Executive Summary

Q2 2025 delivered strong execution: revenue rose 53% year-over-year to $19.0M, sequentially up 26%, with record net income of $0.8M and record adjusted EBITDA of ~$3.0M, both above guidance .
AI data/video licensing was the key driver: licensing revenue reached $9.3M, “significant new business” from AI partners; subscription revenue was also $9.3M, down YoY but up sequentially with new wholesale deals and Prime Video/DIRECTV expansions .
Balance sheet remains solid: $30.7M cash/restricted/HTM securities and no debt; ordinary and special dividends in Q2 totaled $10.4M, and the Board declared a $0.08/share Q3 dividend .
Guidance: Q3 2025 revenue range $15–$18M and FY 2025 adjusted free cash flow $11–$13M; Q2 results exceeded prior Q2 guidance ($16–$17M revenue; $2–$3M adjusted FCF) .
Potential stock narrative catalysts: accelerating AI licensing with repeat hyperscale partners, expanding distribution (Prime Video AU/NZ; DIRECTV SVOD/FAST), and management’s confidence in being a leading licensor of premium video for AI training .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

AI licensing scaled materially for the third consecutive quarter, powering record profitability: “Adjusted EBITDA grew by over $4M YoY… to positive $3.1M” and licensing revenue reached $9.3M, up >$8M YoY .
Distribution footprint expanded: new/expanded multiyear wholesale agreements in Asia/LatAm; Prime Video add-on launches across Europe earlier and AU/NZ in August; DIRECTV multi-tier deal in the U.S. (SVOD + FAST) .
Management tone and strategic conviction: CEO reiterated intent to be among dominant licensors of video for AI training, citing a curated million+ hours corpus and superior data structuring capability (clipping/indexing/labeling/annotating at scale) .

Quote: “We will be the or among the dominant licensors of video for AI model training.”

What Went Wrong

Subscription revenue declined YoY by $1.7M, highlighting continued pressure in core D2C/partner distribution even as it improved sequentially .
Cash cost of revenue increased due to revenue-share content licensing growth and storage, modestly offsetting content amortization reductions; gross margin improved only ~80bps YoY to 53.4% .
Operating expense discipline continued, but ad/marketing + G&A still totaled $9.7M in Q2, reinforcing a need to maintain cost rationalization while scaling AI licensing and distribution initiatives .

Financial Results

Quarter-over-Quarter Comparison (oldest → newest)

Metric	Q1 2025	Q2 2025
Revenue ($USD Millions)	$15.090	$19.012
Net Income ($USD Millions)	$0.319	$0.784
Diluted EPS ($USD)	$0.01	$0.01
Gross Profit ($USD Millions)	$8.0	$10.1
Gross Margin %	53.1%	53.4%
Adjusted EBITDA ($USD Millions)	$1.102	$3.022
Net Cash from Operating Activities ($USD Millions)	$1.922	$2.789
Adjusted Free Cash Flow ($USD Millions)	$2.005	$2.861

Year-over-Year Highlights (Q2)

Metric	Q2 2024	Q2 2025
Revenue ($USD Millions)	$12.395	$19.012
Net Income ($USD Millions)	$(2.031)	$0.784
Gross Profit ($USD Millions)	$6.4	$10.1
Gross Margin %	51.6%	53.4%
Adjusted EBITDA ($USD Millions)	$(1.005)	$3.022
Adjusted Free Cash Flow ($USD Millions)	$2.462	$2.861

Segment Breakdown (Q2 2025)

Segment	Q2 2025 ($USD Millions)
Licensing	$9.3
Subscription (D2C, partner direct, bundled)	$9.3

KPIs (operational/financial)

KPI	Q1 2025	Q2 2025
Cash, restricted cash & HTM securities ($USD Millions)	$39.1	$30.7
Debt	$0	$0
Ordinary Dividend Paid ($USD Millions)	$2.277	$4.6
Special Dividend Paid ($USD Millions)	—	$5.8
Total Ad & Marketing + G&A ($USD Millions)	$7.9	$9.7

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Revenue	Q2 2025	$16–$17M	Actual: $19.0M	Raised/Beat
Adjusted Free Cash Flow	Q2 2025	$2.0–$3.0M	Actual: $2.861M	Met/High end
Revenue	Q3 2025	N/A	$15–$18M	New
Adjusted Free Cash Flow	FY 2025	N/A	$11–$13M	New
Quarterly Dividend	Q3 2025	$0.08/share (from Q2 board decision)	Declared $0.08/share	Maintained

Note: Non-GAAP definitions and reconciliation provided; adjusted FCF excludes purchases of property/equipment, restructuring, and nonrecurring license payments .

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q4 2024)	Previous Mentions (Q1 2025)	Current Period (Q2 2025)	Trend
AI data/video licensing	Licensed >2M programs/clips; building high-volume corpus	Licensed millions of programs for AI; added 210k+ hours	“Third straight quarter” expanded licensing; licensing revenue $9.3M; focus on structuring metadata at scale	Accelerating
Distribution partnerships	FAST expansion in 12 countries; Hispanic FAST channels	Curiosity University on Roku; launches across Americas	New wholesale agreements Asia/LatAm; Prime Video AU/NZ; DIRECTV SVOD + FAST; Samsung TV Plus Spain	Broadening
Subscription trajectory	Cost rationalization; foundation strengthened	Positive margin expansion; D2C enhancement	Sub revenue sequentially up; new multiyear wholesale deals to support growth	Stabilizing to growing
Cost discipline	OpEx reduced 17% YoY in 2024	Ad+G&A down 11% YoY	Ad+G&A $9.7M; continued rationalization; storage costs rising	Improving, with mix shifts
Balance sheet/capital returns	Cash/securities $39.7M; dividend to $0.16/year	Dividend doubled to $0.32/year	$30.7M cash/securities; paid $10.4M total Q2 dividends; declared $0.08/share Q3	Ongoing returns

Management Commentary

CEO on AI licensing durability and moat: “We will be… among the dominant licensors of video for AI model training… our ability to clip, index, label, and annotate at scale… makes content we supply that much more valuable” .
CFO on composition and margins: “Revenue led by content licensing… $9.3M… subscription revenue… $9.3M… gross margin was 53%… cash cost of revenue increased… from growth in licensing via revenue share and storage costs” .
Strategic positioning: “Our strong balance sheet… $31M in liquidity and no debt… our library of over 1,000,000 of video, and our $0.32 annual dividend position us as a high performance outlier amid a historical technological revolution” .

Q&A Highlights

Strategic rationale for staying in core media while scaling AI licensing: management emphasized three pillars (subscription, licensing, advertising) working “hand in glove” to source content and monetize across channels .
Cost implications of licensing pivot: incremental costs mainly storage/delivery; content acquired largely via rev-share, keeping margins attractive (~40–50% on partner content; 100% when owned) .
Novel data licensing: management licensed ~9M “tokens of code” alongside video/audio/scripts/study guides; underscores value of owning diverse IP for monetization as AI needs evolve .
Organization efficiency: “a tight company of ~42 full-time people… $1.5 to $2.0M per employee in revenue” target for 2025 .

Estimates Context

Results vs S&P Global Wall Street consensus:

Q2 2025 revenue: Actual $19.012M vs Consensus $16.650M* — bold beat driven by AI licensing strength and repeat customers .
Q2 2025 EPS: Actual $0.01 vs Consensus -$0.005* — bold beat as mix shifted to higher-margin licensing and disciplined OpEx .
Q1 2025 revenue: Actual $15.090M vs Consensus $14.800M* — beat .
Q1 2025 EPS: Actual $0.01 vs Consensus -$0.02* — beat .

Metric	Q1 2025 Actual	Q1 2025 Consensus*	Q2 2025 Actual	Q2 2025 Consensus*
Revenue ($USD Millions)	$15.090	$14.800*	$19.012	$16.650*
EPS ($USD)	$0.01	-$0.02*	$0.01	-$0.005*

Values retrieved from S&P Global.*

Implications: Consensus likely to move higher on revenue and EPS given outperformance and sequential momentum from licensing; watch for definition differences on EBITDA (company reports adjusted EBITDA, while consensus may vary).

Key Takeaways for Investors

AI licensing is becoming a core earnings engine, delivering record profitability and sequential growth; further scaling expected with repeat hyperscale demand and superior data structuring capabilities .
Subscription stabilizing with sequential improvement and meaningful wholesale deals; additional distribution via Prime Video and DIRECTV enhances reach and monetization across SVOD and FAST .
Q2 beat on revenue/EPS vs consensus underscores positive estimate revisions risk; monitor Q3 revenue range ($15–$18M) and FY adjusted FCF ($11–$13M) as baseline for modeling .
Margins improving modestly; note rising cash cost of revenue from rev-share/licensing/storage; continued OpEx discipline remains crucial to sustain profitability .
Capital returns continue alongside growth investments; $0.08/share dividend declared for Q3 and special dividend paid in Q2 signal confidence and balance sheet strength ($30.7M cash/securities; no debt) .
Strategic moat: curated million+ hours corpus, rights-cleared content, and metadata “on steroids” position CURI favorably vs large studios and peers in AI video licensing .
Near-term trading: AI licensing headlines and distribution wins are the likely catalysts; medium term, watch durability/recurrence of data licensing, subscription trajectory and advertising ramp for multi-pillar growth .

CuriosityStream Inc. (CURI)·Q2 2025 Earnings Summary