As soon as a TSX darling in the course of the pandemic, Enghouse Techniques (TSX:ENGH) is a Canadian expertise inventory that has became a falling knife. Down 50% from its early 2024 buying and selling ranges, the software program conglomerate, identified for its aggressive acquisitions-led development technique, has hit a big tough patch. Nevertheless, a current new crew design, accretive acquisitions, and a beneficiant 7% dividend yield act as engaging attributes for an undervalued ENGH inventory that would improve whole shareholder returns as administration makes an attempt to engineer a restoration in 2026.
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Why is Enghouse Techniques inventory damaged?
A good portion of Enghouse Techniques inventory’s capital beneficial properties in the course of the pandemic had been supported by its video and distant work platform, Vidyo. Because the pandemic subsided and the world returned to workplaces and in-person interplay, demand for “quarantine-working” options cratered and advanced. Investor curiosity in Enghouse inventory died, and the market zoomed into the corporate’s sluggish natural development profile.
Natural development has been a problem for Enghouse Techniques as its legacy software program gross sales met the insurmountable forces of cloud-based Software program-as-a-Service (Saas) migration. The corporate had used its large money pile to purchase development by buying smaller tech companies. Nevertheless, with sluggish income development and a slow-spending setting for enterprise software program, considerations that the corporate could possibly be a melting ice dice and not using a fixed pipeline of offers arose – and lingered.
Administration turned to aggressive dividend raises to entice its investor base, rising the payout at double-digit annual charges averaging 17.5% over the previous three years.
Encouragingly, Enghouse Techniques inventory may have discovered a turning level.
Enghouse’s restoration thesis: The cash-rich contrarian play
Regardless of its share value collapse, Enghouse is much from a failing enterprise. The enterprise stays money movement constructive to maintain its acquisitions-led development technique. Its current offers seem accretive to income and earnings, whereas a brand new product technique may propel it into a brand new development period.
Its annual income run-rate has totally recovered from a 2022 fall to $500 million. Its SaaS and upkeep companies recovered in 2025. In actual fact, Enghouse Techniques’ monetary metrics going into 2026 are why it’s a powerful candidate for a decade-long maintain.
Enghouse’s fortress stability sheet is a uncommon attribute for a tech inventory. The tech inventory has zero exterior debt. On the finish of the Fiscal 12 months 2025, it held roughly $269 million in money assets, a liquid useful resource for acquisitions and share repurchases.
The enterprise continued to generate constructive working money movement in the course of the previous yr to replenish the capital it spends on money acquisitions. The enterprise is replenishing the dry powder it wants to purchase out distressed software program companies at discount costs. Its acquisitions-led development technique, dividend development technique, and share repurchases stay effectively funded.
The corporate just lately closed some accretive acquisitions. Focusing on small-cap companies providing mission important options to area of interest markets with excessive boundaries to entry, the corporate just lately closed acquisitions of Sixbell Telco, Margento, and Aculab which are already proving accretive to income.
The brand new AI pivot
It launched its first AI suite in 2024. Enghouse Techniques’ acquisition of Aculab in fiscal yr 2025 added AI-driven applied sciences corresponding to voice and face biometrics and excessive efficiency media processing to its interactive administration group (IMG) phase.
The corporate discovered that the majority of its clients are struggling to implement AI successfully to enhance their returns on funding. It arrange a bunch inside its analysis and growth crew to concentrate on AI skilled companies to clients. As a substitute of making an attempt to construct the subsequent ChatGPT, counting on small language fashions (SLMs), Enghouse focuses on serving to mid-market corporations implement and monetize AI inside their present contact facilities and transportation programs. This new income alternative could also be accretive to natural development and in addition assist with buyer retention.
Is Enghouse Techniques inventory a purchase on the dip?
Enghouse Techniques inventory is a contrarian buy-and-hold asset at present ranges as shares commerce at an inexpensive ahead P/E of 10.2 instances whereas promising a restoration that would generate 10% to fifteen% in annualized whole returns over the subsequent decade.
If ENGH sustains its juicy dividend, continues repurchasing its inventory, and stabilizes its income and earnings organically whereas acquisitions add new momentum, a 7% dividend yield and a return to pre-pandemic common P/E multiples close to 30 instances may mix to supply sturdy whole returns to contrarian buyers over the subsequent decade.
