Executive Summary / Key Takeaways
- Apple-First Dominance & Expanding Platform: Jamf maintains its leadership as the sole provider of a complete management and security solution for Apple-first environments, now significantly enhanced by the Identity Automation acquisition and new platform solutions like Jamf for Mac and Jamf for Mobile. This strategy is driving robust growth in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and expanding market opportunities.
- Accelerating Security & Mobile Growth: Security ARR surged 40% year-over-year to $203 million in Q2 2025, reaching a new milestone of over $200 million. The company's focus on mobile and "deskless" workflows, including new Android enrollment support, is unlocking substantial new customer wins and device expansion, demonstrating the critical need for integrated management and security.
- Strong Financial Performance & Margin Expansion: Jamf delivered Q2 2025 revenue growth of 15% and a non-GAAP operating income margin of 19%, both exceeding guidance. The company's efficiency initiatives are yielding significant results, with a raised full-year 2025 non-GAAP operating income outlook of $153.5 million to $155.5 million, representing a 600 basis point improvement over FY 2024.
- Strategic Reinvestment & AI Focus: A recent strategic reinvestment plan, including a workforce reduction, aims to reallocate resources to high-growth areas like enterprise sales and accelerate AI investments. New AI Assistant capabilities are enhancing IT efficiency, signaling a commitment to innovation and operational leverage.
- Rule of 40 Target & Long-Term Outlook: Management is committed to exiting fiscal 2026 at a "Rule of 40 run rate," driven by continued revenue growth and sustained operating margin improvement. This ambitious target, coupled with increasing customer commitment evidenced by RPO growth, underscores a confident long-term trajectory despite macroeconomic uncertainties.
The Apple-First Imperative: Jamf's Strategic Foundation
Jamf Holding Corp. was founded in 2002, aligning its inception with Apple's transformative period in technology. From its start, Jamf focused on becoming the leading solution for Apple in the enterprise, aiming to simplify work by managing and securing the Apple experience for end-users and organizations. This foundational strategy positioned Jamf to capitalize on the growing ubiquity of Apple products like the Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad in professional and educational environments. The company's vision is clear: the enterprise management provider that is best at Apple will one day be the enterprise leader, and Jamf is strategically positioned for that leadership.
Jamf's core business revolves around providing a complete management and security solution for Apple-first environments, designed to be enterprise secure, consumer simple, and protective of personal privacy. This is achieved through a suite of platform solutions tailored to specific buyer personas and aligned with four key growth vectors: security, mobile, international, and channel. The company leverages a long-standing relationship with Apple and significant technical expertise to fully and quickly extend the capabilities of Apple products, supporting new innovations and OS releases immediately. This deep integration and Apple-first focus are foundational to Jamf's competitive advantage.
Technological Edge: The Apple-First Moat
Jamf's technological differentiation is rooted in its purpose-built solutions for the Apple ecosystem, offering tangible benefits that generic, cross-platform tools often miss. Products like Jamf Pro provide comprehensive Apple ecosystem management, while Jamf Protect delivers endpoint security specifically for Mac and mobile devices. This specialization allows for seamless integration and enhanced security, translating into improved operational efficiency and customer loyalty. For instance, Jamf's solutions offer a layered defense of network threat defense, secure DNS, and real-time OS health with instant remediation and quarantine. This capability is crucial for risk-intolerant teams, as demonstrated by a Middle Eastern airline that chose Jamf for Mobile for 10,000 iPads over two larger UEM vendors due to its ability to combine all electronic flight bag critical controls into a single SKU, which was "far simpler than piecemeal licensing offered by the competition."
The company's Jamf Connect provides identity and access management for Mac and mobile devices, while Jamf School and Jamf Safe Internet cater specifically to education, meeting security needs for deployment and content filtering. Jamf's Executive Threat Protection (JETP) offers advanced detection and response for mobile devices, providing deep analysis of mobile security threats that is easy to use, scalable, and privacy-centric, looking for indicators of attacks and compromise. These specialized tools lead to superior financial outcomes through stronger recurring revenue from subscriptions and potentially better margins due to efficient delivery.
Recent R&D initiatives further bolster this technological moat. The introduction of Android enrollment support in July 2025, for example, allows organizations to manage their full mobile fleet through one solution while keeping Apple at the center of their mobile strategy. This addition is designed for environments where a small subset of Android devices still needs support, historically requiring additional vendors or compromising the Apple experience. Furthermore, Jamf is accelerating investments in AI capabilities. The new Jamf AI Assistant, now in beta, empowers IT administrators with intelligent, action-oriented capabilities like "search skill" for natural language inventory queries and "explain skill" to simplify complex MDM configurations. These AI enhancements aim to improve forecasting accuracy, earlier risk detection, scalable customer engagement, maintenance code generation, and bulk update processing, driving both customer experience and internal productivity. The platform remains read-only with opt-in activation, ensuring customer controls and security compliance. These technological advancements contribute directly to Jamf's competitive moat, enabling higher ASPs, lower costs through efficiency, and a stronger market position.
Competitive Landscape: Apple-First vs. Broad Platforms
Jamf operates in a competitive landscape dominated by larger, more diversified players and niche specialists. Its primary direct competitors include Microsoft (MSFT) (with Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Intune), Broadcom (AVGO) (via VMware's Workspace ONE), Okta (OKTA) (for identity and access management), and CrowdStrike (CRWD) (for endpoint security).
Microsoft's Intune offers broader cross-platform compatibility, positioning it as more versatile in mixed-device enterprises. However, Jamf's specialized Apple-first approach provides a more tailored and user-friendly experience for Apple device management, leading to greater efficiency for specific workflows. Broadcom's VMware Workspace ONE provides comprehensive endpoint management across multiple platforms, robust for large enterprises but potentially less intuitive for Apple-only environments. Jamf's focus on seamless Apple integration contrasts with Broadcom's broad infrastructure plays. Okta's broader identity platform covers multi-factor authentication across devices, while Jamf Connect provides specialized zero-trust solutions for Apple devices, offering potentially greater efficiency in authentication for Apple ecosystems. CrowdStrike's AI-driven threat detection and endpoint security platform delivers broader capabilities, whereas Jamf Protect and Jamf Threat Defense offer Apple-specific malware protection and telemetry, providing more efficient, device-focused security.
Jamf's competitive advantages lie in its proprietary technology for Apple ecosystems, strong brand in niche markets, and subscription-based distribution channels. The company successfully targets customers impacted by recent consolidation of unified endpoint management (UEM) vendors, with elevated win rates since late 2023. Its integrated platform solutions, combining management and security in a single SKU, are simpler and preferred over "piecemeal licensing offered by the competition." However, Jamf faces vulnerabilities due to its smaller scale and limited diversification compared to rivals, which could lead to higher customer acquisition costs and lower margins. Technological gaps in broad AI and non-Apple areas could also expose it to competitors' strengths. Barriers to entry, such as high R&D requirements and established partnerships, favor Jamf's niche strategy but also benefit larger competitors.
Strategic Evolution and Operational Excellence
Jamf's history is marked by strategic acquisitions and continuous product innovation. The 2022 acquisition of ZecOps bolstered mobile detection and response, while the 2023 acquisition of dataJAR enhanced service delivery and international reach. In Q3 2024, Jamf launched a new mobile security solution and a new Partner Program, streamlining channel sales. A comprehensive system update, including new ERP and Salesforce implementations, was completed in Q3 2024, designed to enhance scalability and efficiency, although it initially led to a one-time adjustment in device and customer counts and caused some billing and collection delays.
Early March 2025 saw the launch of Jamf for Mac and Jamf for K-12, new platform solutions that bundle management and security tailored for specific buyer personas. This was quickly followed by the acquisition of Identity Automation in April 2025, an identity and access management platform, further integrating dynamic identity management with device access, particularly for education and healthcare. Identity Automation brings dynamic identity management for mobile, dynamically adjusting access, device, and security policies in real-time based on schedules, locations, and role changes. This acquisition has already proven accretive, contributing to Q2 2025 revenue upside and enhancing Jamf's cross-sell capabilities, as seen in a large Kentucky school district switching to Jamf for K-12.
The company's strategic reinvestment plan, announced in July 2025, includes a workforce reduction of approximately 6.4% to optimize operating costs and reallocate resources. This plan focuses on go-to-market enhancements, increasing investment in enterprise sales talent for higher growth and retention, and streamlining the SMB approach through channels and automated solutions. It also accelerates AI investments to further enhance customer experience and drive productivity, building on existing efficiencies in sales forecasting, risk detection, and code generation.
Financial Performance and Liquidity
Jamf's financial performance in Q2 2025 demonstrated strong execution, with total revenue growing 15% year-over-year to $176.5 million, exceeding the high end of its outlook. Subscription revenue remained the dominant driver, accounting for 98% of total revenue, and growing 16% year-over-year. This increase was primarily fueled by the Identity Automation acquisition, device expansion, cross-selling, and new customer additions. In contrast, less strategic revenue sources like services and perpetual licenses continued to experience year-over-year declines.
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The company achieved significant milestones in its Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), which grew 14% year-over-year to $710 million. For the first time, Jamf surpassed $700 million in total ARR, $500 million in commercial ARR, and $200 million in Security ARR. Security ARR, a key growth vector, surged 40% year-over-year to $203 million, driven by the Identity Automation acquisition and new platform solutions. Remaining Performance Obligations (RPO) also showed strong acceleration, with total RPO growing over 20% and long-term RPO nearly 40%, indicating increasing customer commitment to larger and longer contracts. The trailing 12-month net retention rate stood at 103%.
Profitability saw substantial improvement, with non-GAAP operating income reaching $33.5 million, representing a 19% margin. This marks a 360 basis point improvement over Q2 2024, driven by efficiency efforts in sales and marketing (300 basis points improvement) and general and administrative expenses (150 basis points improvement). Trailing 12-month unlevered free cash flow surpassed $100 million for the first time, growing 24% to $102.9 million, representing a 15.4% margin.
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From a liquidity perspective, Jamf ended Q2 2025 with $481.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, a significant increase from $224.7 million at the end of 2024.
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This was primarily due to a new $400 million term loan facility secured in May 2025, partially offset by a $175.6 million payment for the Identity Automation acquisition. The proceeds from this term loan are earmarked for the $40 million deferred payment for Identity Automation, repurchasing a portion of the 2026 Convertible Senior Notes, and general corporate purposes. The company also entered into a new non-cancelable hosting services agreement committing $147.3 million over the next three years.
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Outlook and Risks
Jamf's management has provided a confident outlook, reflecting its commitment to profitable growth and an "achievable model." For Q3 2025, the company expects total revenue of $176 million to $178 million, representing 11% year-over-year growth at the midpoint. Non-GAAP operating income is projected to be $41.5 million to $42.5 million, translating to a 24% non-GAAP operating margin and 52% growth at the midpoint.
For the full year 2025, Jamf raised its outlook, now expecting total revenue of $701 million to $704 million, representing 12% year-over-year growth at the midpoint and a $9.5 million increase from prior guidance. Non-GAAP operating income is projected to be $153.5 million to $155.5 million, a 600 basis point improvement over fiscal year 2024 and a 50% year-over-year growth. The company also anticipates unlevered free cash flow growth of at least 75% for the year. This guidance incorporates the seasonality of Identity Automation, with its highest revenue contribution expected in Q3, and accounts for approximately $2 million to $3 million in FX headwinds impacting operating income for the remainder of the year. Management is committed to exiting fiscal 2026 at a "Rule of 40 run rate," defined as the sum of year-over-year revenue growth plus adjusted EBITDA margin.
Despite this positive outlook, several risks warrant investor attention. Macroeconomic headwinds, including high inflation, elevated interest rates, and geopolitical instability, continue to pose risks of reduced IT spending and a more moderate outlook from customers regarding hiring and device growth. The anticipated refresh cycle in tech and education, along with tech hiring, has been "muted" and is still largely awaited. Customers have also elongated the lifecycle of Apple devices due to budget constraints. The strategic reinvestment plan, while aimed at efficiency, is expected to incur $11.0 million to $12.5 million in charges, primarily in Q3 2025, and carries the risk of unforeseen expenditures. Additionally, the recently enacted "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" (OBBB) introduces changes to corporate taxation that Jamf is still evaluating for financial statement impact.
Conclusion
Jamf stands as a compelling investment thesis, firmly entrenched as the indispensable standard for managing and securing Apple devices in the enterprise. Its unwavering commitment to an Apple-first platform, coupled with strategic acquisitions like Identity Automation and continuous technological innovation, particularly in AI and mobile security, is driving robust financial performance and expanding its addressable market. The company's ability to deliver strong revenue growth, accelerate security and mobile ARR, and significantly improve operating margins underscores its operational effectiveness and disciplined capital allocation.
While macroeconomic uncertainties and a cautious IT spending environment present challenges, Jamf's strategic reinvestment plan and clear focus on high-growth areas position it for continued success. The ambitious "Rule of 40" target for fiscal 2026, supported by strong RPO growth and a healthy liquidity position, signals management's confidence in its long-term trajectory. Jamf's differentiated technology, deep Apple expertise, and expanding channel partnerships create a formidable competitive moat, making it a pivotal player in the evolving landscape of enterprise device management and security. Investors looking for exposure to the growing Apple footprint in the enterprise, underpinned by mission-critical software and a clear path to profitable growth, will find Jamf's story highly compelling.
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