Exhibit 99.1

Exa Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2018 Financial Results

First Quarter Total Revenue In-Line with Guidance and Profitability Metrics Above Guidance Range

FY 18 Business Visibility Improves

Burlington, Mass., May 24, 2017 – Exa^® Corporation (NASDAQ: EXA), a global innovator in simulation software for product engineering, today announced financial results for the first quarter fiscal 2018, which ended April 30, 2017.

Revenue Summary

First Quarter

Due to rounding, totals do not equal the sum of line items in the table above.

“Our first quarter revenue was within the upper half of our guidance range and both net income and adjusted EBITDA were better than our guided ranges,” said Stephen Remondi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Exa. “Exiting Q1, we are encouraged that the business visibility into our customer renewal and consumption trends in the automotive end-market has improved, supporting increased optimism in our full year expectations.”

“In addition, we are very excited by the interest and activity we have experienced from the oil and gas industry since our joint press release with BP, our first customer to license our DigitalROCK^™ solutions. We believe that our expansion into this new vertical significantly expands our addressable market and we look forward to it contributing to our growth in the quarters ahead.”

First Quarter Fiscal 2018 Financial Highlights

Revenue

Profitability

Balance Sheet

Business Outlook

Based on information available as of today, Exa is providing second quarter and fiscal 2018 guidance as indicated below.

Second Quarter Fiscal 2018:

Full Year Fiscal 2018:

The above guidance assumes an exchange rate of 1.10 US dollars per Euro and 112 Japanese yen per US dollar for fiscal year 2018.

An explanation and reconciliation of historical and forward-looking non-GAAP measures presented above, including revenue on a constant currency basis, adjusted EBITDA, non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP net loss, to the comparable GAAP measures is provided below and in the attachments to this press release.

Conference Call Information

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our condensed consolidated financial statements, which are presented on a GAAP basis, we disclose revenue on a constant currency basis, non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) per diluted share and Adjusted EBITDA. These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative for, amounts determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The GAAP measure most comparable to revenue on a constant currency basis is GAAP revenue. The GAAP measure most comparable to non-GAAP operating income (loss) is GAAP income (loss) from operations. The GAAP measure most comparable to non-GAAP net income (loss) and Adjusted EBITDA is GAAP net income (loss). The GAAP measure most comparable to Non-GAAP net income (loss) per diluted share is GAAP net income (loss) per diluted share. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the corresponding GAAP measure is included below.

We define revenue on a constant currency basis as GAAP revenue, adjusted to reverse the impact of changes in the average exchange rates of currencies in which our international operations generated revenue and incurred expenses.

We define non-GAAP net income (loss) as net income (loss), excluding the after-tax impact of non-cash, stock-based compensation expense and the amortization of acquired intangibles. We define EBITDA as net income (loss), excluding depreciation and amortization, interest expense, other income (expense),

foreign exchange gain (loss) and provision for income taxes, and we define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA, excluding non-cash, stock-based compensation expense.

Our management uses these non-GAAP measures when evaluating our operating performance and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that these measures help indicate underlying trends in our business, are important in comparing current results with prior period results, and are useful to investors and financial analysts in assessing our operating performance. For example, our international operations generate revenue and incur expenses that are denominated in foreign currencies. These amounts could be materially affected by currency fluctuations. Our principal exposures are to fluctuations in exchange rates for the United States dollar versus the Euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan and Korean won. Changes in currency exchange rates that are beyond our control can significantly affect our consolidated results of operations. We believe that disclosure of our revenue on a constant currency basis is useful as an indicator of demand for our solutions independent of the influence of currency exchange fluctuations. Management considers Adjusted EBITDA to be an important indicator of our operational strength and the performance of our business and a good measure of our historical operating trends. The non-GAAP financial information presented here should be considered in conjunction with, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information presented in accordance with GAAP and, in particular, should not be considered a measure of our liquidity. There are significant limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures. Further, these measures may differ from the non-GAAP information, even where similarly titled, used by other companies and therefore should not be used to compare our performance to that of other companies. Investors should carefully consider the attached reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures.

About Exa Corporation

Exa (Nasdaq: EXA) (www.exa.com) Corporation’s visualization and simulation software helps designers and engineers enhance the performance of their products, reduce product development costs and improve the efficiency of their design and engineering processes. As a design evolves, Exa accurately predicts the performance of that design while providing actionable insight to optimize the performance of the product. With Exa, the need for costly physical prototypes and expensive late-stage changes is reduced. Now, designers and engineers are freed from the risk of producing compromised products that do not meet market and regulatory requirements. Exa currently focuses primarily on the ground transportation market, in which some of the most successful product companies in the world use Exa, including BMW, Delphi, Denso, Fiat Chrysler, Ford, Hino, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kenworth, Komatsu, MAN, Nissan, Peterbilt, Peugeot, Renault, Scania, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo Trucks, and has recently expanded its technology offerings into the fields of aerospace and oil and gas production.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release, including the section entitled “Business Outlook,” contains forward-looking statements describing our expectations concerning future events and our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may be inaccurate. Actual events or results may differ

materially. In evaluating these statements, you should specifically consider various factors, including the risks outlined under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2017 and in our other SEC filings. These factors may cause our actual results to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, our future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements may differ from our expectations. Other than as required by law, we do not undertake a responsibility to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this press release, even though our situation may change in the future.

Media Contact:

Michelle Murray-Ross, Exa Corporation

+1 (781) 564-0251

michelle@exa.com

Investor Relations Contact:

Garo Toomajanian, ICR

+1 (781) 564-0337

investor@exa.com

EXA CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(Unaudited)

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

EXA CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss

(Unaudited)

(in thousands, except share and per share data)

EXA CORPORATION

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(Unaudited)

(in thousands)

EXA CORPORATION

Reconciliation of historical Non-GAAP to GAAP measures

(Unaudited)

(in thousands, except per share data)

EXA CORPORATION

Reconciliation of forward looking Non-GAAP to GAAP measures