last quarter, we announced that Liberty Mutual, the sixth largest auto insurer in the United States and one of the largest P&C insurers globally, selected us. They have since begun deploying a significant portion of their casualty business on the CCC platform." He also disclosed that "in April, we signed a multiyear agreement with Allstate for their third-party casualty business."
Casualty represents approximately 10% of CCC's total revenue and is "one of the fastest-growing parts of the portfolio," Herb said on the call.
Of Q1's 12% revenue growth, nine percentage points came from cross-sell, upsell, and existing customer adoption, with approximately three percentage points from new customer wins, Herb said on the call. More than one percentage point reflected timing and one-time items, including true-ups on subscription contracts and transactional strength in casualty.
Buybacks, Guidance Increases Follow Strong Quarter
Following the Q1 beat, CCC raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $1.155 billion to $1.163 billion, representing approximately 10% growth at the midpoint, with adjusted EBITDA of $484 million to $490 million, a 42% margin at the midpoint.
For Q2 2026, the company projected revenue of $283.0 million to $285.0 million and adjusted EBITDA of $111.0 million to $113.0 million. Herb noted on the call that a carrier transitioning away legacy first-party casualty business is expected to create approximately a one-point revenue headwind in the second half of 2026.
During Q1, CCC completed an accelerated share repurchase program under which it repurchased approximately 43 million shares for $300 million under its $500 million board-authorized program, then repurchased an additional $100 million of stock in the open market, leaving approximately $100 million available under the authorization.
CFO Brian Herb to Depart May 25
CCC also disclosed a CFO transition. Ramamurthy said on the earnings call that Herb, "after more than six years with the company, has decided to pursue another opportunity outside of CCC and will be stepping down as our CFO at the end of May."
Rod Christo, senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer and a 30-year veteran of CCC, will become interim CFO upon Herb's departure. Herb will continue to support the company as an adviser following his departure, per the call.
Repair Shops Get New Tools
Shops on CCC ONE saw two platform additions around the quarter. CCC launched Mobile Invoice Scanning in CCC ONE in April, using AI to match parts invoices to repair orders at no additional cost to Repair Workflow users, per a separate company announcement. The company also added Consumer Financing in CCC ONE in April through a Sunbit integration.
On the earnings call, Ramamurthy said: "At our industry conference next month, we plan to introduce even more exciting innovations for the repair facilities."
