RMNI · Research
Rimini Rents Space Beside Oracle and SAP and Answers to Two Holders
Rimini Street's growth is back after the PeopleSoft exit, but it owns no gate and its founder and largest holder steer it.
- Cash left for shareholders after capex and all stock pay
- $12.2M
- Recurring revenue growth outside PeopleSoft
- 9.8%
- Stock held by insiders and Adams Street together
- 42%
1. Our call: Hold off, because Rimini lives on other vendors' software and two holders steer it
Our call: Hold off. Rimini Street supports Oracle, SAP and other business software for companies that stop paying the original vendor for maintenance [1].
Clients keep running older versions with Rimini's help instead of upgrading, and pay an annual subscription [1].
Third quarter 2026 revenue, the quarter to Sep 30, 2026, rose 8.3% to $112.1M from $103.4M [3]. Outside Oracle PeopleSoft, which Rimini is winding down under a settlement with Oracle, revenue rose 10.7% [2][3].
Full-year 2025 revenue fell 1.7% to $421.5M [1].
We measure owner cash, the cash left for shareholders: operating cash flow, less capital expenditures, less all stock pay. Rimini discloses one capital expenditures line and no separate capitalized software, so we subtract the whole line [2].
The 2024 and 2025 figures swing on Oracle legal fees paid and then partly refunded, so the twelve months to Sep 30, 2026 is the cleanest read: $12.2M, our calculation from SEC XBRL
2. Research spending is under 1% of revenue
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| R&D share of revenue | 0.9%, $2.9M on $328.6M, nine months to Sep 30, 2026, our calculation. Rimini began reporting an R&D line in 2026 [3] |
| GAAP net margin | 8.8% in 2025, $37.1M on $421.5M, our calculation, but that included $36.2M of litigation settlement income [1][2]. 5.8% in the third quarter of 2026 [3] |
| Stock pay share of revenue | 2.2% in 2024, 2.6% in 2025, 2.3% in the nine months to Sep 30, 2026, our calculation [10] |
| API quality | 1 of 5, our scoring: Rimini sells support and managed services delivered by engineers, not software that other programs call [1] |
| Toll-gate score | 0 of 4 pass, 1 partial, 3 fail (section 2b) |
2b. Rimini rents space beside Oracle and SAP
Rimini's business exists because Oracle and SAP charge high annual maintenance fees and some clients would rather freeze their systems than upgrade [1]. The record, the software and the upgrade path all belong to the vendor [1].
| Test | Result | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Owns the record | Fail | Client data sits inside Oracle, SAP and other vendors' systems. Rimini supports the software but does not hold the system of record [1]. |
| Owns the connection | Partial | Rimini fixes and maintains custom code and tax updates for about 3,214 active clients, which makes it costly to switch back mid-contract [1][3]. But the 10-K names the vendors themselves as Rimini's primary competitors, and a client that upgrades can return to them [1]. |
| Prices close to outcomes | Fail | Clients pay an annual subscription for support, not a fee tied to results [1]. |
| R&D on the gate vs features | Fail | R&D was $1.2M in the third quarter, about 1% of revenue [3]. Rimini is a services firm, not a product builder [1]. |
No passes, one partial and three fails. The connection partial is real: revenue retention was 90% over the twelve months to Sep 30, 2026 [3].
But the vendor can win the client back whenever it launches an upgrade the client wants [1].
3. Growth has returned after the PeopleSoft exit
The 2025 decline came from PeopleSoft and other subscription clients leaving, down $12.9M [1]. PeopleSoft revenue was about $30M a year when Rimini announced the wind-down in Jul 2024 and was about 3% of revenue in the first nine months of 2026, against 6% a year earlier [2].
Annual recurring revenue, the company's measure, was $421.0M at Sep 30, 2026, up 7.7%, and $410.4M outside PeopleSoft, up 9.8% [3]. Remaining performance obligations, contracted revenue not yet recognized, were $652.9M, up 6.8% [3].
International revenue rose 11.6% to $63.8M in the quarter and U.S. revenue 4.3% to $48.3M [3]. Subscription revenue was 93.9% of the total [3].
4. Clients stay at 90%, and the count edges up
Active clients rose 1.9% to 3,214 [3]. Revenue retention, which measures how much subscription revenue renews, was 90% for the twelve months to Sep 30, 2026, against 89% a year earlier [3].
A tenth of revenue walks out each year, so sales must replace it before the business grows [3].
Calculated billings, a company measure of revenue plus the change in deferred revenue, rose 21.0% to $80.5M in the quarter [3]. That suggests new contracts are being signed faster than revenue shows [3].
Rimini supports software from Oracle, SAP, IBM, Microsoft, VMware and others [1]. The 10-K says its primary competitors are those same vendors, and it expects new entrants as the market grows [1].
In the third quarter, management cited record sales of services for software and new partnerships
5. Margins rose as litigation costs ended
Gross margin was 61.4% in the third quarter against 59.9% a year earlier [3]. Operating income more than doubled to $9.8M from $4.4M, our calculation, and net income rose to $6.5M from $2.8M [3].
Adjusted EBITDA, the company's measure, rose 52% to $15.1M [3].
Legal spending is gone. Rimini spent $4.8M on Oracle litigation in the first nine months of 2025 and nothing in 2026, and it received $37.9M back from Oracle in 2025 out of $58.5M in fees it paid in late 2024 [2].
Those swings make the 2024 and 2025 profit and cash numbers hard to compare [1][2].
Sales and marketing remains heavy at $39.0M in the quarter, 34.8% of revenue, our calculation [3]. General and administrative costs fell to $16.8M from $18.2M [3].
6. What shareholders kept is small and seasonal
| Period | Operating cash flow | Capex | Stock pay | Cash left for shareholders |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Minus $38.9M | $3.4M | $9.5M | Minus $51.8M, our calculation, after $58.5M of Oracle fees [1][2][10] |
| 2025 | $60.2M | $4.6M | $11.1M | $44.6M, our calculation, including a $37.9M Oracle refund [1][2][10] |
| Nine months to Sep 30, 2025 | $40.7M | $3.9M | $8.4M | $28.4M, our calculation, including the refund [2][10] |
| Nine months to Sep 30, 2026 | $7.7M | $4.2M | $7.5M | Minus $4.0M, our calculation [2][10] |
| Twelve months to Sep 30, 2026 | $27.2M | $4.9M | $10.2M | $12.2M, our calculation [2][10] |
Without the $37.9M refund, 2025 would have been about $6.7M, our calculation [2][10]. Free cash for investors was 2.8% of trailing revenue of $438.4M, our calculation [10].
Collections peak in the fourth quarter, when most annual contracts bill, so the nine-month figure runs low every year [2]. Excluding the refund, nine-month operating cash flow improved to $7.7M in 2026 from $2.8M in 2025, our calculation [2].
Stock pay is low for a software-related company, at 2.3% of revenue, and diluted weighted shares rose only 0.9% to 96.1M in the third quarter, our calculation [10].
7. Debt is shrinking and the lender limits buybacks
Rimini repurchased $5.0M of stock in the first nine months of 2026 and $7.6M in 2025 [2][10]. Over the twelve months to Sep 30, 2026 buybacks were $8.8M against $12.2M of cash left for shareholders, a ratio of 0.7 to 1, our calculation [10].
It paid down $25.9M of term loan in the first nine months of 2026, leaving $43.4M outstanding, against cash of $93.3M [2][3]. The lender is Capital One, as agent, under a credit agreement first signed in Apr 2024 [6].
In Mar 2026 Capital One agreed to cap buybacks and other restricted payments at $20.0M a year and $50.0M in total from Jan 1, 2026 [6]. Liabilities exceed assets: the total deficit was $11.5M at Sep 30, 2026, after years of losses and legal costs [10].
8. The main risks are the vendors, the Oracle terms and control
Vendors: Oracle and SAP decide when to retire versions and how to price upgrades, and the 10-K names them as Rimini's primary competitors [1]. Rimini cannot control that timing, and any client that moves to a new vendor release can take its support back to the vendor [1].
Oracle terms: under the Jul 2025 settlement, Rimini and Seth Ravin must finish the PeopleSoft wind-down by Jul 31, 2028, update Oracle on progress each quarter, and sign a declaration under penalty of perjury when done [2]. Only then is the Rimini II case dismissed [2].
Control: Adams Street Partners owns 25.8% and Ravin 13.1%, and insiders with Adams Street hold 42.0% together [4]. Outside holders have little say over strategy or a sale [1][4].
Management churn: the chief revenue officer resigned on Sep 8, 2026, was reinstated six days later, and had his forfeited equity replaced on Oct 1 [9]. A new chief operating officer started in Aug 2026, and the prior one moved to a chief innovation role in Nov 2025
9. A founder-led company back to modest growth
Rimini is in a mature stage. Revenue fell in 2025 and is now growing in the mid single digits, margins are thin but rising, and the company is paying down debt and buying back a little stock [1][3].
Seth Ravin has run it since he founded it in 2005 [4].
Three choices mark this stage. Rimini settled with Oracle and agreed to exit PeopleSoft, it is selling more SAP and managed services and signing partnerships to grow beyond Oracle support, and it renegotiated its loan to allow more buybacks [2][3][6].
The test for this stage is whether recurring revenue outside PeopleSoft keeps growing near 10% while retention holds at 90% or better. If it does, free cash for investors should rise toward the company's Adjusted EBITDA; if not, Rimini stays a low-margin services firm [3].
10. Agents could keep old systems alive longer, or replace them
The bull case is that buyers would rather keep stable old systems and spend on superintelligence tools at the edges. Every year a client delays an upgrade is another year of Rimini revenue [1].
The bear case is that new agent software runs best on the vendor's newest cloud versions, and that Oracle and SAP use those features to pull clients off old installs [1]. Rimini also supports open-source databases such as PostgreSQL and MySQL, which spreads the risk, but its core is still other vendors' code [1].
The test is in Rimini's own numbers. If agents help, revenue retention should move above 90% and calculated billings should keep growing faster than revenue [3].
If not, retention will slip [3].
11. A small board tied to the founder and the largest holder
Seth Ravin has been chief executive and chairman since founding Rimini in 2005 and president since Mar 2023 [4]. He earlier ran TomorrowNow, a PeopleSoft and J.D.
Edwards support firm bought by SAP in 2005, and was a PeopleSoft vice president [4]. His wife, Janet Ravin, is a company vice president who earned about $0.37M in 2025 [4].
The company also paid $0.31M of his travel costs and $0.04M of rent for an apartment near its California office, and charters aircraft mainly for him and the chief revenue officer [4].
The board has five members [4]. Robin Murray, an Adams Street partner since 2008, has sat on Rimini's board or its predecessor's since 2009, and the proxy lists Adams Street's 25.8% stake as the only related-party holding besides Janet Ravin's job [4].
Lead independent director and audit chair Jack Acosta, 78, joined the predecessor board in 2013, was finance chief of Sybase and Portal Software, and sat on the Five9 board until May 2025 [4].
12. The questions we would ask management, and the calls we are tracking
Question one: what share of clients that leave go back to vendor support, and why? [1][3]
Question two: what has 127 Capital asked of the board since its 13D, and has any buyout been discussed? [7]
Question three: why did the compensation committee replace the chief revenue officer's forfeited equity after his six-day resignation? [9]
Question four: how does the compensation committee, chaired by a former Sybase colleague of the lead director, set Ravin's pay when Ravin and Adams Street control 39% of votes? [4]
Question five: once the PeopleSoft exit ends, will free cash for investors go to debt, buybacks or acquisitions? That answer sets our conviction.
Prediction one: 2026 revenue lands at $445.6M or higher, the bottom of the implied guide (70%). [3]
Prediction two: recurring revenue outside PeopleSoft grows 8% or more year over year at Dec 31, 2026 (65%).
Bottom line: Rimini is growing again, but on borrowed ground
Rimini's revenue rose 8.3% in the third quarter and recurring revenue outside PeopleSoft rose 9.8%, while debt fell to $43.4M [2][3]. Cash left for shareholders was only $12.2M over the twelve months to Sep 30, 2026, R&D is under 1% of revenue, and Ravin and Adams Street together hold 39% of the stock [3][4][10].
We would move to Buy if retention passes 92% and cash left for shareholders tops $30M over twelve months. A formal buyout bid from 127 Capital or the founder, or a slip in retention below 88%, would change our view.
Our call: Hold off, conviction 3 of 5.
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