DocuSign’s first quarter results surpassed Wall Street’s revenue and profit expectations, yet the market reacted negatively due to concerns around billings growth and the timing of early renewals. Management pointed to the impact of go-to-market changes, particularly a new sales incentive structure that accelerated the shift away from early renewals, as a key factor. CEO Allan Thygesen described the quarter as one of “foundational change” for DocuSign, emphasizing the strong adoption of its Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) platform but acknowledging that billings ended below guidance due to the timing of renewals rather than underlying demand.

Is now the time to buy DOCU? Find out in our full research report (it’s free).

While we enjoy listening to the management's commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls are the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention.

Our Top 5 Analyst Questions DocuSign’s Q1 Earnings Call

• Jacob Roberge (William Blair): Asked about the drivers and timing of lower early renewals and the broader health of the business. CEO Allan Thygesen and CFO Blake Grayson explained that changes to sales incentives led to fewer early renewals in Q1 and that IAM adoption and customer retention remain healthy.

• Tyler Radke (Citi): Questioned confidence in second-half billings acceleration and the impact of early renewals. Thygesen stated that commercial segment scaling, rather than dramatic enterprise gains, underpins the forecast, while Grayson noted additional conservatism in renewal assumptions.

• Robbie Owens (Piper Sandler): Asked if lower billings were purely a timing issue and whether increased sales capacity would yield future upside. Thygesen clarified that deal size has not been affected and described efforts to reallocate sales resources to higher-potential opportunities.

• Joshua Baer (Morgan Stanley): Sought detail on how much IAM growth comes from upsells versus new customers, and the impact of nonrecurring revenue items. Grayson said the largest opportunity is upselling to the existing customer base, with some growth also from new clients, and noted that nonrecurring items were not significant contributors.

• Brad Sills (Bank of America): Inquired about early evidence that deeper account focus is increasing deal size and pipeline quality. Thygesen responded that early signs of larger IAM deals are positive but that the shift is still in its early stages.

Catalysts in Upcoming Quarters

In the next few quarters, the StockStory team will be watching (1) whether IAM adoption continues to accelerate, especially among large enterprise clients; (2) signs that international and partner-driven growth are contributing meaningfully to revenue; and (3) stabilization in billings growth as the impact of renewal timing normalizes. The success of upcoming IAM feature releases and the company’s ability to maintain operational efficiency will also be important indicators.

DocuSign currently trades at $76.66, down from $93 just before the earnings. Is there an opportunity in the stock?The answer lies in our full research report (it’s free).

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