Eric Sheridan

Eric Sheridan asked about the current state of AWS's revenue backlog as of Q4, and discussed the perceived imbalance between supply and demand for AI efforts, covering both internal use cases and external client needs, and how Amazon plans to close this capacity gap through 2026.

Answer

CEO Andy Jassy reported AWS's backlog at $244 billion, up 40% year-over-year and 22% quarter-over-quarter, indicating strong demand for both AI and core AWS services. He clarified that the vast majority of capital and capacity serves external customers, with Amazon itself being a significant but small fraction of the total. Jassy detailed over 1,000 internal AI applications deployed or in development, ranging from Rufus and Alexa+ to fulfillment forecasting and ad optimization. Externally, AI labs consume vast capacity for training and inference, while enterprises use AI for automation, fraud detection, and reinventing applications. Addressing the supply-demand imbalance, Jassy stated that AWS, growing 24% year-over-year on a $142 billion run rate, could grow faster with more supply. He highlighted aggressive capacity additions, including 3.99 GW of power in the last 12 months (twice 2022 levels) and 1.2 GW in Q4 alone, with plans to double again by end of 2027, expressing optimism for continued growth.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs posed a multi-part question regarding AWS, asking for the current state of its revenue backlog as of Q4, a discussion on internal and external AI use cases, and an analysis of any supply-demand imbalance in AI efforts and strategies to close that gap as more capacity comes online through 2026.

Answer

CEO Andy Jassy reported AWS's backlog at $244 billion, up 40% year-over-year and 22% quarter-over-quarter, indicating strong demand. He clarified that the vast majority of AWS capacity is for external customers, with Amazon itself being a demanding but small fraction of the total. Jassy detailed over 1,000 internal AI applications across Amazon, from Rufus and Alexa Plus to fulfillment forecasting and advertising tools. Externally, AI labs consume significant capacity for training and inference, while enterprises use AI for automation, fraud detection, and reinventing applications. Jassy acknowledged that despite 24% year-over-year growth on a $142 billion run rate, demand outstrips supply, and Amazon is aggressively adding capacity, having added 3.99 gigawatts of power in the last 12 months (doubling 2022 levels) and expecting to double it again by 2027, with 1.2 gigawatts added in Q4 alone.

Eric Sheridan asked about the ongoing opportunity in rolling out more robotics and automation (physical AI) across Amazon's operations, its role in driving efficiencies, and enabling reinvestment.

Answer

CEO Andy Jassy stated that robotics is a substantial investment area, with over a million robots in the fulfillment network and significant ongoing invention. He emphasized that robotics improve safety, boost productivity, increase speed, and allow human teammates to focus on problem-solving. Jassy expects continued significant investment, with robots and humans complementing each other, ultimately enhancing customer experience and driving cost efficiencies that enable reinvestment.

Eric Sheridan asked about Amazon's ongoing opportunity in robotics and automation, particularly the broader theme of physical AI across its operations, and how these investments drive efficiencies and enable reinvestment in the business.

Answer

CEO Andy Jassy stated that robotics is a substantial investment area for Amazon, with over a million robots in its fulfillment network and significant ongoing invention. He emphasized that robotics improve safety, boost productivity, increase speed, and allow human teammates to focus on problem-solving. Jassy expects continued significant investment in robotics, leading to a fulfillment network where robots and humans complement each other, ultimately enhancing customer experience and cost efficiency.

Eric Sheridan asked about Amazon's medium-term strategy for navigating global trade uncertainty and if the Q2 operating income guide includes specific costs for these preparations.

Answer

CEO Andy Jassy explained that the strategy focuses on long-term principles like broad selection, low prices, and fast delivery, supported by tactical forward inventory buys and supplier diversification. CFO Brian Olsavsky clarified the Q2 guide includes seasonal stock-based compensation increases and Kiper launch costs, but not specific one-time tariff-related investment costs like those seen in Q1.

Eric Sheridan inquired about Amazon's long-term strategy for reducing the cost of AI, referencing developments like open-source models and custom silicon, and its potential impact on deployment speed and returns on capital.

Answer

CEO Andy Jassy explained that reducing the per-unit cost of technology, such as AI inference, historically leads to more innovation and greater overall technology spending, not less. He compared it to the launch of AWS, where lower unit costs spurred massive adoption and new use cases. He views the declining cost of inference as a positive catalyst for both customers and Amazon's business, as it will encourage broader integration of AI into applications.

Eric Sheridan asked about the consumer behavior driving the divergence between strong unit growth and lower average selling prices (ASPs), and the long-term strategies to capitalize on this shift.

Answer

CEO Andy Jassy noted that price-conscious consumers are driving growth in lower-ASP everyday essentials, which he views as a positive for building stickier customer relationships. CFO Brian Olsavsky added that the company's focus on lowering its cost-to-serve is what makes it economically feasible to supply these lower-priced items and capture more of customers' shopping missions.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about the key lessons learned regarding the evolution of discovery on the Roblox platform over the past 12 months and how these insights align with the company's strategic priorities for the platform and individual products in the coming years.

Answer

David Baszucki, CEO, stated that discovery is a challenging problem, and Roblox aims for transparency, optimizing for long-term user engagement, platform health, and creator health rather than short-term gains. He noted that this approach has led to more good content reaching more users and increased robustness in content diversity. Mr. Baszucki also mentioned future opportunities with 'moments' to complement discovery by browsing in-game experiences.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked CEO David Baszucki about the key lessons learned from Roblox's discovery journey over the past 12 months, and how these insights align with the platform's strategic priorities for the coming years.

Answer

Co-founder and CEO David Baszucki explained that Roblox prioritizes long-term user engagement, platform health, and creator health in its discovery efforts, rather than short-term gains. He noted that personalization has led to more diverse content reaching users, and highlighted future opportunities with "moments" to complement in-game browsing.

Eric Sheridan asked about key learnings from the scaling of older age cohorts as a percentage of Roblox's user mix and how investment priorities are aligned to sustain and stimulate this growth in the years ahead.

Answer

David Baszucki (CEO, Roblox) noted that Roblox virally attracts older users through new hits and diverse gameplay. He highlighted aligning the technical roadmap with global gaming genres (sports, racing, RPGs) and enhancing avatar diversity. The platform's ability to run experiences across low-end mobile to high-end PCs, integrated with cloud and AI, is crucial for expanding reach in these genres.

Eric Sheridan asked about the long-term monetization strategy, specifically the evolving mix between in-experience commerce, advertising, and potential subscription models.

Answer

Founder and CEO David Baszucki described the strategy as building an ecosystem with a diverse range of monetization tools for creators, including virtual currency, ads, and even physical commerce. CFO Naveen Chopra added that the immediate priority is driving user and engagement growth, which creates a flywheel effect that enhances the potential of all future monetization models.

Eric Sheridan asked about Roblox's long-term monetization strategy, specifically the building blocks for commerce, advertising, and potential subscriptions as the platform evolves.

Answer

CEO David Baszucki described a platform approach, providing creators with a range of monetization tools including virtual economy, rewarded ads, and even physical shopping. CFO Naveen Chopra added that the immediate priority is driving user and engagement growth, which creates a flywheel effect that enhances the potential of all future monetization models.

Eric Sheridan asked about Peloton's strategic priorities for building member value, the investment and product cadence for content and services, and the early signals and adoption rates observed for Peloton IQ.

Answer

CEO Peter Stern outlined priorities including differentiated cardio experiences (Cross Training, Pro series), a broader array of fitness/wellness (strength, sleep/recovery, mental wellbeing), and personalized offerings via Peloton IQ. He highlighted Peloton IQ's strong initial engagement (nearly half of active members engaged in Q1, 10% Q-o-Q increase in personalized plan engagement) and its influence on purchasing decisions, with plans to expand its domain coverage.

Eric Sheridan asked about Peloton's strategic priorities for building increased member value, focusing on investments in content, services, and early signals from Peloton IQ adoption rates.

Answer

CEO Peter Stern outlined key priorities: delivering differentiated cardio experiences (e.g., Cross Training Series, Pro Series), expanding fitness and wellness offerings (strength, sleep/recovery, mental well-being), and personalizing experiences through Peloton IQ. He highlighted Peloton IQ's strong performance, noting that nearly half of active members engaged with its insights and recommendations in its first quarter, and engagement with personalized plans increased 10% quarter-over-quarter. Stern also mentioned Peloton IQ's influence on purchasing decisions for premium Cross Training Series products.

Eric Sheridan inquired about Peloton's approach to mixing brand versus direct response marketing and where the company sees the highest potential return on its marketing investments.

Answer

CEO Peter Stern explained that Peloton uses a disciplined, balanced approach. Brand marketing is measured via tools like media mix modeling, while the company leans into highly measurable performance marketing where possible. He noted that overall marketing is becoming more efficient, as evidenced by an improving LTV to CAC ratio, with a long-term goal of exceeding a 2-to-1 ratio.

Eric Sheridan asked how management thinks about the appropriate level of investment in content and its role in driving end-user demand, engagement, and conversion over the long term.

Answer

Interim Co-CEO Chris Bruzzo affirmed that instructor-led content is central to the experience and will see continued investment and innovation. CFO Liz Coddington added that the company is also investing in non-class-based content, like gaming-inspired experiences, to expand offerings and drive engagement, which is a key factor for subscriber retention.

Eric Sheridan inquired about Snap Specs, focusing on the platform's development, application use cases, integration with the hardware business, and its role in Snap's broader strategic priorities for spatial computing over the next 12-18 months.

Answer

Evan Spiegel, CEO and Co-founder of Snap Inc., expressed excitement for the upcoming Specs launch, highlighting developer-built experiences like utilities, educational tools, and video streaming on virtual screens. He noted that lenses built for the 2024 developer version will be compatible with the new Specs, ensuring a wide variety of compelling experiences at launch. Spiegel also outlined a clear path for future generations of Specs to be lightweight, affordable, and powerful.

Eric Sheridan asked about Snap Specs, specifically delving into the platform, application, and use cases built, and how this hardware initiative aligns with Snap's broader strategic priorities for spatial computing over the next 12-18 months.

Answer

CEO Evan Spiegel expressed excitement for the upcoming Specs launch, highlighting the work with developers on prior versions (2024) to build diverse experiences like utilities, educational tools, and virtual screen streaming. He noted that these developer-built lenses will be compatible with the 2026 consumer launch, ensuring a wide variety of compelling experiences for early adopters. Spiegel also outlined a clear path for future generations of Specs to be lightweight, affordable, and powerful.

Eric Sheridan asked for a broader perspective on the evolution of the AR ecosystem, focusing on the future role of content and AI in user interfaces and how much of this technology Snap intends to build in-house versus source through partners.

Answer

CEO Evan Spiegel explained that AI is accelerating Snap's vision for more human-centric computing. He stated that Snap's AI investments are focused on areas of differentiation, such as on-device and 3D generation. He envisions future AR experiences being generative and created on-the-fly, and noted that Snap will continue to invest where it can build a competitive advantage, particularly leveraging the contextual awareness provided by the glasses form factor.

Eric Sheridan asked for a broader view on the evolution of user interfaces, the role of content and AI in future AR experiences, and which parts of this ecosystem Snap feels it must own versus build with partners.

Answer

CEO Evan Spiegel explained that AI is accelerating Snap's vision for "making computing more human." He said Snap will invest where it can differentiate, such as in on-device generative AI and 3D generation. He envisions a future of on-the-fly generative AR experiences where Snap's competitive advantage will be its developer tools and the contextual awareness provided by the Spectacles form factor.

Eric Sheridan asked for an updated view on the overall macro environment impacting the ad business, including specific verticals and advertiser spending patterns (brand vs. direct response). He also sought deeper insight into the decision to stop quarterly guidance, its expected impact on operations, and whether qualitative quarterly commentary would still be provided to investors.

Answer

Neil Vogel, CEO of People Inc., rated the ad market at a 'six out of ten,' noting it was generally favorable in Q4. He highlighted People's advantages in brand strength, market diversity, and performance, with health/pharma, travel, and tech as strong sectors, while food/beverage and CPG were challenged. Christopher Halpin, EVP, COO and CFO, IAC, explained that stopping quarterly guidance aims to reduce focus on short-term volatility, especially in People Inc., allowing for head-down execution on long-term value creation. He confirmed that qualitative views on market dynamics and strategy would still be provided.

Eric Sheridan asked for a mark-to-market view on the ad business macro environment, including advertiser spending trends across verticals and brand versus direct response. He also asked for more detail on the shift to annual guidance and whether qualitative updates would still be provided quarterly.

Answer

Neil Vogel, CEO of People Inc, rated the ad market at 'six out of ten,' noting it was healthy and favorable in Q4. He highlighted brand strength, diverse markets, and strong ad relationships as advantages, with health/pharma, travel, and tech as strong sectors, while food/beverage and CPG were weaker. Christopher Halpin, EVP, COO and CFO of IAC, explained the shift to annual guidance is due to market volatility and a desire for long-term focus, confirming qualitative updates on market dynamics and strategy would still be provided.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. asked about the building blocks of digital revenue growth for People Inc., including both headwinds and tailwinds, that inform the Q4 forecast and the outlook for 2026. He also questioned the growth trajectory of off-platform traffic and revenue for People Inc. and its resulting margin impact going forward.

Answer

Neil Vogel, CEO of People Inc., stated that despite session challenges (the primary headwind), Q4 is expected to be solid due to improving ads, strong off-platform growth, D/Cipher kicking in, and continued strong commerce and licensing. He anticipates a similar formula for 2026 with a changing mix, expecting real growth from D/Cipher and new initiatives. Christopher Halpin, COO and CFO of IAC, explained that off-platform traffic components (Apple News+, social media, D/Cipher) have varying margins, but for simplicity and conservatism, incremental digital EBITDA margins on off-platform can be assumed to be neutral to slightly accretive, around 30%.

Eric Sheridan asked about the building blocks of digital revenue growth for People Inc., including headwinds and tailwinds, informing the Q4 forecast and outlook for 2026. He also questioned the growth trajectory of off-platform traffic and revenue and its margin impact.

Answer

Neil Vogel, CEO of People Inc., outlined Q4 and 2026 growth drivers including improved ad sales, off-platform growth, Decipher, commerce, and licensing, while acknowledging session challenges as the primary headwind. Christopher Halpin, COO and CFO of IAC, estimated incremental digital EBITDA margins on off-platform traffic and revenue to be neutral to slightly accretive, around 30%, for simplicity and conservatism.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the strategic rationale for rebranding Dotdash Meredith to People Inc. and how it will be positioned in the media ecosystem. He also asked for an update on the M&A landscape and the deployment of capital versus returning it to shareholders.

Answer

People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel explained the name change reflects the company's goal of achieving platform scale with premium, human-created content, noting 'People Inc.' is simple, ambitious, and resonates with clients and employees. IAC CFO & COO Christopher Halpin addressed M&A, stating IAC is actively pursuing opportunities for People Inc. and new platforms, focusing on defensible businesses and AI applications, while balancing acquisitions with potential share buybacks.

Eric Sheridan asked for more detail on the dynamics of Angi's transformation from headwinds to tailwinds into 2026, particularly regarding the move to a single platform. He also asked Barry Diller about IAC's long-term investment framework regarding operating businesses versus holding stakes in public companies.

Answer

An Angi executive explained that proprietary traffic channels are returning to growth while the third-party business is stabilizing, which will combine to drive overall growth in 2026. He added that the single pro product initiative will improve operational efficiency and revenue per transaction. Barry Diller, Senior Executive and Chairman, reiterated his long-held philosophy that businesses, once they achieve sufficient scale, should be spun off to operate independently, stating that if IAC operates a business for too long, it has likely failed.

Eric Sheridan asked for an updated view on the strategy and market opportunity for the newly reported Care segment, and for a refreshed perspective on IAC's capital allocation strategy.

Answer

IAC CEO Joey Levin described Care.com as a category leader with significant growth potential by improving product conversion with AI/ML, expanding its growing Enterprise business, and innovating in underpenetrated markets like senior and pet care. On capital allocation, Levin stated that while all options remain on the table, the near-term priority is 'slimming down' and focusing on execution, maintaining a high bar for M&A while accumulating cash.

Eric Sheridan asked for elaboration on IAC's strategy for capital allocation, specifically regarding putting cash to work and shrinking the equity's valuation discount. He also inquired about the future path for IAC's stakes in MGM and Turo, including potential for increased ownership or value crystallization.

Answer

IAC CEO Joey Levin explained that shrinking the discount relies on execution, smart capital allocation, and crystallizing value, with a current focus on finding disciplined M&A opportunities. He expressed satisfaction with the current path for MGM and Turo, where IAC is accreting ownership without deploying new capital. IAC Executive Christopher Halpin noted IAC's ownership in Turo increased to 32% via a net warrant exercise.

Eric Sheridan inquired about Uber's strategic priorities and growth investments aimed at maintaining customer growth momentum, particularly for new users across products, and how the Uber One membership program will evolve the customer lifetime relationship over the next 12-18 months.

Answer

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi outlined a strategy focusing on new products (e.g., Moto, Reserve), new use cases, diverse demographics (e.g., teens, older users), and geographic expansion, especially in less dense markets. He also mentioned AVs as a new customer acquisition opportunity. Incoming CFO Balaji Krishnamurthy emphasized that audience growth is the core driver, with monthly active platform consumers (MAPC) growing from 14% to 18% year-over-year in 2025. He noted stronger retention for new cohorts, increased multi-product usage (40% in Q4), and the Uber One membership growing 55% year-over-year, enhancing cohort value.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. asked about Uber's strategic priorities and growth investments aimed at sustaining customer growth momentum from 2025, and how the Uber One membership program is expected to evolve customer lifetime relationships over the next 12-18 months.

Answer

Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber Technologies, outlined strategies including introducing new products (e.g., Moto), new use cases (e.g., Reserve, Women Preferred, teens), and expanding into new demographics and geographies, including less dense markets and international regions. Balaji Krishnamurthy, Incoming CFO, emphasized that audience growth remains the core driver, with monthly active platform consumer (MAPC) growth accelerating to 18% year-over-year by the end of 2025. He noted stronger retention for new rider/eater cohorts, increased multi-product usage (40% in Q4), and Uber One's 55% year-over-year growth in supercharging engagement.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the impact of expanding Uber Eats' delivery offerings on new user growth versus increased frequency, and asked for insights on how AV deployments have affected supply, demand, and pricing in current markets.

Answer

CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah noted that the delivery business saw its fastest growth in four years, with grocery and retail (now at a $12 billion run rate) growing significantly faster and serving as a source for new online food delivery consumers. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added that AV-enabled markets like Austin and Atlanta are growing faster than other U.S. markets, with healthy driver earnings, though it's too early to definitively determine causality.

Eric Sheridan inquired about how the expansion of delivery offerings, particularly grocery and retail, contributes to new user growth for Uber Eats and increased platform frequency. He also asked about lessons learned from current AV rollouts regarding supply impact on demand and pricing.

Answer

CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah highlighted that grocery and retail growth is effectively introducing new users to online food delivery and is now variable contribution positive. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted that markets with AVs, such as Austin and Atlanta, are experiencing faster growth than other U.S. markets, with healthy driver earnings, though he cautioned it's too early to definitively establish causality.

Eric Sheridan asked about the key drivers for cross-platform adoption between Mobility and Delivery, and inquired about Uber's strategic thinking on evolving towards a single 'super app' versus maintaining separate applications.

Answer

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi explained that while difficult to execute, cross-platform promotion is a key focus, noting that users of both services have 35% higher retention and generate three times the gross bookings. He highlighted the use of AI for hyper-personalized offers and the structural advantage of having both divisions under COO Andrew McDonald. Khosrowshahi described the current strategy as the 'best of both worlds': highly tuned separate apps that intelligently cross-promote, with the Rides app already driving $10 billion in annualized Delivery bookings, representing a gradual move toward a super app.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the current competitive landscape for Uber, focusing on pricing dynamics and incentives for both Mobility and Delivery across key global markets.

Answer

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi described the global market as consistently competitive, citing Lyft in the U.S. and other strong international players. He emphasized that competition is increasingly focused on service and quality rather than just price. He also noted the ongoing consolidation in the food delivery sector, expressing confidence in Uber's ability to maintain its market-leading position due to its global scale and unique platform.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about the progress of scaling into less dense geographic areas as a growth driver and how the expanding supply on the Delivery platform is affecting user behavior, such as frequency and basket size.

Answer

CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah explained that expanding into less dense areas, a global initiative for both Mobility and Delivery, is driving faster growth (1.5x or more) by using supply incentives and product enhancements like Reserve and flexible wait times. CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added that Delivery growth is fueled by improving selection with over 1 million merchants, enhancing affordability through merchant-funded offers and Uber One memberships, and focusing on quality.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the strategic opportunity and operational dynamics of Uber's expansion into less dense, suburban markets for both Mobility and Delivery.

Answer

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi described the expansion into less dense areas as a significant, previously under-recognized opportunity. He explained that this focus began with Delivery, where such markets constitute a majority of the U.S. market, and is now being applied to Mobility. The strategy involves investing in both supply and demand to create a positive liquidity cycle, improving ETAs and service levels. Khosrowshahi anticipates this will be a key growth tailwind for the next 2-3 years.

Eric Sheridan inquired about Meta's current compute capacity needs versus its roadmap and whether the full first-order effects of applying more compute to the scaling ads business have been realized, asking about the relationship between compute application and monetization outcomes.

Answer

CFO Susan Li confirmed Meta remains capacity constrained, expecting significant but still limited capacity through much of 2026, while mitigating impacts through optimization and diversification. She explained that larger models transfer knowledge to smaller runtime models for ads, and while more compute for foundational models is beneficial, the full monetization effects are not yet seen.

Eric Sheridan inquired about Meta's current compute capacity constraints against its product roadmap and the relationship between applying more compute and the rate of change in ads monetization outcomes.

Answer

CFO Susan Li confirmed Meta remains capacity constrained but expects significantly more capacity in 2026 from cloud and new facilities, mitigating impact through efficiency improvements. She noted that while larger models transfer knowledge to smaller runtime models for ads, there is still room for larger models to benefit from increased compute, expecting gains as foundational ads models scale.

Eric Sheridan (Goldman Sachs) asked CEO Mark Zuckerberg to elaborate on consumer interaction signals with Meta AI across the family of apps and how scaling new models from the superintelligence effort could transform Meta AI's utility and user behavior in the future.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted that over a billion people use Meta AI monthly, with usage increasing as model quality improves (e.g., Llama 4 post-training). He anticipates that integrating new frontier models from Meta Superintelligence Labs will unlock significant latent opportunities, leading to widespread adoption across new products, content formats, and business AI. Mark Zuckerberg also highlighted that more intelligent models will enhance the core business by improving recommendations and advertising, emphasizing that Meta's family of apps and ads business is currently compute-starved, and more compute will unlock substantial opportunities.

Eric Sheridan asked about consumer interaction with Meta AI across the family of apps and how scaling superintelligence models might change utility and behavior in the future.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted that over a billion people use Meta AI monthly, with usage increasing as model quality improves. He anticipates that integrating frontier models from MSL will unlock massive latent opportunities, leading to widespread adoption. He also expects new products in various content formats, Business AI, and significant improvements to core business recommendations and advertising through more intelligent models.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs inquired about the key learnings from Meta's AI strategy evolution over the past few months that influenced changes in talent acquisition and compute investment. He also asked for more detail on how talent and compute are driving the OpEx and CapEx outlook for the next 12-18 months.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that the aggressive, faster timelines for AI development have proven correct, prompting a focus on elite, talent-dense teams and leading compute infrastructure to build superintelligence. CFO Susan Li detailed that 2026 expense growth will be driven primarily by accelerated depreciation and operating costs for infrastructure, followed by compensation for new AI talent. She noted 2026 CapEx growth will also be significant, driven by scaling GenAI and Core AI capacity.

Eric Sheridan asked about the key learnings from Meta's AI strategy over the last six months that influenced shifts in talent and compute, and how those components are driving the OpEx and CapEx outlook.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that the fastest assumptions about AI's progress have proven correct, necessitating elite talent and leading compute infrastructure to pursue superintelligence. CFO Susan Li detailed that infrastructure costs, driven by depreciation, and employee compensation for new AI talent are the primary drivers for the increased expense and CapEx outlooks for 2026.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about the key learnings from Meta's AI strategy over the last six months that influenced shifts in talent acquisition and compute investment. He also requested more detail on how these factors are driving the OpEx and CapEx outlook for the next 12-18 months.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained that the rapid pace of AI progress has consistently validated aggressive timelines, prompting a focus on building elite, talent-dense teams and securing a leading compute fleet to pursue superintelligence. CFO Susan Li detailed that 2026 expense growth will be driven primarily by infrastructure depreciation and operating costs, followed by compensation for new AI talent. The 2026 CapEx increase is for scaling GenAI training capacity and supporting Core AI.

Eric Sheridan asked about the strategic decision to launch a stand-alone Meta AI app, how it might change user utility and scale compared to the integrated version, and how it is positioned against the competitive landscape of other consumer AI apps.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that Meta will pursue both integrated and stand-alone strategies. He explained that a stand-alone app offers faster access and a more built-out feature set, and will be particularly important for establishing leadership in the U.S. where Meta is not the primary messaging provider, unlike in other parts of the world where WhatsApp drives AI usage.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. asked for Meta's evolving perspective on the competitive dynamics of its open-source AI strategy and how this approach might lower costs and improve return on capital over the long term.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg compared the Llama open-source strategy to the Open Compute project, explaining that standardization drives down costs for the entire industry as supply chains adapt. He noted that as Llama becomes more widely used, it encourages optimization from silicon providers and developers. He also framed it as a matter of U.S. strategic advantage to have an American open-source standard, a conviction strengthened by recent global competition.

Eric Sheridan asked for deeper insight into the key learnings from Meta's business planning process, specifically regarding the biggest opportunities to apply AI across its platforms, products, and internal operations.

Answer

CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that AI is broadly applicable across the business, from enhancing core products like feeds and ads to enabling new services like Meta AI and business agents. He noted that while some opportunities like Meta AI are long-term, others in the core business offer strong near-term ROI. The goal is to invest appropriately to capture this very large opportunity.

Eric Sheridan asked about Chewy's evolving understanding of customer lifetime value (LTV) as Autoship and Chewy Plus scale, and how these learnings inform strategic growth initiatives for the next 12-18 months.

Answer

Sumit Singh, CEO of Chewy, explained that Autoship, Chewy Plus, and Chewy Vet Care (CVC) act as complementary flywheels, compounding Net Sales Per Active Customer (NSPAC), increasing retention, and reducing churn. He highlighted Chewy Plus's role in accelerating discoverability and NSPAC consolidation for mid-tier spenders, and CVC's expansion of the total addressable market (TAM) and creation of a health ecosystem, all supported by the mobile app, automation, and a robust data layer.

Eric Sheridan asked about Chewy's evolving understanding of customer lifetime value (LTV) as Autoship and Chewy Plus scale, and how these learnings inform strategic growth initiatives for the next 12-18 months.

Answer

Sumit Singh (CEO, Chewy) explained that Autoship, Chewy Plus, and Chewy Vet Care (CVC) act as intersecting flywheels, compounding Net Sales Per Active Customer (NSPAC), increasing retention, and reducing churn. He detailed how Autoship drives predictable revenue, Chewy Plus accelerates discovery of diverse offerings and NSPAC consolidation (especially for customers spending $300-$700), and CVC expands the Total Addressable Market (TAM) to health services while creating an ecosystem. He also highlighted the mobile app's role in driving direct traffic and personalized interactions.

Eric Sheridan asked about the balance between investing in net new customer growth versus reactivating former customers, and whether there were any noticeable behavioral differences across customer cohorts based on age or income.

Answer

CEO Sumit Singh highlighted that new investments like Chewy Vet Care clinics and programs like Chewy+ are proving effective at attracting new customers, while app enhancements are driving engagement across the board. Executive David Reeder added that customer cohort trends remain very strong and consistent with historical patterns, noting that newer cohorts are performing at or even above pre-COVID levels, with customers consolidating their share of wallet with Chewy as they mature.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs requested a deeper dive into Chewy's strategy for improving its mobile app experience and how evolving mobile consumer behavior could serve as a long-term growth driver.

Answer

CEO Sumit Singh explained that Chewy has intensified its focus on the mobile app in recent quarters, viewing it as a large, untapped opportunity. He noted that while less than 20% of orders currently transact through the app, the goal is to reach levels north of 60%, similar to comparable businesses. Key benefits highlighted include higher average order value, better customer retention in a closed-loop ecosystem, and more effective personalization.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about the necessary investments for the off-site advertising opportunity over a multi-year horizon and how conversations with advertisers are evolving for both on-site and off-site channels.

Answer

CFO David Reeder highlighted the successful migration to a first-party ad platform, which enables new formats and off-site capabilities. CEO Sumit Singh added that the company is rapidly opening up ad supply and that the new platform provides better ROI transparency and analytics for partners, leading to high utilization and strong demand that exceeds internal expectations.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the investment required for the off-site advertising opportunity, the evolution of conversations with advertisers, and any updated long-term views on sponsored ads as a percentage of the business.

Answer

CFO David Reeder highlighted the successful migration to a first-party (1P) platform, enabling new ad formats and off-site capabilities. CEO Sumit Singh added that Chewy is expanding ad supply to meet strong partner demand, driven by high ROI. He reaffirmed the long-term target of 1-3% of revenue, noting off-site ads will have high, albeit slightly lower, margins than on-site ads.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the necessary investments for Chewy's off-site advertising opportunity and the evolution of conversations with advertisers for both on-site and off-site platforms.

Answer

CFO David Reeder highlighted the successful migration to a proprietary ad platform, enabling new formats and off-site capabilities. CEO Sumit Singh added that Chewy is rapidly expanding its ad supply across categories and channels to meet strong advertiser demand, which is fueled by high ROI. He noted that while off-site ads have slightly lower margins than on-site, they still flow through at a high rate.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the necessary investments for the off-site advertising opportunity and the evolution of conversations with advertisers for both on-site and off-site platforms.

Answer

CFO David Reeder highlighted the successful migration to a proprietary 1P platform, which enables new ad formats and off-site capabilities. CEO Sumit Singh added that they are rapidly expanding ad supply and that partner demand is strong due to exceeding ROI expectations. He noted off-site ads will have high, albeit slightly lower, margins than on-site ads.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about the investment strategy for the off-site advertising opportunity and the evolution of conversations with advertisers for both on-site and off-site platforms.

Answer

CFO David Reeder highlighted the successful migration to a proprietary 1P platform, which enables new ad formats and off-site capabilities. CEO Sumit Singh added that Chewy is rapidly expanding ad supply to meet strong partner demand, maintaining high ROI expectations. He noted that while off-site ads will have slightly lower margins than on-site, they will still be highly accretive.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the investment required for the off-site advertising opportunity and how conversations with advertisers are evolving for both on-site and off-site ads, as well as the long-term potential for ads as a percentage of the business.

Answer

CFO David Reeder highlighted the successful migration to a proprietary ad platform, enabling new formats and off-site capabilities. CEO Sumit Singh added that Chewy is rapidly expanding ad supply across categories and channels, including social, while maintaining strong ROI for partners. He noted that while off-site ads have slightly lower margins than on-site, they still flow through at high margins, and the company remains on track for its 1-3% long-term target.

Eric Sheridan with Goldman Sachs inquired about Instacart's primary strategic investment areas across its technology stack, supply chain, and demand aggregation to fuel future growth.

Answer

CEO Chris Rogers outlined three key focus areas: enhancing affordability through loyalty and pricing strategies, accelerating enterprise platform expansion both domestically and internationally, and investing in the ads and data ecosystem, including on-platform innovation and off-platform partnerships.

Eric Sheridan asked about Instacart's biggest strategic investments across its technology stack, supply growth, and demand aggregation to drive future growth narratives.

Answer

CEO Chris Rogers outlined three key investment areas: affordability (loyalty, weekly flyers, price parity discussions), accelerating the Enterprise Platform (more storefronts, international expansion, cross-selling Caper/FoodStorm), and enhancing the ads & data ecosystem (on-platform innovation, off-platform partnerships, Carrot Ads, AI).

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about the competitive landscape, specifically how Instacart's expanding supply and enhanced consumer experiences are improving user conversion, order frequency, and long-term customer value.

Answer

CEO & Chair Fidji Simo explained that growth comes from both onboarding new retailers and deepening integrations with existing partners through services like EBT SNAP and alcohol delivery. She noted that these efforts, combined with new categories like restaurants via the Uber Eats partnership, are driving strong user growth, higher order frequency, and improved retention for new 2025 customer cohorts. Simo also highlighted that growing selection reinforces the value of the Instacart+ membership, leading to increased member growth and engagement.

Eric Sheridan asked about the cyclicality of Instacart's customer base given its household income composition and how the company would balance fixed versus flexible investments during a potential economic slowdown.

Answer

CEO Fidji Simo stated that Instacart's user base now mirrors the U.S. market across income levels, making it more resilient as groceries are an essential spend. CFO Emily Maher added that the company's strong balance sheet and profitability provide flexibility. She explained they have 'fast twitch' levers to adjust short-term spending while protecting long-term growth initiatives, and noted they have not yet seen signs of a weaker consumer.

Eric Sheridan inquired about how Instacart's platform is positioned for a mix of grocery-driven versus non-grocery-driven GTV growth, considering the user behavior changes observed in 2024.

Answer

CEO Fidji Simo explained that the introduction of non-grocery categories like restaurants creates a "halo effect" that strengthens the core grocery business by increasing user stickiness and the value of an Instacart+ membership. She emphasized that the verticals are synergistic and the company expects continued growth from their combination.

Eric Sheridan inquired about how Instacart's technology investments enhance scale and relationships with retailers, and asked for the key strategic tech priorities for 2025.

Answer

CEO Fidji Simo explained that deep retailer integrations are a primary growth predictor, citing the 150 new features built for Sprouts on a scalable platform that benefits the entire ecosystem. For 2025, she highlighted continued investment in restaurants, Caper smart carts, ad tech, and broader in-store technologies, all funded by operational efficiencies. Simo emphasized that these investments build on 12 years of specialized grocery data and integrations, creating a significant competitive advantage.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the long-term investment and execution duration required for Airbnb to achieve its international market expansion goals and increase business density beyond core markets.

Answer

Airbnb CFO Ellie Mertz explained that international expansion is a multi-year strategy with varying timelines per market, citing Latin America's multi-year success and Japan's more recent progress through consistent, localized investments.

Eric Sheridan asked about the expected duration and investment depth required for Airbnb's international market expansion goals over the next two to three years.

Answer

Ellie Mertz, CFO of Airbnb, stated that global market expansion efforts began in earnest two to three years ago with a localized approach. She highlighted Latin America as a successful early expansion market with significant and ongoing market share gains, while Japan, a more recent focus, is showing earlier progress. Each market has a different timeline, but investments are consistent.

Eric Sheridan asked about the marketing strategy for new offerings like Services and Experiences, the intensity of spend required, and the long-term evolution of marketing channels.

Answer

CEO Brian Chesky outlined a strategy to market a bundled offering of homes, services, and experiences to increase efficiency, with a channel shift from TV to social media. CFO Ellie Mertz clarified the $200 million investment in new businesses is for field operations and supply acquisition, not increased programmatic advertising, which remains stable as a percentage of revenue.

Eric Sheridan asked about the potential for using AI to drive internal efficiencies and improve margins, and whether Airbnb's capital allocation process might evolve in 2025 given its investment plans and margin trajectory.

Answer

CEO Brian Chesky addressed the AI question, highlighting customer service and engineering productivity as key areas for efficiency gains, though noting step-change improvements are still a few years away. CFO Ellie Mertz confirmed no meaningful change to the capital allocation strategy, which continues to prioritize core operations, M&A, and shareholder returns, suggesting 2024's repurchase volume is a guide for 2025.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs inquired about the medium-term growth drivers for Expedia Group's B2B segment, focusing on supply, partnerships, and the competitive landscape.

Answer

CEO Ariane Gorin highlighted the B2B segment's exceptional quarter, marking its 17th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, driven by strong supply, technology, and long-term partners. She outlined future growth building blocks including new and existing partner expansion, diversification into car rentals, advertising, and insurance, and noted the segment's geographic diversity with 65% outside the U.S.

Eric Sheridan asked about the building blocks for Expedia Group's B2B segment's medium-term growth, including supply, partnerships, and strategies for expanding the business amidst a competitive environment.

Answer

CEO Ariane Gorin highlighted that B2B's exceptional performance, with 17 consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, is driven by strong supply, technology, and long-term partner trust. She outlined future growth building blocks as a mix of signing new partners, growing existing ones, and expanding product offerings beyond lodging to include car rentals, advertising, and insurance. Gorin emphasized the business's diversification, with 65% outside the U.S. and a wide range of partner types.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about Expedia's long-term strategy for aligning growth investments with traffic dynamics, conversion, and inventory scaling.

Answer

CEO Ariane Gorin stated the company is well-positioned with its diversified portfolio of consumer and B2B brands and is actively integrating with AI partners to capture traffic shifts. She emphasized that improving supply, product, and loyalty aims to boost direct traffic. CFO Scott Schenkel added that direct and app traffic show continued strength and improved conversion, with social emerging as a strong channel.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked for a deeper dive into Expedia's AI strategy, inquiring about the biggest strategic investments planned over the next 12-18 months and how AI is expected to alter the consumer travel funnel.

Answer

CEO Ariane Gorin described AI as a major accelerator, similar to the advent of mobile. She outlined a four-pronged strategy: 1) enhancing products with AI-powered features, 2) driving traffic by appearing in new AI search experiences, 3) identifying new partnership opportunities, and 4) improving internal team effectiveness. She emphasized that while progress is significant, the company is still in the early stages of this transformation.

Eric Sheridan asked Bill Ready to characterize the broader digital ad environment in Q3 and the building blocks for Q4, specifically comparing UCAN's performance to global operations.

Answer

CEO Bill Ready highlighted strong Q3 revenue growth despite UCAN retailer pullbacks due to tariffs. He discussed the upside opportunity from AI-driven ad platforms like ROAS bidding and full-funnel attribution, noting a 40% increase in clicks to advertisers in Q3.

Eric Sheridan asked for a broader characterization of the digital advertising environment in Q3 and the building blocks for Q4, specifically comparing UCAN performance to global operations.

Answer

CEO Bill Ready characterized the digital ad environment as strong for Pinterest, achieving 17% revenue growth despite UCAN retailer pullbacks due to tariffs. He highlighted the ongoing optimization in AI ad platforms, including ROAS bidding, which has significantly increased shopping SKUs with paid impressions. Bill also noted the market-expanding effect of AI bidding alignment with advertiser measurement sources, which should benefit Pinterest's full-funnel platform in future quarters.

Eric Sheridan from The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. asked for an assessment of the current demand environment for digital advertising and how Pinterest is factoring in potential macroeconomic volatility.

Answer

CEO Bill Ready noted a more constructive environment in Q2 than initially expected. CFO Julia Donnelly added that strength in retail and financial services continued. She acknowledged some impact from tariff changes on U.S. spend from Asia-based retailers but noted this was offset by diversification to Europe and Rest of World. Donnelly stated that while some uncertainty persists into Q3, the environment is more constructive than feared.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked for a characterization of the current demand environment for digital advertising, given macroeconomic volatility, and the potential for budget shifts throughout the remainder of the year.

Answer

CEO Bill Ready noted a more constructive environment than expected. CFO Julia Donnelly added that retail and financial services remain strong. While some tariff-related uncertainty persists, the environment is better than feared, and the consistency in revenue growth highlights the business's resilience and durable growth drivers.

Eric Sheridan asked about the progress of Pinterest's product evolution, focusing on initiatives within the company's control and the advertising industry's receptivity to these changes.

Answer

CEO Bill Ready described a 'flywheel effect' where making Pinterest a shopping destination drives user engagement, which in turn provides unique signals for AI-powered ad tools like Performance+. He emphasized that this successful playbook is now being exported to international markets and that the company is still in the 'early innings' of this journey.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked for key takeaways from Pinterest's 2024 platform evolution and the top strategic priorities for 2025 based on those learnings.

Answer

CEO Bill Ready described 2024 as a transformative year with doubled revenue growth and record user numbers. For 2025, he outlined three priorities: 1) growing users and engagement through actionability and curation, 2) improving advertiser performance via tools like Performance+, and 3) diversifying demand with partners and resellers. CFO Julia Donnelly added that retail remains strong and emerging verticals like financial services and technology offer significant opportunity.

Eric Sheridan followed up on advertising, asking about the forward path to revenue growth and gross margin trajectory for ad-supported efforts, the impact of the current advertising environment on Q3 reported revenue growth, and how new DSP partnerships position the operation for growth in 2026.

Answer

Daniel Ek, CEO, clarified that the advertising business benefits from the SPP shift, which will continue through Q4. He noted that while the current ad environment is less of a focus due to the transformation's momentum, the goal is for auction-based revenue growth to surpass direct sales flatness. He expressed positivity about achieving healthy growth in H2 2026.

Eric Sheridan asked how investors should think about Spotify's efforts to scale video content and how critical video is to driving advertising growth.

Answer

Gustav Söderström, Co-President and CPTO, explained that Spotify's strategy is to follow user behavior, and users are increasingly watching video podcasts. He framed video as a very exciting opportunity due to strong user love, rather than a 'critical' necessity for the company's success, emphasizing that Spotify is a resilient company and is pursuing the opportunity because it is so promising.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs inquired about Spotify's capital allocation priorities, specifically the balance between investing in the business and initiating shareholder returns, and also asked for more detail on the strategy for the 'super fans' product tier.

Answer

CFO Christian Luiga clarified that the company's first priority is investing in the business for attractive returns, but will consider shareholders if excess capacity arises. CEO Daniel Ek added that 2025 will focus on music innovation, including a 'super fans' tier, to move beyond a one-size-fits-all product and cater to specific user subgroups.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs inquired about Spotify's strategy to mitigate the macroeconomic cyclicality of its advertising business, particularly regarding the role of programmatic advertising.

Answer

CFO Christian Luiga explained the strategy involves moving towards a more automated business to better meet external demand. He highlighted the rebranding of the self-serve platform to SPOT's Ads Manager and the pilot of the SPOT's Ad Exchange. He confirmed programmatic is a large part of the solution, alongside diversifying ad formats and improving measurement.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the key learnings from Etsy's loyalty program rollout, how these insights are informing the new beta iteration launching this week, and the long-term GMS opportunity associated with loyalty initiatives.

Answer

President and Chief Growth Officer Kruti Patel Goyal explained that initial loyalty program rewards drove adoption and increased frequency. The new Etsy Insider Loyalty beta program (version 2.0) focuses on frequent buyers with benefits like shipping discounts and Etsy credit on every purchase. CFO Lanny Baker highlighted the opportunity to increase GMS per buyer from the current $120 by improving purchase frequency and retention.

Eric Sheridan asked about Etsy's loyalty and rewards initiatives, specifically the key learnings from previous rollouts, how these inform the new Etsy Insider Loyalty beta program, and the long-term GMS opportunity associated with loyalty.

Answer

President and Chief Growth Officer Kruti Patel Goyal explained that loyalty is driven by personalization and the Etsy Insider Loyalty beta program. Learnings from the initial version showed that rewards drove adoption and uplifted engagement/purchasing frequency. The new version focuses on frequent buyers with benefits like shipping discounts and Etsy credit on every purchase, aiming for continued adoption, frequency, and renewal. CFO Lanny Baker added that the GMS opportunity lies in increasing purchase frequency from the current $120 GMS per buyer, leveraging personalization and incentives.

Eric Sheridan asked for key learnings from 2024 marketing initiatives and how they inform the planned 2025 spending shifts, particularly regarding the return profile of that spend.

Answer

CEO Josh Silverman detailed a full-funnel marketing strategy shift, moving from linear TV to connected TV and YouTube TV for brand campaigns, and increasing focus on mid-funnel opportunities for users in specific life moments. He highlighted using better machine learning (ML) to optimize bottom-funnel product listing ads (PLAs). CFO Lanny Baker added that while the company plans to keep marketing spend as a percentage of revenue stable year-over-year, they will increase spending if they can improve ROI, indicating potential variability.

Eric Sheridan asked for a big-picture view on how the browser environment will evolve with AI and inquired about the investment needs, including marketing and infrastructure costs, for the public launch of Opera Neon.

Answer

Co-CEO Song Lin described a future where the browser acts as the operating system for AI services, superior to cloud-only solutions by enabling native access to local files and premium content. He stated Opera is uniquely positioned due to its 300 million user scale. For monetization, he anticipates a hybrid model with free, ad-supported services and paid subscriptions for advanced AI capabilities, noting that the focus is currently on product-market fit.

Eric Sheridan requested deeper insight into the e-commerce opportunity, asking for details on its vertical and geographic exposure and the key factors involved in getting advertisers to increase their budget allocation to Opera's platform.

Answer

CFO Frode Jacobsen described the e-commerce opportunity as globally distributed and growing at over 100% year-over-year. He noted that it is becoming a sizable part of advertising revenue and emphasized that the U.S. e-commerce opportunity is still largely ahead for Opera, highlighting the benefit of an increasingly diversified partner base.

Eric Sheridan asked about the rise of Agentic AI and how Opera's investments could shape the product and platform's evolution in the coming years.

Answer

Co-CEO Lin Song explained that Opera is focused on leveraging its browser architecture to make AI agents more efficient for users, potentially 10x more than current methods. He also noted that AI is being integrated into internal workflows, such as ad creative generation and user intent categorization, which contributed to strong Q4 performance.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the strategic initiatives within Ibotta's control that need to be completed in 2025 and how that execution timeline aligns with clients' lumpy annual budget cycles.

Answer

Founder and CEO Brian Leach detailed three priorities: consolidating the sales reorganization, broadening the new go-to-market approach, and scaling the product tools for automation. He acknowledged that while client budget cycles vary, the full adoption process from pitch to scaled rollout can take 9-12 months per client, indicating a staggered implementation across the client base.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the early learnings from the Instacart integration, its potential as a future growth driver, and the strategy for integrating DoorDash into the platform.

Answer

Bryan Leach, Founder and CEO, explained that the Instacart partnership has shown attractive redemption rates and has successfully expanded into the alcohol category, though currently limited by state regulations. He noted that learnings from the Instacart rollout are being applied to the DoorDash integration, which benefits from less change management friction as DoorDash did not have a pre-existing promotions business. Mr. Leach expressed confidence in the steady progress and future growth from these key publisher partners.

Eric Sheridan asked about the receptiveness of typically slow-moving CPG advertisers to Ibotta's new initiatives and whether weak offer supply could hinder redeemer growth.

Answer

CEO Bryan Leach noted that senior-level engagement at CPGs is driving faster-than-usual adoption of the new measurement tools, citing a quick pilot-to-program timeline with two major clients. He and CFO Sunit Patel acknowledged that while weak offer supply can impact D2C user intensity, overall redeemer growth remains strong, particularly on the third-party network, which grew from 10.4 million to 15.4 million year-over-year.

Eric Sheridan asked about the pervasiveness of the CPG budget exhaustion issue across Ibotta's client base, whether the Q4 headwind could be quantified, and what the key technological or educational unlocks are for transitioning the industry to an 'always-on' spending model.

Answer

CEO Bryan Leach explained that the budget issue is not uniform but can be driven by a few large clients, making it difficult to quantify precisely. He identified three key unlocks for the 'always-on' transition: 1) a credible, real-time measurement framework for incremental sales, 2) sophisticated targeting to improve campaign efficiency, and 3) continued delivery of network scale.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the strategic impact of integrating established IP from partners like Disney and Dark Horse Comics onto the Webtoon platform. He specifically asked about the potential effects on user growth, monetization, and the underlying unit economics of these content agreements.

Answer

David Lee, CFO & COO, explained that the Disney collaboration is a major milestone that leverages Webtoon's strong Gen Z user base to introduce iconic franchises to a new generation. He emphasized the long-term strategic value for accelerating user growth and stated that the deals do not involve a significant deviation from their existing strong unit economics. Lee clarified that financial benefits are expected in the mid-to-long term and are not factored into the Q3 guidance.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the company's user growth initiatives for the remainder of the year, the associated investment cadence and margin impact, and the strategic importance of developing local content in key markets like Japan.

Answer

David Lee, CFO and COO, highlighted strong growth signals, particularly the 19% webcomic app MAU growth in the English-speaking platform. He stated that investments in content, product, and marketing will continue while maintaining positive adjusted EBITDA guidance for Q2. Lee emphasized the cross-border strategy, citing how Japanese content is now being exported globally and Spanish IP adaptations are succeeding, underscoring the critical role of local creators for both local and global growth.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the investments in users and creators mentioned in the shareholder letter, asking for details on how usability improvements and new formats could drive engagement and what this implies for investment levels.

Answer

David Lee, CFO and COO, stated that investments in product and marketing are being made while maintaining a commitment to positive adjusted EBITDA. He highlighted specific product innovations like revamped user onboarding, an AI personalization engine in Korea, and new business models like unlocking full series, noting their benefits would materialize post-Q1. Marketing investments are viewed as long-term drivers for engagement in key growth markets.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the potential scale and volume contribution from the Amazon partnership over the next few years and inquired about the geographic expansion and coverage of new AI solutions.

Answer

CEO George Chamoun and CFO Bill Zarella explained that they could not provide a specific forecast for the Amazon partnership, viewing it as a medium-to-long-term growth driver. They clarified that the financial impact of new initiatives like the Amazon partnership and Project Viper is not materially baked into the current year's guidance. Instead, the P&L is currently absorbing the investment costs, with revenue benefits expected to materialize more significantly in future years.

Eric Sheridan asked about the underlying assumptions for market share gains in the 2025 forecast and the company's philosophy on balancing achieving EBITDA targets versus reinvesting potential profit overperformance.

Answer

CEO George Chamoun stated that the forecast assumes a flat wholesale market with continued market share gains at the current pace, though new value-added services could accelerate growth. CFO Bill Zerella added that the company balances investment with earnings growth, noting the 150% projected improvement in adjusted EBITDA. He mentioned that historically, some overperformance has been passed through to the bottom line while still investing for future growth, a balance they feel good about for the initial 2025 guidance.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the strategy behind making ZipRecruiter content available to generative AI agents and how these new channels compare to traditional marketing in terms of traffic and conversion.

Answer

CEO Ian Siegel explained that being discoverable via AI interfaces is a core part of their strategy to meet job seekers wherever they are. He noted that while traffic from these sources is growing rapidly, it remains a small but high-quality portion of overall traffic, and ZipRecruiter's strong brand recognition helps convert these users.

Eric Sheridan asked for an assessment of the current competitive landscape and how it might evolve in 2025. He also inquired about ZipRecruiter's key AI initiatives for the upcoming year and their influence on strategic priorities.

Answer

CEO Ian Siegel stated that in the current environment, the key competitive battle is for job seeker market share, noting that ZipRecruiter's traffic growth is a leading indicator of future revenue share gains. Regarding AI, he explained that beyond their historical strength in AI-powered matching, the focus is now on improving the post-match experience. This includes using AI to enhance job descriptions, improve resumes, and prepare candidates for interviews, leveraging proprietary data to drive engagement between employers and job seekers.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the impact of Lyft's affordability-focused products on rider growth and frequency, and how the competitive landscape around affordability is evolving.

Answer

CEO David Risher reframed the concept from pure affordability to broader 'value to customer,' highlighting operational excellence (like reduced driver cancellations), product innovation (such as Price Lock), and value-added partnerships (Chase, DoorDash). CFO Erin Brewer added that affordability has long been part of Lyft's portfolio, noting strong Q2 growth in active riders and frequency with prices remaining relatively stable quarter-over-quarter.

Eric Sheridan asked for an update on Lyft's evolving strategy for partnering with autonomous vehicle (AV) companies like May Mobility and the potential impact on supply and demand dynamics in those markets.

Answer

CEO David Risher described AVs as an 'extraordinary opportunity' to add new supply and broaden use cases, referencing the upcoming May Mobility launch in Atlanta. He detailed Lyft's strategy to be the premier monetization platform for any AV supplier by leveraging its full value chain, including its FlexDrive fleet management subsidiary, and noted that suppliers will likely seek multiple partners.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about Lyft's accomplishments in improving driver supply and preference in 2024 and its strategic investment priorities for drivers in 2025.

Answer

CEO David Risher highlighted a 16-point driver preference gap over its largest competitor, driven by initiatives like the 70% earnings guarantee, improved support using AI, and partnerships for skill-building. He explained that these efforts lead to higher driver retention and lower acquisition costs. For 2025, the focus will be on a new rewards program to recognize great service, which is expected to have a large long-term financial impact.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the expected contribution of the DoorDash partnership to rider growth and how the autonomous vehicle (AV) strategy might alter future growth and margins.

Answer

CEO David Risher positioned the DoorDash partnership as a top-line driver for rider acquisition over time. He detailed the AV strategy, emphasizing Lyft's role as a partner of choice for demand generation, marketplace management, and fleet utilization, noting that asset utilization is key to AV unit economics.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked for clarification on Bumble's biggest priorities over the next 12-18 months and how the depth and duration of investments align with those priorities.

Answer

Founder & CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd identified the top priorities as product and technology, specifically building an AI-first, cloud-native 'Bumble 2.0'. She also highlighted trust and safety and the growth of Bumble for Friends (BFF) as key focus areas. She stressed that marketing investments would be used to amplify a strong product rather than compensate for a weak one.

Eric Sheridan asked about the role of AI within Bumble, focusing on its use for internal productivity and its potential to change the external dating experience through personalization.

Answer

Founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd detailed a four-part AI strategy: 1) enhancing safety and verification to improve profile quality, 2) coaching users to create better profiles, 3) modernizing the matching algorithm for more personalized and precise matches, and 4) driving internal operational efficiency. She emphasized that the core innovation lies in the power of the matching algorithm.

Eric Sheridan asked for Whitney Herd's perspective on the online dating industry's landscape and key learnings from the company's efforts to remove low-quality user profiles.

Answer

CEO Whitney Herd stated that while demand for love is strong, the industry needs to refocus on making the experience joyful and confidence-building. She emphasized improving match relevance and safety. Outgoing CEO Lidiane Jones added that significant investments have been made in security systems and policies, with upcoming features like ID verification and 'share my date' designed to enhance user trust.

Eric Sheridan asked about the key learnings from the Badoo app and how these insights are shaping the strategic priorities for that asset in the medium to long term.

Answer

CEO Lidiane Jones responded that a customer-centric approach, including a brand relaunch and revenue rearchitecture for Badoo, has yielded positive user engagement and ARPU benefits. She expressed optimism that with the right investments, Badoo can realize greater potential and serve a valuable, complementary customer base within the company's portfolio.

Eric Sheridan asked about the implementation timeline for key product initiatives aimed at improving the homeowner-pro match and how these would translate into revenue growth, exit velocity for 2025, and a growth framework for 2026.

Answer

CEO Jeff Kip detailed a multi-faceted product overhaul, including new Q&A tech and an online enrollment system, expecting over 80% implementation within a year. CFO Andrew Russakoff translated this into a financial outlook, projecting solid mid-single-digit revenue growth for 2026 with roughly flat contribution margins and modest adjusted EBITDA growth.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the current macroeconomic environment's impact on consumer spending in home services and the competitive landscape. He also asked for clarity on the 2025 margin framework, specifically how current investments in the platform are expected to yield growth in 2026 and beyond.

Answer

CFO Andrew 'Rusty' Russakoff addressed the macro environment, noting that while consumers pull back on large discretionary projects, they focus on necessary maintenance, which provides some countercyclical protection for Angi. He highlighted that their biggest competitor remains word-of-mouth and that pro acquisition becomes easier in weaker environments. Regarding margins, Russakoff explained that significant past investments in customer experience are now driving operating efficiencies and profit growth despite lower revenue. He stated that the company has reduced overhead by $100 million since 2022 and believes the current fixed cost base is sufficient to support a return to growth in 2026 with high incremental margins.

Eric Sheridan asked a high-level question about DoubleVerify's strategic alignment with the evolving digital landscape, particularly the shift of user engagement from the open web to walled gardens and AI-driven platforms.

Answer

CEO Mark Zagorski acknowledged the trend but stated that 'reports of the death of the open web have been greatly exaggerated,' pointing to DV's strong programmatic growth. He affirmed that DV's long-term thesis is based on this shift, which is why the company is doubling down on strategic growth areas like social, CTV, and retail media, where its role as an independent verifier is critical for advertisers.

Eric Sheridan asked for DoubleVerify's perspective on the opportunities and challenges from AI in the advertising ecosystem and how the company is aligning its strategy. He also requested a deeper look into the adjusted EBITDA margin trajectory for 2025 beyond Q1.

Answer

CEO Mark Zagorski stated that DV is heavily leveraging AI in its core products, including its Universal Content Intelligence and the Scibids optimization engine, and for internal efficiencies. CFO Nicola Allais explained that the 2025 margin trajectory will follow historical patterns, with growth through the year, and the 32% full-year guidance accounts for the dilutive impact of the near-breakeven Rockerbox acquisition and its integration costs.

Eric Sheridan inquired about trends in domestic sourcing and how Xometry might align its platform to benefit from any reshoring shifts. He also asked for details on the new, improved mobile experience for suppliers and its expected impact on platform friction and conversion.

Answer

CEO Randy Altschuler confirmed Xometry is expanding its domestic supplier base, which sources the majority of U.S. orders, and noted that while reshoring could be beneficial, it's too early to tell. President Sanjeev Singh Sahni explained the new mobile app is focused on the supplier experience, allowing them to view 3D files, share progress, and receive notifications, thereby improving engagement and data flow on the platform.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the strategic pathway to achieving a 30-40% international revenue mix and the foundational steps for implementing multimodal AI to enhance the buyer process.

Answer

CEO Randolph Altschuler explained that the international growth target will be met through continued expansion in EMEA, which recently hit a $100 million run rate, and a more meaningful contribution from the growing APAC region in 2025. He added that multimodal AI will allow customers to get instant quotes from 2D drawings, not just 3D CAD files, significantly reducing friction and expanding the addressable market for legacy parts.

Eric Sheridan asked for details on critical AI investments for 2025 and beyond, and how to think about incremental margins and operating leverage now that the company is approaching adjusted EBITDA breakeven.

Answer

CEO Randy Altschuler outlined a two-pronged AI investment strategy: launching more instantly quoted processes to attract new buyers and enhancing pricing and matching algorithms to improve profitability. CFO James Miln explained that having achieved breakeven ahead of schedule, the company expects to maintain 20%+ incremental adjusted EBITDA margins as it scales towards $1 billion in revenue. He emphasized that this leverage will be driven by gross margin expansion and efficiencies in variable spending, enabled by continued technology investments.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the drivers of marketing efficiency in the quarter and how eBay is strategically positioning itself for the rise of AI agents and agentic browsers for future traffic generation.

Answer

President & CEO Jamie Iannone explained that eBay benefited from a full-funnel marketing approach and saw efficiencies in lower-funnel channels due to competitive dynamics. Regarding AI, he outlined a strategy focused on being a destination for enthusiasts with unique inventory, value-added services like authentication, and developing eBay's own on-platform agentic capabilities to thrive in an agent-driven e-commerce future.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about consumer demand elasticity amid potential price increases from trade policies and how past economic cycles inform eBay's current outlook.

Answer

CEO Jamie Iannone explained that while the macro environment is uncertain, eBay is well-positioned due to its value proposition. He noted that in past periods of consumer pressure, buyers gravitate towards eBay's extensive non-new and pre-loved inventory, which makes up over 40% of goods. Iannone also highlighted that these environments can attract new sellers to the platform and that eBay's agile seller base can adapt quickly to changes.

Eric Sheridan asked for management's perspective on the overall health of the consumer across different income levels and geographies, and what the key building blocks are for sustaining focus category momentum into 2025.

Answer

CEO Jamie Iannone stated that the macro environment remains dynamic, with more resilient demand in the U.S. compared to weaker trends in the U.K. and Germany. He noted that more affluent customers continue to perform well, driving double-digit growth in collectibles. He highlighted continued innovation in P&A, collectibles (via PSA and TCGplayer integrations), and fashion (AI-powered discovery) as key drivers for sustained focus category growth.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the key investments required for long-term growth in services revenue and the potential future penetration of Seller Plus.

Answer

Micha Kaufman, Founder & CEO, stated that Fiverr expects services revenue to maintain healthy double-digit growth, driven by the expansion of value-added services like financial and productivity tools. He noted that synergies with AutoDS, such as the new AI-powered Shopify store builder, are also key catalysts. Kaufman added that Seller Plus adoption is increasing as freelancers recognize its positive impact on their business growth.

Eric Sheridan asked for more color on the idea that macroeconomic volatility could drive more enterprises to adopt freelancing. He also inquired about the medium-to-long-term outlook for marketing and R&D margins as sources of leverage.

Answer

CFO Ofer Katz explained that enterprises are increasingly using freelancers to fill skill gaps for critical projects, especially amid market volatility and new technology adoption. He also stated there is more room for margin expansion in both marketing and R&D, as marketing becomes more efficient with a focus on high-value buyers and R&D grows more slowly than revenue at scale. CEO Micha Kaufman added that focusing on high-value, mission-critical buyers reduces exposure to macro flatness.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the new Fiverr Go initiatives, asking how they are expected to improve conversion and top-of-funnel growth, and whether the required investments would pressure margins in 2025.

Answer

CEO Micha Kaufman explained that Fiverr Go is fundamentally a conversion tool, with its AI assistant providing instant client responses and its creation model giving buyers confidence in a freelancer's style. CFO Ofer Katz added that while investments in the product will continue, the 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance already incorporates these costs.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs inquired about consumer reception to the Madden and College Football bundle and the potential for Madden to expand as a global franchise.

Answer

CEO Andrew Wilson highlighted the success of the dual-purchase bundle and described the two games as a connected 'American football ecosystem' with a long-term vision for deeper integration. He sees significant global growth potential for Madden, drawing parallels to FC's growth in North America as the NFL's international popularity rises.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the key learnings from the extensive community testing of Battlefield and how those insights will shape its commercial success, and also asked to identify the growth investments for the title within the FY26 guidance.

Answer

CEO Andrew Wilson highlighted that 'Battlefield Labs' provided crucial feedback on map construction, weapons, and progression, ensuring the final product is aligned with community expectations. CFO Stuart Canfield clarified that the primary incremental investment in FY26 is the go-to-market marketing cost for the launch, as most R&D has already been expensed in prior periods, reflecting the company's disciplined cost management.

Eric Sheridan asked for perspective on the long-term cost curve for AI, considering the shift from training to inference and the rise of custom silicon, referencing recent news from China.

Answer

CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized Google's leadership on the cost-performance frontier due to its full-stack approach, including custom TPUs and models like Gemini 2.0 Flash. He noted that the proportion of spending on inference is increasing, which is a positive trend for ROI, and that lower costs will unlock more use cases, expanding the overall opportunity.

Eric Sheridan questioned how Google plans to differentiate its Gemini AI platform to drive consumer habits and asked which investments are considered fixed versus flexible if the macroeconomic environment were to worsen.

Answer

CEO Sundar Pichai explained that differentiation for Gemini comes from their frontier model progress with Gemini 2.5 Pro, which is seeing strong reception. He highlighted its integration into Search via AI Overviews and AI mode, as well as momentum in the Gemini app. CFO Anat Ashkenazi added that while the company plans to invest approximately $75 billion in CapEx to meet strong customer demand, they are focused on driving productivity and efficiency across the business to remain resilient regardless of macroeconomic conditions.

Eric Sheridan questioned the key learnings from Waymo's expansion into new cities and inquired about the evolving consumption versus monetization trends for YouTube Shorts.

Answer

CEO Sundar Pichai stated that Waymo has seen positive consumer adoption, surprising on the upside, and is accelerating its rollout through direct expansion and partnerships like Uber. CBO Philipp Schindler noted that YouTube Shorts watch time continues to grow robustly, and the monetization gap with in-stream video is significantly narrowing, particularly in the U.S.

Eric Sheridan asked for deeper insights into how enterprises are adopting AI through Google Cloud and about the consumer appetite for YouTube's various subscription products.

Answer

CEO Sundar Pichai described AI as a significant long-term driver for Cloud, highlighting that over 2 million developers are using Gemini tools, though unlocking full value will take time. CFO Ruth Porat confirmed that subscription revenue growth remains strong, led by YouTube TV and YouTube Music Premium, despite a growth rate deceleration from anniversarying a prior price increase.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs inquired about the key remaining investments needed to scale inventory for the Connected Trip and how its go-to-market strategy might evolve to capture a larger travel basket share.

Answer

CEO Glenn Fogel explained that the Connected Trip requires continuous supply expansion across all verticals, with the critical factor being the use of data and AI for personalization. CFO Ewout Steenbergen added that payments are a crucial strategic underpinning, improving economics by acquiring multi-vertical customers once, which increases their loyalty and direct booking behavior.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the key remaining investments needed to scale inventory for the Connected Trip and how the go-to-market strategy for this comprehensive offering might evolve.

Answer

CEO Glenn Fogel explained the focus is on continuously expanding selection across all verticals and using data science to personalize offerings, noting Connected Trip transactions grew over 30% YoY. CFO Ewout Steenbergen added that payments are a crucial strategic underpinning and the model is economically favorable, as it lowers customer acquisition costs and increases loyalty.

Eric Sheridan asked if Booking is shifting its investment focus to capitalize on changing travel behaviors and for more detail on the 'successful experimentation in traditional marketing channels' that improved performance.

Answer

CFO Ewout Steenbergen stated that the company is not making major short-term shifts in its long-term investment strategy, continuing to focus on its transformation program and reinvestments in areas like attractions and GenAI. He clarified that the marketing comment referred to finding new opportunities with positive, albeit lower-than-average, ROIs that are still above the company's floor, allowing for capturing more traffic economically.

Eric Sheridan asked management to reflect on past fixed investments that have yielded strong returns and to discuss the long-term potential for margin expansion as the company moves beyond its current investment cycle.

Answer

CFO Ewout Steenbergen highlighted successful investments in flights, payments, and geographic expansion, funded by operating leverage from slowed hiring and other efficiencies. CEO Glenn Fogel added that the foundational investment to shift from an agency to a merchant model was critical for the long-term connected trip vision and is now showing benefits.

Asked about the long-term impact of AI on search monetization models and the evolving mix of advertising versus subscription revenue for YouTube.

Answer

Sundar Pichai stated that monetization will naturally follow the evolution of organic user experiences, similar to past innovations. Philipp Schindler affirmed the company's commitment to a dual strategy for YouTube, growing both advertising and subscription revenues by offering more choice to users.

Eric Sheridan asked about the key learnings from partnering with Netflix for game distribution and the potential for expanding that partnership to transform Take-Two's gaming IP into video content.

Answer

President Karl Slatoff described the partnership as fantastic, citing Netflix's seriousness about gaming and its massive consumer reach as a recipe for success. He confirmed they are open to bringing more titles to the platform. Regarding other media, he noted they are already doing a 'BioShock' movie with Netflix, viewing such synergies as a 'nice to have' but not the primary driver of the partnership.

Eric Sheridan asked for an updated view on expanding the company's sports portfolio and whether consumer behavior is shifting to be more receptive to new IP versus established franchises.

Answer

CEO Strauss Zelnick noted that while there are selective opportunities in sports, the company has significant growth potential within its current portfolio. On new IP, he stressed its critical importance for long-term value, stating that the company must take creative risks to avoid stagnation, and pointed to recent mobile hits as evidence of success.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the scope for growth in users, engagement, and monetization when viewed geographically, comparing the international opportunity versus the U.S. market over the next 12 to 18 months.

Answer

CEO George Arison explained that growth is product-led, with new features designed to attract more users both domestically and internationally. He identified significant opportunity abroad, where brand awareness is lower, noting that improved localization is a key long-term strategy. CFO Vanna Krantz added that the product roadmap is resonating globally, as evidenced by steadily increasing payer conversion rates in every region.

Eric Sheridan asked a high-level question about the signals management looks for to accelerate product innovation from beta to wider release. He also asked for an update on the advertising business, specifically how much of the ad tech stack build-out is complete versus still ahead.

Answer

CEO George Arison outlined a philosophy of releasing minimum viable products, tracking usage metrics, and gathering user feedback, while using new app sections like the 'Discover' tab for experimentation to avoid disrupting core features. CFO Vanna Krantz addressed the ad tech question, stating that while performance is strong, 'we still have a long way to go on advancing our ad tech,' indicating significant work remains ahead to introduce new formats and increase CPMs.

Eric Sheridan asked about the company's investment strategy for the next 12-18 months, seeking to distinguish between fixed, essential investments and areas with flexibility to protect margins during a potential economic slowdown.

Answer

Executive Patrick Thompson responded that the company operates a lean model but prioritizes keeping its core team intact through market cycles to capitalize on recoveries. He referenced the playbook from 2022-2023, which involved cutting non-essential costs while continuing selective hiring to support business needs, ensuring the company remains well-positioned for market upswings.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about key initiatives to expand the platform's appeal beyond P&C and inquired about the primary strategic investments planned for 2025 to drive growth and operating leverage.

Answer

Executive Steven Yi highlighted that while P&C and Medicare remain massive opportunities, the company is investing in other verticals like commercial insurance and its agent business. For strategic investments, he emphasized a focus on bolstering data science capabilities to improve efficiency for both publishers and advertisers.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked for more detail on how the current macroeconomic environment could act as a tailwind for the business, particularly for the merchant supply pipeline. He also questioned the dynamics behind marketing ROI, asking to distinguish between internal optimization efforts and external market factors.

Answer

CEO Dusan Senkypl explained that in a volatile macro environment, merchants are increasingly drawn to Groupon's performance-based platform, leading to a stronger supply pipeline and faster inflow of new brands. Regarding marketing, he noted the strategy is to maintain a 100% ROI in a 7-day window on new customer acquisition. He stated that improved conversion rates are allowing for increased marketing spend at the same ROI, and the company is now exploring new channels like social media.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the key investments needed to drive higher purchase frequency, how purchasing behavior varies by vertical, and for examples of how enterprise clients are utilizing the Groupon platform.

Answer

CEO Dusan Senkypl detailed plans to boost purchase frequency with 'WOW deals,' particularly in food and drink, offered shortly after a customer's first purchase. He explained that enterprises are increasingly using Groupon as a pure performance-based marketing channel, which is highly attractive for businesses with fixed costs or membership models. The primary bottleneck for scaling this segment is improving technical integration capabilities with these large partners.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked for clarification on the scope of the company's bid for TikTok and for an updated outlook on incremental margins and operating efficiency.

Answer

Executive Adam Foroughi clarified their proposal is for TikTok's global business outside of China, arguing that operational control is necessary to address national security concerns, a task he believes their AI expertise makes them uniquely suited for. Executive Matt Stumpf discussed margins, stating they expect to maintain a lean operating model. He projected costs would remain relatively flat, with the exception of variable data center costs, which should allow for continued margin expansion as revenue grows.

Eric Sheridan asked about the level of investment required for the 'personalizing ad experiences' initiative and how investors should track its implementation and rollout.

Answer

CEO Adam Foroughi described the initiative as a core R&D effort focused on using generative AI to automatically create numerous variations of ad creatives. He acknowledged the complexity, especially for video and interactive formats, but confirmed it's a key focus for the year. He suggested its impact would be visible through improved consumer response and ad performance once deployed.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs inquired about the macroeconomic assumptions embedded in the full-year guidance and the potential monetization vectors for Upwork's AI products, such as driving new client growth, increasing volumes, or enabling pricing power.

Answer

CFO Erica Gessert clarified that the guidance balances positive impacts from product enhancements against slight macro headwinds affecting top-of-funnel activity. CEO Hayden Brown detailed a dual AI strategy: providing skilled AI talent, which commands premium rates, and integrating the 'Ooma' AI assistant to make the platform more efficient, which is already boosting metrics like proposal volumes and hiring rates.

Eric Sheridan asked about the biggest opportunity to structure on-platform activity to improve the user funnel and monetization, and for an update on the use of richer media formats like video in advertising.

Answer

CEO Steve Huffman identified the key opportunity as building better products for 'seekers'—users who come to Reddit for answers, not just community conversation. COO Jen Wong added that while video is supported, the platform is 'media agnostic,' delivering strong results across formats. They are focused on making all creative types easier to use and optimize.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. inquired about Reddit's international strategy, asking to contrast the runway for user growth and monetization density in international markets versus the more mature domestic business.

Answer

CEO Steve Huffman noted that with a 50/50 US/international user split compared to peers' 80-95% international mix, there is a massive user growth opportunity abroad, driven by product quality, machine translation, and in-country community building. COO Jen Wong added that the ad platform is global, and revenue follows users. She highlighted strong growth in EMEA and noted that international ARPU is a fraction of the U.S., indicating significant monetization headroom.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the key medium-to-long-term investments and unlocks needed to scale performance measurement and capture more direct response advertising budgets.

Answer

COO Jen Wong outlined three key areas: 1) Driving CAPI adoption for better measurement, 2) Improving automation and simplicity to make performance tools accessible to smaller advertisers, and 3) Building out shopping capabilities, which is a longer-term journey involving catalog ingest and dedicated machine learning models.

Eric Sheridan asked about the critical investments pressuring incremental margins in 2025 and what areas could potentially lead to outperformance on margin guidance.

Answer

CFO Matt Skaruppa identified the marginal AI cost for Duolingo Max as the single largest investment impacting the pace of margin expansion, followed by front-loaded hiring and marketing spend. He emphasized the current priority is driving Max adoption, not cost optimization. Potential upside to margin guidance could come from AI costs declining faster than anticipated.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked about the key learnings from Playtika's direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategy as it scaled in 2024 and the expected evolution of the DTC channel mix through 2025.

Answer

Robert Antokol, Co-Founder and CEO, stated that the company is on track with its three-year DTC revenue targets and noted the 8% year-over-year growth for the channel. He highlighted the recent successful expansion of the DTC strategy to more games and emphasized that DTC is viewed as a primary growth engine for EBITDA, enabling more direct engagement with players.

Eric Sheridan asked about the Q1 2025 guidance, seeking to understand the incremental operating leverage and how revenue growth translates to adjusted EBITDA, given the company's cost structure and key investment initiatives.

Answer

CFO David Longo explained that Chegg's model is highly efficient, with an incremental million dollars in sales dropping approximately $900,000 to the bottom line. He noted that investments in product initiatives, like the comparison tool and next best actions, are expected to drive engagement and retention, while increased marketing is aimed at bringing traffic back to the site for acquisition growth.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about the balance between making critical long-term investments and the near-term need to reduce the company's overall cost structure amid current headwinds.

Answer

President and CEO Nathan Schultz responded that the company remains committed to its multiyear strategic plan outlined in June, focusing on differentiation against generic AI. He emphasized that cost reductions are a refocusing of priorities, not an abandonment of strategy. Key investment areas include the content satisfaction guarantee, brand marketing campaigns like 'small steps, Big Wins,' and evolving the product into high-value use cases like practice and solution comparison to build a personalized learning journey.

Eric Sheridan asked a two-part question regarding long-term strategy: first, about key initiatives to broaden the platform's appeal beyond P&C, and second, about the key strategic investments in platform or product planned for 2025 to drive growth and operating leverage.

Answer

Executive Steven Yi emphasized that P&C and Medicare remain the largest growth opportunities. Beyond these, he noted investments in other verticals like commercial insurance and a focus on expanding into the agent-based carrier market. For strategic investments, Yi highlighted a significant focus on bolstering data science capabilities to drive greater efficiency for both publishers and advertisers.

Eric Sheridan asked about Yelp's ability to proactively drive demand in the challenged Restaurant, Retail & Other (RR&O) segment and the key investments required to sustain growth in the high-performing Services business.

Answer

COO Jed Nachman stated that while Yelp continues to invest in products for RR&O, the primary focus is on the Services segment, where the company is better positioned to drive demand. CEO Jeremy Stoppelman highlighted the strong momentum in Services, driven by Request-a-Quote growth, the multi-location opportunity, and expansion into new categories like auto services following the RepairPal acquisition.

Eric Sheridan requested a deeper analysis of the grocery business, asking about key learnings from the past year and the primary investment areas planned for 2025 to unlock further growth.

Answer

CEO Tony Xu explained that grocery delivery is still nascent and the main focus is on fundamental product improvements, particularly in order accuracy. Key learnings include that customers are graduating to larger basket sizes and that grocery partners see DoorDash as a source of incremental demand. The top priority remains perfecting the core product experience.

Eric Sheridan of Goldman Sachs asked about strategic and investment priorities for 2025 and what actions GoodRx can take to counteract retail headwinds, such as platform repositioning or consumer education.

Answer

CFO Karsten Voermann highlighted the power of GoodRx's affordability promise. He explained the strategy involves bringing brand pharma's various affordability programs to the retail counter and investing in technology to create a better consumer product experience (e.g., pre-order, pickup, pre-pay), which helps retailers and captures incremental volume.

Eric Sheridan from Goldman Sachs asked for key learnings from the company's increased marketing intensity this year, questioning what strategies are working and whether any shortfalls are due to execution or the broader consumer environment.

Answer

CFO Kimball Shill explained that after previously pulling back too far on marketing, the company is now reinvesting to regenerate enthusiasm. While overall top-line growth has not yet materialized, he cited improving key metrics like traffic to Cricut.com as evidence of progress. Shill mentioned the use of a multimedia mix model to optimize spend by channel and stated that the company is confident enough in the data to continue the elevated spend into 2025, viewing it as a long-term investment. CEO Ashish Arora also noted that this increased traffic and awareness is expected to drive conversion during the promotional Q4.

Eric Sheridan inquired about alternative go-to-market strategies beyond paid marketing, such as partnerships with commerce platforms or the creator economy. He also asked about capital allocation priorities, given the company's increasing cash balance.

Answer

CEO Ashish Arora noted that the platform's appeal is broadening and that current platform investments are being made with a view toward future monetization models, including the creator economy. CFO Kimball Shill clarified that recent high cash generation was largely due to inventory reduction. He stated the capital allocation framework remains focused on funding operations, investing for growth, keeping dry powder for potential M&A, and returning capital to shareholders via buybacks and dividends.

Eric Sheridan inquired about the current competitive landscape and whether it had evolved as expected in 2024. He also asked for key learnings from the 2-10 acquisition regarding the strategy of pursuing inorganic growth versus building capabilities organically.

Answer

CEO Bill Cobb stated that while competitors have responded to Frontdoor's aggressive discounting, the company feels it is in a strong competitive position. Regarding M&A, CFO Jessica Ross and CEO Bill Cobb emphasized that the immediate priority is the successful integration of 2-10. Cobb noted it is a 'heavy lift' and that while they will continue to evaluate opportunities, the focus for the near future is on absorbing the acquisition and returning cash to shareholders via buybacks.