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DATE
Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026
CALL PARTICIPANTS
- Chief Executive Officer - David Kostman
- Chief Financial Officer - Jason Kiviat
- Incoming Chief Financial Officer - Michael Coyle
TAKEAWAYS
- Revenue -- $235.1 million, representing a 26% decline compared to $318.8 million in the third quarter of 2025 driven by lower budget conversion and traffic declines.
- Ex-TAC gross profit -- $93.5 million, a 28% decrease year over year reflecting industry-wide traffic compression in the open internet.
- Net loss -- $325.5 million, compared to a $19.7 million loss last year due to significant non-cash impairment charges.
- Adjusted EBITDA -- Loss of $8.1 million, compared to positive $19.2 million last year primarily due to lower top-line performance and seasonality.
- Connected TV revenue -- 37% year-over-year growth, driven by a leading position on the home screen experience.
- Enterprise ex-TAC gross profit -- $75 million, a 14% decline year over year reflecting a weak August in the EMEA region.
- SME and Direct Response ex-TAC gross profit -- $20 million, a 50% year-over-year decline due to the impact of artificial intelligence search summaries on referral traffic.
- Non-GAAP net loss per share -- $0.48, compared to an adjusted net loss of $0.14 per share in the prior year period.
- Liquidity -- $140 million, including $90.3 million cash on hand and available amounts under credit facilities.
- Accounts receivable borrowing facility -- $125 million facility closed in the quarter to provide a cost-efficient source of capital.
- Total debt obligations -- $657.2 million, including $608.6 million in senior secured notes due in 2030.
- Goodwill impairment -- $272.4 million non-cash charge, required under accounting standards due to declines in market capitalization.
- Publisher commercial agreement impairment -- $6.4 million non-cash charge recorded during the quarter.
- Operating expense reduction -- 10% decrease year over year in operating expenses and other cost of sales, excluding impairment charges.
- Free cash flow before interest payments -- Negative $1.4 million, reflecting operational performance close to breakeven before debt service.
- Adjusted free cash flow -- Negative $33.1 million, driven by a $31.7 million semiannual interest payment in August.
- Connected TV Enterprise business share -- Approximately 20%, with year-to-date revenue reaching nearly $100 million.
- Omnichannel branding revenue -- 15% of total branding revenue, up from 10% in the third quarter of 2025.
- North America Enterprise segment -- 15% decline year over year.
- APAC Enterprise segment -- 5% growth year over year.
- Net cash used in operating activities -- $27.9 million, compared to $23.7 million in the prior year period.
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RISKS
- CEO Kostman stated, "Here, we are experiencing major headwinds due to the rapid adoption of AI-generated search summaries and algorithm updates that are significantly reducing traditional referral traffic across the open Internet," identifying a primary driver of performance segment weakness.
- Kostman noted that results were "influenced by macroeconomic factors and the structural headwinds in the open Internet," particularly citing an unexpectedly weak August in the EMEA region.
SUMMARY
Teads Holding Co. (NASDAQ:TEAD) reported results that reflected broader industry pressures on the open internet ecosystem while highlighting continued growth in its connected television business. Management indicated that search engine algorithm updates and the adoption of artificial intelligence search summaries have led to substantial traffic compression for publisher partners. To address these shifts, the company is prioritizing its omnichannel buying platform and expanding exclusive home screen inventory through global partnerships. The company also announced a transition in the chief financial officer role and reported a non-cash impairment of goodwill related to market capitalization changes.
- CEO Kostman stated, "we see anywhere from -- in page view declines, anywhere from 20% to, some of them, even 60% page view declines that are coming primarily from AI summaries and algorithmic changes."
- Management reported that its home screen placements now reach more than 500 million devices worldwide through expanded partnerships with Whale TV and Telly.
- The company launched an updated Teads Ad Manager platform that utilizes agentic workflows and Model Context Protocols to bridge upper-funnel branding with lower-funnel conversions.
- CFO Kiviat noted that while the company saw a weak August, results showed recovery in October due to seasonal factors and operational improvements.
- Teads reported that combining connected television and web campaigns resulted in a 25% increase in total campaign impact according to third-party research data.
- The company renewed joint business partnerships with several global brands including BMW Group, Lenovo, Shell, and Kia.
- Incoming CFO Michael Coyle indicated his focus will be on driving operational transformation and building a resilient capital structure.
INDUSTRY GLOSSARY
- TAC: Traffic Acquisition Cost, the payments made to media partners to acquire advertising inventory.
- Ex-TAC gross profit: A non-GAAP metric representing gross profit after adding back non-TAC cost of revenue items like depreciation and amortization.
- CTV: Connected TV, referring to television sets connected to the internet, typically used for streaming video content.
- MCP: Model Context Protocols, used in the company's agentic platform to manage cross-channel advertising workflows.
- HomeScreen: The primary interface of a smart TV, where the company secures exclusive ad placements.
- AR Facility: Accounts Receivable borrowing facility, a type of financing where a company borrows against its outstanding customer invoices.
Full Conference Call Transcript
Unknown Executive: Good morning, and thank you for joining us on today's conference call to discuss Teads' third quarter results. Joining me on the call today, we have David Kostman, CEO; Jason Kiviat, current CFO; and Michael Coyle, incoming CFO of Teads. During this conference call, management will make forward-looking statements based on current expectations and assumptions, including statements regarding our business outlook and prospects. Statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our forward-looking statements. These risk factors are discussed in detail in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, as updated in our subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the call's original date, and we do not undertake any duty to update any such statements. Today's presentation also includes references to non-GAAP financial measures. You should refer to the information contained in the company's third quarter results announcement for definitional information and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures. Our earnings release can be found on our IR website, investors.teads.com, under News and Events. With that, let me turn the call over to David.
David Kostman: Thank you, Maria, and good morning, everyone. For the third quarter, ex-TAC gross profit reached approximately $94 million, adjusted EBITDA was a negative $8 million, and our free cash flow before interest payments was a negative $1.4 million. Let me break down the dynamics within our 2 core businesses, starting with Enterprise. Ex-TAC gross profit for the Enterprise business was $75 million, a decline of 14% year-over-year compared to a decline of just 6% in Q2 year-over-year. This sequential deceleration was primarily driven by an unexpectedly weak August in our EMEA region, influenced by macroeconomic factors and the structural headwinds in the open Internet. APAC experienced a 5% year-over-year increase in Q3, and North America a decline of 15%.
However, as we move through the close of the quarter and into October, we began seeing tangible revenue improvements. Our core growth engine, Connected TV, continues to perform well. CTV revenue grew 37% in Q3, continuing to outperform market growth rates, accounting for approximately 20% of our Enterprise business and reaching year-to-date revenues of nearly $100 million through Q3. Our focus on the home screen, or the front door to the living room, is paying off. What we see is that premium streaming video budgets are expanding, and we are seeking to capture that expansion by securing home screen inventory, in many instances, on an exclusive basis.
We grew our leading global footprint of home screen placements of more than 500 million devices worldwide through expanded partnerships, including with Whale TV and Telly. Importantly, the CTV momentum is the hook that we expect to drive our broader omnichannel sales. Third-party research data supports that combining CTV and web campaigns through Teads delivered a 25% increase in total campaign impact and a 10% lift -- and a 10-point lift in ad recall. We also recently launched the next evolution of our buying platform, Teads Ad Manager, which provides the opportunity to strengthen our partnership with major agencies who are actively consolidating their buying with partners that offer exclusive inventory, integrated data, and agentic planning.
Teads Ad Manager leverages agentic workflows through MCP protocols and solves cross-channel fragmentation by bridging upper-funnel CTV branding with lower-funnel conversions in one agentic platform. In the quarter, we also signed new joint business partnerships with global brands, including BMW, Lenovo, Shell, and Kia. Turning now to our direct response and small-medium enterprise business. Ex-TAC gross profit was $20 million, a 50% decline year-over-year. Here, we are experiencing major headwinds due to the rapid adoption of AI-generated search summaries and algorithm updates that are significantly reducing traditional referral traffic across the open Internet. This is heavily impacting publisher page views and impressions and performance advertising across our entire ecosystem.
The adoption of EngageOS, our new differentiated AI-powered platform, helps our publisher partners maximize yield and user engagement and potentially mitigate the impact of these search declines. Some of them already experienced double-digit growth in yields and user engagement. EngageOS also continues to support Teads' differentiation by securing access to direct, premium, authenticated supply. We are seeing continued traction of our solution with premium publishers, including Huffington Post, Le Monde and Prisma in France, Axel Springer in Germany, and Politico in the U.S. We're also continuing to bring on new premium publishers, including ABC News and Fandom in the U.S. While Q3 was a challenging quarter, I want to frame our results around 3 key realities.
One, CTV is our structural tailwind. Premium video budgets are expanding, and we are well positioned to capture them through our home screen global leadership and omnichannel offerings. Second, agencies are consolidating and prioritizing partners that can deliver scaled, integrated media paired with proprietary data assets, which is precisely where we hold a strong competitive edge. And third, the open Internet is facing unprecedented pressures due to traffic declines. While navigating this industry-wide traffic compression is difficult, we are providing tools publishers and advertisers can use to adapt and grow.
For example, on the Enterprise side of the business, we're experimenting in emerging channels and formats to deliver on our clients' KPIs, such as in-app advertising using our native feed for more premium brand experiences, new social formats that complement walled garden environments, and LLM testing as part of the OpenAI ChatGPT pilot program. Finally, despite the Q3 EBITDA loss, our free cash flow before interest was close to breakeven. We are driving operational efficiencies to improve our cash flow. We're also focused on optimizing our capital structure and expect to continue to engage in constructive discussions with our debtholders as we seek a long-term, stronger balance sheet.
Before we dive into the financials, I want to take a moment to address the leadership update we announced this morning. After 13 incredible years with Teads, Jason Kiviat will be transitioning from his role as Chief Financial Officer and support us throughout the transition period. On a very personal note, Jason has been an extraordinary partner, a trusted friend, and a key pillar of our company's success from our earliest days. We are deeply grateful for his dedication and wish him the absolute best in his next chapter. I'm thrilled to welcome Michael Coyle as our new CFO.
Michael brings a track record of driving operational excellence and financial discipline at major international organizations, and we believe he is the right leader to help us execute on our strategic priorities moving forward. Michael, welcome to the team. I'll hand it to Jason for a few words.
Jason Kiviat: Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. It has been a privilege to help build Teads over the last 13 years. I want to thank David, the executive team, the Board and especially my incredible finance team. Their hard work and resilience have been the backbone of our success. While it's never easy to step away, I'm confident in the foundation we've built. I look forward to working closely with Michael over the coming months to ensure a seamless handover, and I'm excited to watch Teads continue to evolve and succeed under his leadership.
Michael Coyle: Thank you, Jason and David, and I'll keep my remarks brief. I decided to join Teads because I have conviction in the future of the company. We are navigating a pivotal transformation, and I believe we have the underlying platform and strategic vision required to build a strong future. I'm excited to partner with David and the leadership team to drive this operational transformation forward, to build a resilient capital structure, and unlock the long-term value I see in the business. I look forward to connecting with many of you on the line in the weeks ahead. Now, Jason, I'll turn it back to you.
Jason Kiviat: Thanks, Michael. As David noted, it was a challenging quarter where we saw a decline in our top-line revenues drive our adjusted EBITDA to be in a loss position. Revenue in Q3 was approximately $235 million, reflecting a 26% decline year-over-year, and ex-TAC gross profit in the quarter was $93.5 million, a decrease of 28% year-over-year. As the quarter played out, we saw a lower level of budget conversion than we expected at the onset of the quarter, ultimately resulting in a deterioration across both Enterprise and direct response and SME customers, despite the former showing momentum as we entered the quarter.
In the early part of Q4, while we continue to see similar ecosystem trends, we have seen some recovery as compared with Q3 due both to operational improvements and seasonality. Moving to expenses in Q3. As a result of recent declines in our share price and overall market capitalization, we were required under accounting standards to perform an impairment assessment and ultimately recorded a full impairment to goodwill of $272 million. This accounting adjustment is entirely noncash and does not impact our liquidity, operating cash flows, or debt covenants. Excluding the impact of this onetime noncash impairment charge, other cost of sales and operating expenses decreased around 10% year-over-year, even despite ongoing FX headwinds.
While the cost reductions we've made have been helpful, given the headwinds on our top line and volatility of the environment, we're further scrutinizing our cost structure. Based on the lower top-line performance and seasonality of the quarter, adjusted EBITDA for Q3 was a loss of $8 million, and free cash flow in the quarter was a use of cash of $33 million due to the semiannual interest payment made in August of $31 million. Free cash flow before interest payments was close to breakeven at negative $1.4 million. Despite the use of cash, in part due to seasonality and timing of interest payments, we are comfortable with our liquidity position.
During the quarter, we closed on a new $125 million AR borrowing facility, leveraging a portion of our accounts receivable balances, providing a cost-efficient source of capital. The amount available under this facility will fluctuate based on borrowing base and various factors that influence it. At closing, the available borrowing base was approximately $60 million, with $55 million of cash drawn. As of September 30, we had total liquidity of approximately $140 million, inclusive of $90 million cash on hand and amounts under the AR facility and our existing revolving credit facility. Also, and as David said, we are focused on evaluation of our cost and opportunities to improve our capital structure.
Now, I'll turn it back to the operator for Q&A.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Laura Martin with Needham.
Laura Martin: The first one, could you give us more granularity on what your traffic -- what you're seeing in terms of traffic declines, specifically that's driving the downdraft in revenue? And then second, Jason or Mike, how much further can you go on cost-cutting? Because I know that's been a focus since you guys closed Teads. So how much further do you -- how many more costs do you think you can cut out of the enterprise at this point?
David Kostman: Laura, it's David. So we see anywhere from -- in page view declines, anywhere from 20% to, some of them, even 60% page view declines that are coming primarily from AI summaries and algorithmic changes. On top of that, there's also a more challenging environment to monetize. I mean, in the past, we used to offset a lot of it by better RPMs. We also see some increased challenges in better monetization. But what we've seen is a stabilization of that. So the page view declines, we think they've reached -- we hope they reached the bottom, and we're also seeing better monetization of existing pages through better algorithmic improvements on our end.
So we think it's at the bottom, but these are the numbers that we see.
Jason Kiviat: Laura, it's Jason. In terms of your second question, yes, we have been -- we're down on cost maybe 10% year-over-year in Q3. But we do think there's more to go. I mean given obviously the context of the changes in the industry and the headwinds, it's something that we began looking at and we definitely think there's room to adjust our cost structure for this, as well as our balance sheet, as we said.
Operator: The next question comes from Ed Alter with Jefferies.
Edward Alter: I wanted to ask 2, if I can. One, just a little more on the overall macro. What would it take on the open Internet side for things to get better? Or how do you see them -- if you don't think they're going to get better, how are they going to get worse? And then on CTV, it looks like that slowed a little bit from the past couple quarters. Just want to talk about the trends there and kind of how that's trending into the back half of the year.
David Kostman: It's David. So generally CTV has been a little bit of a slower quarter versus the previous one. But for example, October, we saw, again, acceleration. So we think it's pretty seasonal, and I think it impacted -- when you look at our overall results, we saw some weakness in Europe, particularly in August in a couple of countries. And as we said, I think we already see October sort of reversing that trajectory. Across the open Internet, we believe that -- I mean the 2 segments of the business are impacted very differently. The direct response and SME is impacted in a more severe way because we, on the feed product, have 100% that we need to fill.
On the in-read and other placements, I think it's less of an impact because we still have opportunity to fill more than what we're filling today. And particularly on the Enterprise side, I think what we're seeing -- where we're seeing success is selling omnichannel. So leveraging the growth in CTV that we see to sell better packages that combine CTV home screen, where we have a real strong leadership position. We broadened that in Q3, as we updated. We have more than 500 million devices. We believe we're the only company that allows the big agencies to place campaigns across multiple OEMs on the home screen.
And we, I think, are doing a much better job executing and packaging solutions which will combine that home screen with in-stream CTV and web.
Operator: There are no more questions at this time. I would like to transfer the call over to David Kostman for closing remarks. Please go ahead, sir.
David Kostman: Thank you for joining us. We look forward to updating you in the future, hopefully, with a better quarter than this one. Thank you.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the conference call for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect your lines.
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