Acme Corp

Q3 2026 business review

Results against plan, the outlook for Q4, and three decisions

Dana Okafor, Chief Financial Officer
Leadership team meeting, 8 October 2026

Confidential. Prepared for the Acme Corp leadership team.
Sample deck: Acme Corp and all figures are fictional.

Q3 revenue missed plan by $1.4M on a supply delay, while software growth lifted operating margin to 13.1%

  1. 1

    Revenue grew 12.0% to $48.6M but ended $1.4M, or 2.8%, below plan.

    The gap opened in 2026. In Q3 a late controller chip held $2.0M of gateway orders, which ship in October.

    Pages and

  2. 2

    Software carried the quarter.

    Software revenue rose 30.5% to $15.4M, $0.6M above plan, and we added 61 customers, the most in any quarter.

    Pages and

  3. 3

    Operating margin rose 1.3 points to 13.1%, 0.3 points above plan.

    Software mix, freight and gateway prices added 2.0 points; lower hardware volume and new hires took 0.7 back.

    Page

  4. 4

    One risk is both likely and severe: the supply of controller chips.

    Q4 depends on shipping the delayed gateway orders by 31 October.

    Pages and

  5. 5

    We ask for three decisions, the first by 15 October.

    A second chip supplier for $0.8M, four open roles moved to Pulse, and a 4% rise in 2027 gateway prices.

    Pages and

Sources: management accounts, close of 6 October 2026; sales CRM; risk register. Plan is the FY2026 budget.

Contents

  1. 1 Performance Revenue, segments, customers, margin and the scorecard Page
  2. 2 Outlook and risks The main risks and the Q4 roadmap Page
  3. 3 Decisions Options for chip supply, the decisions we ask for and next steps Page
  4. Appendix Definitions and data sources Page

Definitions and data sources for every measure are in the appendix.

1

Performance

How the third quarter went against plan and against last year.

  1. Revenue against plan
  2. Revenue by segment
  3. New and lost customers
  4. Operating margin bridge
  5. Scorecard

Revenue grew 12% on last year but has trailed plan in every quarter of 2026

Exhibit Revenue by quarter, actual and plan, $M

1.4 below plan

Source: management accounts. Plan is the budget the board approved for each year; quarters in 2025 use the FY2025 budget.

Software beat plan by $0.6M, while a late chip left hardware $2.0M short

Exhibit Revenue by segment against plan, Q3 2026, $M

SegmentActual, with planActualAgainst planOn Q3 2025
1

HardwareSensors and gateways

27.0

2.0 behind

+3.4%

2

SoftwarePulse subscriptions

15.4

0.6 ahead

+30.5%

3

ServicesInstalls, calibration

6.2

On plan

+12.7%

Total

Plan 50.0

48.6

1.4 behind

+12.0%

Source: management accounts, Q3 2026. Plan is the FY2026 budget. Growth compares each segment with Q3 2025.

We added 61 software customers in Q3, the most in any quarter, while losses held steady

Exhibit New and lost software customers by quarter, number of companies

1 2

Source: sales CRM, 1 October 2026. A customer is a company with at least one active Pulse subscription.

Operating margin rose 1.3 points to 13.1%, as software mix more than offset lower hardware volume

Exhibit Operating margin bridge, Q2 to Q3 2026, % of revenue

Source: management accounts, Q2 and Q3 2026. Steps are in percentage points, rounded to 0.1. The axis starts at 10%.

Four of six measures beat plan, and both misses trace back to the gateway delay

Exhibit Key measures, Q3 2026 against plan and last year

Measure Unit Q3 2026 Plan Q3 2025 On Q3 2025 Against plan
Revenue$M 48.650.043.4+12.0% Behind by 1.4
Software revenue$M 15.414.811.8+30.5% Ahead by 0.6
Operating margin% 13.112.810.4+2.7 pts Ahead by 0.3 pts
Sensors shippedThousands 112124108+3.7% Behind by 12
Software customersCompanies 1,0561,040877+20.4% Ahead by 16
Net revenue retention% 118115112+6 pts Ahead by 3 pts

Sources: management accounts, sales CRM and warehouse records. Plan is the FY2026 budget. Definitions on page .

2

Outlook and risks

What could go wrong in Q4, and the plan to deliver it.

  1. Risks by likelihood and impact
  2. Q4 roadmap

One risk is both likely and severe: the supply of controller chips

Exhibit Main risks to Q4, by likelihood and impact

LowerImpactHigher

Prepare a response

Act now

Watch

Manage in the plan

1 2 3 4 5

LowerLikelihoodHigher

Risk and ownerResponse
1Chip supply stays short in Q4
Jonas Berg, COO		Second supplier: decision 1
2A large customer delays its Pulse rollout
Luis Ortega, CCO		Weekly review with the customer
3Field engineer hiring stays behind plan
Mia Laine, HR director		Partner installers in the Nordics
4New security rules need firmware changes
Priya Raman, CTO		Firmware review finishes in December
5Low-cost sensor makers cut prices
Luis Ortega, CCO		Sell sensors with Pulse, not alone

Source: risk register, reviewed by the leadership team on 1 October 2026. Placement is the team's judgment.

Q4 depends on shipping the delayed gateway orders by 31 October

Exhibit Q4 2026 roadmap, by workstream

Workstream

OctoberNovemberDecember

Supply chainQualify a second chip supplier

15 Oct Decision 1 15 Dec First parts

DeliveryShip the delayed gateway orders

31 Oct All shipped

ProductFinish and release Pulse 4.0

12 Nov Release

CommercialSet the 2027 price list

5 Nov Decision 3 18 Nov Published

PeopleHire field engineers, 14 to 22

22 Oct Decision 2 1 Dec 22 in place

PlanningPrepare the FY2027 plan

10 Dec To the board
Today, 8 Oct

Dates are targets as of 8 October 2026. Decisions 1 to 3 are on page .

3

Decisions

What we ask this group to decide, by when, and what happens next.

  1. Options for chip supply
  2. Decisions and next steps

A second supplier is the only option that removes the single source, for $0.05M more than extra stock

Exhibit Options for controller-chip supply, one-off cost in $M

Option Cost Cover Single source removed Risk reduction
A. Second supplier and 8 weeks of stock
Recommended		 0.80 Stock from December; a second source from Q1 2027 Yes High
B. 12 weeks of stock from today's supplier 0.75 Stock from December No Partial
C. No change 0.00 None No None

Source: Operations and Finance estimates, October 2026. A week of stock costs about $62,500.

We ask for three decisions, the first by 15 October, and will report back on delivery each week

Decisions

DecisionCost and effectOwnerDecide by
1Approve a second controller-chip supplier$0.8M for qualification and 8 weeks of stock. Lowers the risk of another delay in Q1.Jonas Berg, COO15 October
2Move four open hardware roles to the Pulse teamNo change to the budget. Brings compressor alerts in Pulse forward from Q3 to Q1 2027.Priya Raman, CTO22 October
3Raise 2027 gateway prices by 4%About $1.6M more a year at today's volumes. Sensor prices stay the same.Luis Ortega, CCO5 November

Next steps

StepOwnerDate
Send this review and today's decisions to the boardDana Okafor, CFO15 October
Report on the delayed gateway orders until all have shippedJonas Berg, COOEvery Friday to 31 October
Update the risk register with today's decisionsDana Okafor, CFO15 October

Costs and revenue effects are estimates from Finance. Options for decision 1 are on page .

Appendix: definitions and data sources

Revenue
Recognized revenue in US dollars, from management accounts. Not audited.
Plan
The FY2026 budget, approved by the board in December 2025. Quarters in 2025 use the FY2025 budget.
Software revenue
Pulse subscriptions and usage fees.
Operating margin
Operating income divided by revenue. Points are percentage points.
Software customers
Companies with at least one active Pulse subscription on the last day of the quarter.
Net revenue retention
Software revenue this quarter from customers we had a year ago, divided by their software revenue a year ago.
Sensors shipped
Sensors that left our warehouses in the quarter, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Risk placement
Likelihood and impact as judged by the leadership team on 1 October 2026.
DataSourceAs of
Revenue, margin, planManagement accountsClose of 6 October 2026
Customers, retentionSales CRM export1 October 2026
Sensors shippedWarehouse shipping records30 September 2026

Acme Corp is a fictional company. All names and figures in this deck are made up.