BlackLine Systems

BL · Nasdaq · Information Technology · Financials, fiscal 2016 to 2025

BL · Last close · November 6, 2026

$25.89

BlackLine Systems' revenue rose 7.2% to $700 million in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 3.6%, up from 2.8% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $161 million, down 14.4%. It paid out $236 million in dividends and buybacks, 146% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 10.3%.

BlackLine, Inc. Latest fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 10-K filed February 26, 2026 · 0001628280-26-011915 Updated November 7, 2026

Revenue

$700M

7.2%

Operating margin

3.6%

0.8 pts

Net income

$24M

84.8%

Free cash flow

$161M

14.4%

Return on capital

3.2%

0.9 pts

Market cap

$1.8B

Nov 6 close

P/E

39.2x

On $0.66 EPS, 4 qtrs

Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.

Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.

What BlackLine Systems does

BlackLine sells cloud-based software to the finance and accounting teams of mid-size and large organizations, which it calls the Office of the CFO. Its Studio360 platform helps those teams close their books and manage invoices and payments. Tasks include account reconciliations, matching transactions, journal entries, consolidation, cash application, collections, and dispute and deduction handling.

Many companies run their general ledgers on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. BlackLine's platform connects to ERP systems from Workday, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Sage Intacct and NetSuite, and to banks, payroll and other data sources, to pull data into one workflow. Its solutions cover the record-to-report process, which produces the financial statements, and the invoice-to-cash process.

The company was founded in 2001 and operates through its subsidiary BlackLine Systems. In September 2025 it launched Verity, a suite of AI tools built into its products, and on December 15, 2025 it bought WiseLayer, a New York company that makes AI agents for finance tasks, to speed up its own AI plans. It got about 95% of its 2025 revenue from subscriptions and about 5% from professional services.

Its biggest risks, as it describes them

Slower growth if it cannot win new customers or sell more to existing ones.
Customers not renewing their subscription agreements.
Dependence on a limited number of software solutions for nearly all of its revenue.
Security breaches or outages that could hurt its business and reputation.
Software errors or defects, and trouble managing its own growth and organizational change.

From BlackLine Systems's annual report on Form 10-K, filed February 26, 2026, in our words; the 10-K has the full description and every risk factor. Updated with each new annual report.

Income statement

Revenue and net income

US$ billions, fiscal years; net losses in red. Revenue on the left axis, net income on the right; zero is the same line on both.

Revenue (left axis)Net income (right axis)

Gross profit, R&D and operating income

US$ billions, fiscal years. Gross profit is revenue minus the cost of what was sold; research and development is one of the costs paid from it; what remains after all operating costs is operating income. Losses in red.

Gross profitResearch and developmentOperating income

Margins

Percent of revenue

GrossOperatingNetFree cash flow

From fiscal 2023 to 2025, earnings per share fell 30.6% a year and net income 31.9% a year, while buybacks cut the share count by 8%.

Diluted earnings per share

US$ per share, fiscal years, restated for any stock splits; loss years in red.

Returns on capital

Return on capital and on equity

Percent. Return on capital is after-tax operating income over the money invested in the business (debt plus equity, minus cash); return on equity is net income over shareholders' equity. Both use the average of opening and closing balances.

Return on capitalReturn on equity

Balance sheet

Cash and debt

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Debt includes finance leases.

Cash and short-term investmentsDebt

Assets, liabilities and equity

US$ billions, at each fiscal year end. Assets equal liabilities plus equity; negative equity in red.

Total assetsTotal liabilitiesShareholders' equity

Debt and liquidity ratios

Times. Debt to equity, current assets over current liabilities, and net debt over EBITDA (a full year's).

Debt to equityCurrent ratioNet debt to EBITDA

Five years at a glance

Fiscal year end	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Cash and short-term investments	1,199	1,075	1,204	886	778
Debt incl. finance leases	1,115	1,386	1,391	893	896
Net debt (negative means net cash)	−83	311	186	7	118
Net debt to EBITDA	—	—	2.9x	0.1x	1.6x
Debt to equity	3.4x	12.4x	5.3x	2.0x	2.7x
Interest coverage	−0.6x	−9.6x	2.4x	2.1x	2.5x
Current ratio	4.2x	3.4x	2.2x	2.6x	1.5x
Quick ratio	4.2x	3.4x	2.2x	2.6x	1.5x

US$ millions unless stated, at each fiscal year end. Net debt to EBITDA is debt minus cash, divided by operating income before depreciation and amortization: roughly how many years of those earnings the net debt equals. Debt to equity is debt as a multiple of shareholders' equity. Interest coverage is operating income divided by interest expense. The current ratio is current assets over current liabilities; the quick ratio leaves out inventory.

Cash flow

Cash from operations, capital spending and free cash flow

US$ billions, fiscal years. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending; negative years in red.

Cash from operationsCapital spendingFree cash flow

Stock-based compensation and buybacks

US$ billions, fiscal years. Shares paid to employees (stock-based compensation, a cost that uses no cash) against cash spent buying shares back. Buybacks that only match it leave the share count roughly where it was.

Stock-based compensationShare buybacks

Dividends and buybacks

US$ billions, cash paid in each fiscal year

DividendsShare buybacks

Diluted share count

Weighted-average diluted shares, millions

Projections

Project BlackLine Systems' revenue, net income and earnings per share five years ahead in a bull, a base and a bear case with your own figures, and see the share prices your P/E estimates give them, or value it with a discounted cash flow model. Every projected figure is yours: it is not a forecast of ours.

Open BlackLine Systems' projections

Insider trades

Over the 12 months between November 7, 2025 and November 6, 2026, no insider bought BlackLine Systems shares on the open market, and 4 insiders sold $2.4 million, $49,519 of it under trading plans set up in advance.

Buys and sells by month

US$ millions, open-market purchases (up) and sales (down) by officers, directors and 10% owners in each month.

BoughtSold

Date	Insider	Trade	Shares	Price	Value	Filing
Aug 27, 2026	Michelle D StalickChief Accounting Officer	Sold	780	$33.65	$26,247	Form 4
Aug 24, 2026	Therese TuckerDirector	Sold	70,000	$31.96	$2.2 million	Form 4
Jun 5, 2026	Mika YamamotoDirector	Sold	3,000	$28.48	$85,440	Form 4
Jun 1, 2026	Michelle D StalickChief Accounting Officer	Sold	780	$30.93	$24,125	Form 4
May 21, 2026	Gregory HughesDirector	Sold plan	1,637	$30.25	$49,519	Form 4
May 18, 2026	Michelle D StalickChief Accounting Officer	Sold	459	$30.26	$13,889	Form 4

Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from their Form 4 filings with the SEC: one row per person, day and filing, at the day's average price. Grants, option exercises and shares withheld for tax aren't counted. Insiders buy and sell for many reasons, such as taxes, spreading their savings or a plan set up months earlier, so a trade on its own says little about where a company is heading. For information only, not investment advice. Insider trades at all companies

Indicators

Four widely used measures, worked out from the company's filings. The cutoffs are the ones their authors or users go by, not a verdict of ours.

Indicator	FY23	FY24	FY25
Piotroski F-score	6 of 9	8 of 9	6 of 9
Rule of 40	33.3%	39.6%	30.3%
Altman Z''	2.25	2.74	1.53
Accruals ratio	−3.6%	−1.5%	−8.1%

Piotroski F-score: how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency the company passed in the year (Piotroski, 2000); 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Rule of 40: revenue growth plus free cash flow margin; software investors treat 40% or more as the bar. Altman Z'': working capital, retained earnings, operating income and equity weighed against assets and liabilities (Altman, 1995); Altman puts above 2.6 in the safe zone and below 1.1 in the distress zone. Accruals ratio: net income minus cash from operations, over average total assets; lower means profit is backed by cash.

The nine F-score tests

Test	FY23	FY24	FY25
Net income is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Cash from operations is positive	Pass	Pass	Pass
Return on assets rose	Pass	Pass	Fail
Cash from operations exceeds net income	Pass	Pass	Pass
Debt fell relative to assets	Pass	Pass	Fail
Current ratio rose	Fail	Pass	Fail
Share count didn't rise	Fail	Fail	Pass
Gross margin rose	Fail	Pass	Pass
Revenue rose relative to assets	Pass	Pass	Pass
F-score	6 of 9	8 of 9	6 of 9

Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.

Compare

Put BlackLine Systems side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.

Similar companies

Company	Year	Revenue growth	Operating margin	Free cash flow margin	Return on capital	Net debt to EBITDA	F-score	Compare
BlackLine Systems	FY25	7.2%	3.6%	23.1%	3.2%	1.6x	6
Navan	FY26	30.8%	−28.0%	4.7%	—	—	—	Compare
Appian	FY25	17.8%	0.1%	8.2%	—	5.2x	6	Compare
8x8	FY26	2.9%	2.6%	7.1%	2.5%	6.2x	6	Compare
Braze	FY26	24.4%	−19.6%	8.4%	—	—	—	Compare

Each company's latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so the periods don't line up exactly. Free cash flow margin is free cash flow as a share of revenue. Net debt to EBITDA is explained under the balance sheet, and the F-score under Indicators.

10 years of figures

Fiscal year	FY16	FY17	FY18	FY19	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25
Income statement
Revenue	123	177	228	289	352	426	523	590	653	700
Revenue growth	47.3%	43.8%	28.7%	26.9%	21.7%	21.0%	22.8%	12.8%	10.7%	7.2%
Gross profit	98	134	177	230	283	328	394	443	491	527
Research and development	21	24	31	43	56	77	109	103	101	109
Operating income	−23	−30	−30	−28	−20	−39	−56	14	18	26
Net income	−26	−33	−29	−32	−47	−115	−29	53	161	24
Diluted EPS (US$)	−0.62	−0.64	−0.53	−0.59	−0.83	−1.97	−0.49	0.81	1.45	0.39
Diluted shares (millions)	42	52	54	55	57	58	60	72	74	66
Cash flow
Cash from operations	−5	6	16	30	55	80	56	127	191	170
Capital expenditure	2	4	6	5	6	9	11	6	2	8
Free cash flow	−7	2	10	25	48	71	45	121	189	161
Dividends paid	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Share buybacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	236
Acquisitions	32	0	0	0	119	0	158	11	0	16
Stock-based compensation	6	16	21	34	50	66	76	78	83	93
Balance sheet at fiscal year end
Cash and short-term investments	105	113	133	608	543	1,199	1,075	1,204	886	778
Debt incl. finance leases	—	—	—	384	407	1,115	1,386	1,391	893	896
Total assets	420	461	494	1,015	1,114	1,818	1,944	2,101	1,825	1,760
Total liabilities	129	144	170	611	679	1,464	1,808	1,810	1,342	1,388
Shareholders' equity	308	316	319	399	422	325	112	261	447	332
Margins and ratios
Gross margin	79.5%	75.8%	77.7%	79.6%	80.4%	77.0%	75.3%	75.1%	75.2%	75.2%
Operating margin	−18.8%	−17.2%	−13.1%	−9.7%	−5.7%	−9.1%	−10.8%	2.4%	2.8%	3.6%
Net margin	−21.4%	−18.9%	−12.6%	−11.3%	−13.3%	−27.1%	−5.6%	8.9%	24.7%	3.5%
Free cash flow margin	−5.3%	1.4%	4.3%	8.7%	13.7%	16.8%	8.6%	20.4%	28.9%	23.1%
Rule of 40 (growth + FCF margin)	42.0%	45.1%	33.0%	35.5%	35.4%	37.8%	31.4%	33.3%	39.6%	30.3%
Return on capital	—	—	—	—	−6.8%	−11.6%	−13.4%	3.2%	4.1%	3.2%
Return on equity	−11.0%	−10.7%	−9.0%	−9.1%	−11.4%	−30.8%	−13.4%	28.4%	45.6%	6.3%
Return on assets	−7.5%	−7.6%	−6.0%	−4.3%	−4.4%	−7.9%	−1.6%	2.6%	8.2%	1.4%
Net debt to EBITDA	—	—	—	—	−135.4x	—	—	2.9x	0.1x	1.6x

US$ millions unless stated. Where a later 10-K restated a year, the latest filed figure is shown. Download all figures (CSV, US$ millions)

Source: BlackLine Systems' Form 10-K filings, from SEC EDGAR. For information only, not investment advice. The Filing Desk is not affiliated with BlackLine Systems.