Workday advertising spend, FY2026

Workday (WDAY) reported $181M of advertising expense for the fiscal year ended Jan 31, 2026. That is 1.9% of revenue of $9.6B. Down 11.3% from FY2025.

Ad spend, FY2026
$181M
year ended Jan 31, 2026
Change vs prior year
-11.3%
vs FY2025
Share of revenue
1.9%
of $9.6B revenue
Rank by ad spend
#234
of 336 companies

Key facts

  • Ad spend is 5.8x its FY2016 level ($31M), slower than revenue (8.3x).
  • The highest year on file is FY2025 at $204M; FY2026 is 11% below it.
  • Largest increase +122.2% in FY2015; largest cut -11.3% in FY2026.
  • Ad spend is 1.9% of revenue, about the same as 2.0% in FY2021.
  • Workday spends more on advertising than 30% of the 336 US-listed companies tracked. Its ad-to-revenue ratio is below the median of 5.2%.

Ad spend by fiscal year

$0 $100M $200M $300M FY2010 (ended 2010-12-31): $2.6M FY2012 (ended 2012-01-31): $3.9M 2012 FY2013 (ended 2013-01-31): $7M FY2014 (ended 2014-01-31): $9M 2014 FY2015 (ended 2015-01-31): $20M FY2016 (ended 2016-01-31): $31M 2016 FY2017 (ended 2017-01-31): $35M FY2018 (ended 2018-01-31): $43M 2018 FY2019 (ended 2019-01-31): $51M FY2020 (ended 2020-01-31): $61M 2020 FY2021 (ended 2021-01-31): $85M FY2022 (ended 2022-01-31): $131M 2022 FY2023 (ended 2023-01-31): $172M FY2024 (ended 2024-01-31): $194M 2024 FY2025 (ended 2025-01-31): $204M FY2026 (ended 2026-01-31): $181M 2026 $181M

Ad spend as % of revenue

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% FY2010 (ended 2010-12-31): 3.8% FY2012 (ended 2012-01-31): 2.9% 2012 FY2013 (ended 2013-01-31): 2.6% FY2014 (ended 2014-01-31): 1.9% 2014 FY2015 (ended 2015-01-31): 2.5% FY2016 (ended 2016-01-31): 2.7% 2016 FY2017 (ended 2017-01-31): 2.2% FY2018 (ended 2018-01-31): 2.0% 2018 FY2019 (ended 2019-01-31): 1.8% FY2020 (ended 2020-01-31): 1.7% 2020 FY2021 (ended 2021-01-31): 2.0% FY2022 (ended 2022-01-31): 2.5% 2022 FY2023 (ended 2023-01-31): 2.8% FY2024 (ended 2024-01-31): 2.7% 2024 FY2025 (ended 2025-01-31): 2.4% FY2026 (ended 2026-01-31): 1.9% 2026 1.9%

History

Download CSV
Fiscal year Period end Ad spend YoY Revenue Ad / revenue Tag Filing
FY2026 Jan 31, 2026 $181M -11.3% $9.6B 1.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 6, 2026
FY2025 Jan 31, 2025 $204M +5.2% $8.4B 2.4% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 6, 2026
FY2024 Jan 31, 2024 $194M +12.8% $7.3B 2.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 6, 2026
FY2023 Jan 31, 2023 $172M +31.3% $6.2B 2.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 11, 2025
FY2022 Jan 31, 2022 $131M +54.1% $5.1B 2.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 8, 2024
FY2021 Jan 31, 2021 $85M +39.3% $4.3B 2.0% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 27, 2023
FY2020 Jan 31, 2020 $61M +19.6% $3.6B 1.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Feb 28, 2022
FY2019 Jan 31, 2019 $51M +18.6% $2.8B 1.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 2, 2021
FY2018 Jan 31, 2018 $43M +22.9% $2.1B 2.0% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 3, 2020
FY2017 Jan 31, 2017 $35M +12.9% $1.6B 2.2% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 18, 2019
FY2016 Jan 31, 2016 $31M +55.0% $1.2B 2.7% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 14, 2018
FY2015 Jan 31, 2015 $20M +122.2% $788M 2.5% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 20, 2017
FY2014 Jan 31, 2014 $9M +28.6% $469M 1.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 22, 2016
FY2013 Jan 31, 2013 $7M +79.5% $274M 2.6% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 25, 2015
FY2012 Jan 31, 2012 $3.9M n/a $134M 2.9% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 31, 2014
FY2010 Dec 31, 2010 $2.6M n/a $68.1M 3.8% AdvertisingExpense 10-K Mar 22, 2013

What the figure is

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Compared with similar spenders

The 6 companies closest to Workday in latest-year ad spend.

Rank Company Ad spend Ad / revenue YoY Fiscal year
232 Harley-Davidson $185M 4.1% +35.1% FY2025
233 CarGurus $183M 20.2% +13.9% FY2025
234 Workday $181M 1.9% -11.3% FY2026
235 Darden Restaurants $180M 1.4% +6.2% FY2026
236 J.M. Smucker $179M 2.0% -0.9% FY2026
237 Hewlett Packard Enterprise $179M 0.5% +53.0% FY2025
238 LegalZoom $176M 23.2% +11.4% FY2025

Full ranking of 336 companies · Biggest cuts #26

Questions

How much does Workday spend on advertising?

Workday spent $181M on advertising in fiscal 2026, the year ended Jan 31, 2026, according to its 10-K filed Mar 6, 2026.

What percentage of revenue does Workday spend on advertising?

1.9% of revenue in fiscal 2026 ($181M of $9.6B). The median across the 336 companies tracked is 5.2%.

Is Workday spending more on advertising?

No. Ad spend fell 11.3% in fiscal 2026 from fiscal 2025.

How does Workday rank by advertising spend?

#234 of 336 US-listed companies with $100M or more in ad spend, ranked on each company's latest fiscal year.

What does Workday's advertising figure include?

Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).

Source

Filing
10-K for FY2026, filed Mar 6, 2026
Accession number
0001327811-26-000014
Company
Workday, Inc., CIK 1327811, SIC 7374 (Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation)
Data
SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, retrieved Nov 4, 2026. Methodology.
Cite
Workday advertising spend, FY2010-FY2026. Aleksei Trudov, io.trudov.com, from SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (latest: 10-K filed Mar 6, 2026), retrieved Nov 4, 2026. https://io.trudov.com/company/workday/advertising-spend/
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CSV, all years · CSV, all 336 companies