⚠ Nobody Has Decided Who Pays for the InferenceHigh threat

Text (TXT) — threat to the moat

Text says in its own annual report that it cannot yet tell how much of the AI cost ends with customers and how much stays with it.

The most important unresolved question about Text's future is one the company asks in its own annual report and does not answer.

Gross margin on sales81,0%FY202475,8%FY202567,6%FY202669,6%Q1 FY2027Text: it is difficult to determine what share of AI cost stays with the company
An unresolved question about who pays is an unknown gross margin on the future product.

Its management board writes that more intensive use of artificial intelligence may result in additional cost increases, and that with increased use of AI solutions by customers this cost category may increase significantly — adding that at this point it is still difficult to determine to what extent these costs will be borne by customers and to what extent they will remain on the side of Text1.

That sentence describes an unknown gross margin. Every resolved conversation consumes model inference that somebody buys. If Text passes the cost through, its pricing becomes a reseller's markup on a commodity whose supplier sets the price. If Text absorbs it, the 67,6% gross margin2 compresses in proportion to how successful the product is.

The pricing Text has published tries to split the difference: bundled resolutions inside the seat fee, then 99 cents each beyond the allowance — 10 a month on the entry plan, 200 on the Growth plan3. Bundling caps the customer's exposure and therefore keeps Text's on its own books up to the allowance.

Text also identifies the same dynamic as an advantage against a certain kind of rival, arguing that AI costs should put more pressure on competitors offering products free or on a freemium basis4. That is true and it does not help with the funded ones.

The falsifying number is gross margin on sales. It was 67,6% for the year and 69,6% in the June quarter5. If adoption of the new product accelerates and that figure falls, the market will have its answer about who is paying.

References
  1. ReportedIts management board writes that more intensive use of artificial intelligence may result in additional cost increases, and that with increased use of AI solutions by customers this cost category may increase significantly - adding that at this point it is still difficult to determine to what extent these costs will be borne by customers and to what extent they will remain on the side of Text.
    Text Group Management Board report for 2025/26, margins, costs and cash (gross profit margin on sales of 67,6%, operating margin 38,6% and net margin 35,4%; cloud infrastructure costs rising, the migration completing in July 2025 after more than a year of duplicated cost, and completion not translating into cost reductions because of price increases regardless of provider and a deliberately expanded scope of purchased services; increased consulting, legal and public relations costs; fourth-quarter costs falling on cloud optimisation; a warning that more intensive use of artificial intelligence may cause further cost increases and that rising AI costs should press hardest on competitors offering free or freemium products; operating cash flow of PLN 161,6m and PLN 62,8m of cash; and a dividend policy of allocating the highest possible part of profit to shareholders) — FY2025/26 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedIf Text absorbs it, the 67,6% gross margin compresses in proportion to how successful the product is.
    Text Group results for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, published 28 August 2026 (revenue of PLN 83,20m, down 1,9% year on year and up 4,1% on the previous quarter; net profit PLN 29,11m down 6,2%; operating profit PLN 31,36m down 11,0%; EBITDA PLN 38,56m down 7,4%; revenue in US dollars of 22,61m up 2,1%; MRR of USD 7,46m at 30 June 2026, up 4,0% year on year and 7,6% on the previous quarter, giving ARR of USD 89,52m against the USD 100m goal, with the chief executive attributing the growth largely to the completion of price grandfathering for LiveChat customers; a record PLN 77,2m of deferred revenue and net operating cash flow up 22,2% to PLN 41,5m on a high share of annual payments; margins of 69,6% gross, 37,7% operating, 46,4% EBITDA and 35,0% net; SOC 2 Type 2 attestation in May 2026; the new visual identity and Go-To-Market start in May 2026; purchase of the livechat.ai domain and a seventh US patent in June 2026; a Klaviyo integration and Google Cloud Marketplace listing in July; a MarTech Breakthrough award and an official ChatGPT marketplace listing in August; and the annual general meeting of 6 August 2026 allocating PLN 109,7m to dividends, PLN 4,26 per share) — Q1 2026/27 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedThe pricing Text has published tries to split the difference: bundled resolutions inside the seat fee, then 99 cents each beyond the allowance - 10 a month on the entry plan, 200 on the Growth plan.
    Text pricing (Essential at USD 19 per user per month billed annually, or 25 monthly, including 10 AI Agent resolutions a month; Growth at USD 79 per user per month, or 99 monthly, including 200 resolutions a month; Enterprise on custom pricing; additional resolutions at USD 49,50 for a package of 50, or 0,99 each; a resolution counted when the AI Agent provides an answer that directly solves at least one customer question; and a 14-day free trial with full platform access and no credit card required) — September 2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedText also identifies the same dynamic as an advantage against a certain kind of rival, arguing that AI costs should put more pressure on competitors offering products free or on a freemium basis.
    Text Group Management Board report for 2025/26, strategy, products and market (the Service on Offense goal of turning customer service teams into revenue-generating centres, with the suite monitoring live traffic, recognising visitor intent, identifying returning visitors, enabling proactive outreach and tracking steps to monetisation or a qualified lead; a Go-To-Market period expected to be a long-term process requiring marketing expenditure with effects observed gradually; over 20 years of experience; competing solutions named as Fin, previously Intercom, Zendesk and Freshworks; the live-chat market valued at USD 1,06-1,17bn in 2024 growing 8-11%, the chatbot market at USD 0,7-6,95bn and the helpdesk market at USD 9,82-12,5bn; and Datanyze counting more than 210 different live-chat technologies, a substantial number offered freemium, with monetisation of free users judged difficult and ineffective) — FY2025/26 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedIt was 67,6% for the year and 69,6% in the June quarter.
    Text Group results for the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year, published 28 August 2026 (revenue of PLN 83,20m, down 1,9% year on year and up 4,1% on the previous quarter; net profit PLN 29,11m down 6,2%; operating profit PLN 31,36m down 11,0%; EBITDA PLN 38,56m down 7,4%; revenue in US dollars of 22,61m up 2,1%; MRR of USD 7,46m at 30 June 2026, up 4,0% year on year and 7,6% on the previous quarter, giving ARR of USD 89,52m against the USD 100m goal, with the chief executive attributing the growth largely to the completion of price grandfathering for LiveChat customers; a record PLN 77,2m of deferred revenue and net operating cash flow up 22,2% to PLN 41,5m on a high share of annual payments; margins of 69,6% gross, 37,7% operating, 46,4% EBITDA and 35,0% net; SOC 2 Type 2 attestation in May 2026; the new visual identity and Go-To-Market start in May 2026; purchase of the livechat.ai domain and a seventh US patent in June 2026; a Klaviyo integration and Google Cloud Marketplace listing in July; a MarTech Breakthrough award and an official ChatGPT marketplace listing in August; and the annual general meeting of 6 August 2026 allocating PLN 109,7m to dividends, PLN 4,26 per share) — Q1 2026/27 · publ. 28 August 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 24, 2026