BuzzFeed - Earnings Call - Q3 2025

Executive Summary

• Q3 2025 revenue was $46.3M and diluted EPS from continuing operations was -$0.20; revenue missed Wall Street consensus ($54.7M*) and EPS missed (-$0.06*) as softness in direct-sold ads/content and lower affiliate bonuses weighed on results.
• Management lowered full-year 2025 guidance to revenue of $185–$195M and Adjusted EBITDA of breakeven to $10M, citing near-term advertising and commerce challenges and studio timing lumpiness.
• Positive indicators: Adjusted EBITDA remained positive ($0.8M, 1.6% margin), direct traffic mix improved to 63%, and BuzzFeed remained #1 among Gen Z/Millennials in its competitive set; these support the strategic pivot to owned distribution.
• Near-term stock reaction catalysts: the revenue/ EPS miss and guide-down contrasted with management’s expectation for Q4 seasonal step-up (Black Friday/Cyber Monday commerce), plus a promised update on R&D initiatives (BF Island) next quarter.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

• Adjusted EBITDA remained positive despite revenue pressure ($0.8M; 1.6% margin), reflecting ongoing cost discipline and a leaner operating structure.
• Continued audience quality/ownership progress: 63% of BuzzFeed.com traffic from direct visits/internal referrals/apps (up from 61% in Q2), and HuffPost homepage referrals now at 75% of traffic, reinforcing reduced platform dependency.
• Management emphasis on product innovation and controlled distribution: “I’m spending more of my time in the lab as we build new products for this direct audience” — Jonah Peretti, CEO; “We expect a seasonal step-up from Q3” — Matt Omer, CFO.

What Went Wrong

• Revenue fell 17% YoY; segment declines were broad: Advertising -11%, Content -33%, Commerce & other -15%; Adjusted EBITDA fell to $0.8M from $8.1M in Q3 2024.
• Management tied weakness to softer direct-sold demand and reduced affiliate partner bonuses (including Amazon), plus tough comps against last year’s presidential election cycle elevated engagement.
• Total U.S. Time Spent declined YoY to 68.5M hours from 80.3M (election-cycle comp), while EPS was negative (-$0.20) and net loss from continuing operations was -$7.4M.

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the BuzzFeed Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Juliana Clifton, Vice President of Communications. Please go ahead.

Juliana Clifton (VP of Communications)

Hi, everyone, and welcome to BuzzFeed's Third Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. I'm Juliana Clifton, VP of Communications for BuzzFeed. Joining me today are CEO Jonah Peretti and CFO Matt Omer. Before we begin, please note that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Risks and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in our Q3 2025 earnings release and in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and our Q3 2025 quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

During this call, we present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures, including Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin. The use of non-GAAP financial measures allows us to measure the operational strength and performance of our business, to establish budgets, and to develop operational goals for managing our business. We believe Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are relevant and useful information for investors because they allow investors to view performance in a manner similar to the method used by our management. A reconciliation of these GAAP to non-GAAP measures is included in today's earnings press release, which is available now on our investor relations website. I'll turn the call over to Jonah now.

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Q3 was a challenging quarter with near-term headwinds that impacted our results. Revenue declined driven by softer advertising demand, a decrease in affiliate partner bonuses, and tougher comparisons against last year's presidential election cycle. Despite a revenue decline, we still expect to deliver positive Adjusted EBITDA for the full year with a step-up in Q4 driven by seasonal strength in commerce and advertising. This is a direct result of the transformative work we've done to build a leaner, more resilient business model. Our audience metrics continue to show strength. BuzzFeed remained number one among Gen Z and millennials in our competitive set, with 10.7 million hours of time spent with this audience in Q3, up 25% from Q2. Our flagship BuzzFeed brand also remains the number one brand in our competitive set in Q3, generating 37.2 million hours of U.S.

Time spent, growing 4% year over year. Among Gen Z and millennial audiences, BuzzFeed was up 6% from Q2. Direct traffic, direct visits, internal referrals, and app usage now accounts for 63% of BuzzFeed.com traffic, up from 61% in Q2, reinforcing our reduced platform dependency. Similarly, the HuffPost homepage drives exceptional traffic. Homepage views and referrals now account for 75% of total huffpost.com traffic, up from 70% a year ago. We're also making significant progress on various R&D projects. I've been spending more of my time in the lab, and I'm excited to give a larger update on the next earnings call on what we've been building with the team. Now I'll pass to Matt, who will walk you through the Q3 financials.

Matt Omer (CFO)

Thank you, Jonah. As Jonah mentioned, Q3 was a challenging quarter, and I want to provide some additional context to the numbers before walking through the details. Total revenue for the quarter was $46.3 million, down 17% year over year from $55.6 million in Q3 2023. This decline was driven by three factors: continued softness in direct-sold advertising and content, a decline in affiliate bonuses from our commerce partners, and a difficult year-over-year comparison given the elevated engagement and spend during the presidential election cycle in Q3 2020. Despite these revenue headwinds, we've maintained our focus on cost discipline and operational efficiency. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $753,000 compared to $8.1 million in Q3 2023. While this represents a significant decline, it's important to note that we remained Adjusted EBITDA positive despite the decline, a testament to the lean operating structure we've built.

Now let me walk through the revenue categories in more detail. Advertising revenues totaled $22.2 million compared to $24.8 million in Q3 2024, down 11%. Direct-sold advertising declined to $5.1 million, driven by continued market softness in this category. Content revenue totaled $7.2 million compared to $10.7 million in Q3 2024, a decline of 33%. Direct-sold content fell by $2.6 million-$5.9 million, reflecting muted demand for branded content partnerships. Studio revenue declined modestly to $1.3 million. It is worth noting that in Q3 2024, it included a non-recurring data license deal, which makes the year-over-year comparison particularly difficult. Studio revenue will continue to vary quarter to quarter based on project timing and delivery schedules, but we remain confident in the long-term trajectory of this business as we build out our IP portfolio.

Commerce and other revenues totaled $17 million compared to $20.1 million in Q3 2024, a decline of 15%. Organic affiliate commerce declined by $2.8 million-$16.8 million. This was primarily driven by a decline in supplemental bonuses from affiliate partners, including Amazon, as they continue to refine their commission methodologies. It's worth noting, however, that year-to-date organic affiliate revenue is essentially flat year over year. On the audience engagement side, total U.S. time spent across our properties was 68.5 million hours compared to 80.3 million hours in Q3 2024. This decline was largely expected as Q3 2024 benefited significantly from elevated news consumption during the presidential election cycle. On a sequential basis, time spent was relatively stable compared to Q2 2025, as we continue to see strong engagement metrics among our most loyal users.

Looking at the first nine months of 2025, total revenues reached $128.7 million compared to $133.7 million in the first nine months of 2024, a decline of 4%. Net loss from continuing operations was $30.5 million compared to $29.8 million in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA losses improved to $3.2 million compared to losses of $5.5 million in the first nine months of 2024, an improvement of 42%. This year-to-date performance reflects the ongoing transformation of our revenue mix, with growth in programmatic advertising and studio revenue partially offset by declines in direct-sold categories. Looking ahead, we are reducing our full-year 2025 guidance by approximately $10 million to reflect the softness in Q3 and our cautious approach to Q4 2024 results. We now expect revenue in the range of $185 million-$195 million and now expect Adjusted EBITDA in the range of break-even to $10 million.

This revised outlook reflects the near-term challenges in advertising and commerce, as well as the lumpiness in studio project timing. However, we remain committed to improving net income from continuing operations and achieving Adjusted EBITDA profitability for the full year. We continue to believe that our strategic focus on owned distribution, scalable revenue streams, and new innovation on initiatives position us well for long-term value creation. As we head into Q4, we're focused on executing against our seasonal strengths, particularly in affiliate commerce during key shopping windows like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, while continuing to invest in the foundations for future growth. Thank you for joining us today. I'll hand the call back to the operator now.

Operator (participant)

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the program. You may now.