Performance hits a "highlight moment" before acquisition: Confluent(CFLT.US)Q4 profits and customer numbers both exceeded expectations, cloud business surged by 23%

Data streaming platform leader Confluent (CFLT.US) officially announced its Q4 and full-year financial results for fiscal year 2025 after the U.S. stock market closed on February 11. This is also the company’s final annual report as an independent publicly traded company before being fully privatized by tech giant IBM (IBM.US). The report shows that Confluent outperformed market expectations significantly in core cloud business and profitability improvements. As of the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2025, the company’s total revenue rose to $314.8 million, a 21% increase year-over-year. Notably, its flagship product Confluent Cloud performed strongly, contributing $169 million in revenue for the quarter, a 23% increase year-over-year. In terms of profitability, Confluent achieved a leap in profit margins. The fourth quarter Non-GAAP earnings per share reached $0.12, significantly higher than the analyst consensus of $0.10.

On an annual basis, the company’s total revenue for fiscal year 2025 reached $1.167 billion, with subscription revenue hitting $1.12 billion, a 21% increase year-over-year. Particularly noteworthy is the fundamental improvement in the company’s cash flow, with full-year adjusted free cash flow soaring from $9.5 million in 2024 to $76 million.

The release of this financial report comes at a critical juncture in IBM’s $11 billion acquisition plan. In December 2025, IBM announced it would acquire Confluent for $31 per share in cash, aiming to strengthen its data infrastructure capabilities in generative AI and agentic AI (Agentic AI).

As the merger process is underway, Confluent broke with tradition by not holding a earnings call or issuing forward-looking financial guidance. CEO Jay Kreps emphasized in a statement that the company is currently focused on building a comprehensive real-time data streaming platform to support mission-critical AI applications for customers. The deal has already received approval from both boards and key regulatory progress has been made, with the transaction expected to be completed by mid-2026.

Market analysts believe that Confluent’s strong growth and customer stickiness demonstrated in this “final act” further validate the strategic value of IBM’s billion-dollar acquisition. By the end of 2025, the number of large customers with annual recurring revenue (ARR) exceeding $100,000 reached 1,521, a 10% increase year-over-year.

As data streaming technology shifts from “optional” to an essential infrastructure in the AI era, how Confluent will deeply integrate with platforms like watsonx after joining IBM’s portfolio has become the industry’s next focus.