Gaia - Earnings Call - Q3 2025

Executive Summary

• Q3 2025 delivered 14% Y/Y revenue growth to $24.98M, with gross margin up 30 bps to 86.4%; EPS was ($0.05), flat Y/Y, and free cash flow positive for the 7th straight quarter.
• Versus S&P Global consensus, EPS slightly beat (actual -$0.0435 vs -$0.0475*) while revenue modestly missed (actual $24.98M vs $25.23M*); price increases dampened member growth and Igniton’s limited Q3 contribution likely tempered upside.
• Management launched a proprietary “AI Guide” in beta (early engagement trends positive) and reaffirmed a focus on high-value direct subscribers (third-party channels have ~2x churn and ~½ revenue per sub).
• Outlook: “Low double-digit” revenue growth for FY25 reiterated; similar growth expected in 2026; mid‑April 2026 $2 price increase contemplated; content spend planned up ~23% Y/Y, with pure content around ~$15M.
• Near-term stock catalysts: AI Guide rollout and engagement uplift, execution on direct-channel mix, planned 2026 price increase, and scaling of Igniton with ~82% GM and ~$3M run‑rate commentary into 2026.

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

• What Went Well

  • Continued double-digit top-line growth: revenue +14% Y/Y to $24.98M; gross margin expanded to 86.4% (+30 bps Y/Y).
  • Positive FCF sustained (7th consecutive quarter): Q3 FCF $0.89M; cash rose to $14.16M with a fully available $10M credit line; credit line renewed for three years with improved terms.
  • AI Guide launched in beta with “encouraging” engagement; management expects higher ARPU and lower churn from AI and community initiatives: “Our feeling is RPO will increase, and churn will decrease.”.

• What Went Wrong

  • Revenue modestly below consensus ($24.98M actual vs $25.23M*), despite solid Y/Y growth; management flagged slower member growth post pricing and a measured Igniton launch (only ~3 weeks selling on Marketplace in Q3).
  • Operating loss persisted: loss from operations of $(1.24)M; net loss attributable to common $(1.15)M, with content and strategic investments continuing.
  • Continued reliance on direct channel due to third‑party inefficiencies (higher churn, lower revenue per sub); near‑term subscriber growth may trail revenue growth when pricing increases are enacted.

Transcript

Speaker 3

Good afternoon. Welcome to Gaia's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Joining us today from Gaia are Jirka Rysavy, Executive Chairman, Kiersten Medvedich, CEO, and Ned Preston, CFO. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. Before we begin, Gaia's management team would like to remind everyone that management's prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements, and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions, including, but not limited to, statements of expectations, future events, or future financial performance. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and therefore, undue reliance should not be placed upon them. Although we believe these expectations are reasonable, Gaia management undertakes no obligation to revise any statements to reflect changes that occur after this call. Actual events or results could differ materially.

These statements are based on current expectations of the company's management and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including those identified in the risk factors section of Gaia's latest annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. All non-GAAP financial measures referenced in today's call are reconciled in the company's earnings press release to the most directly comparable GAAP measure. This call also contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the time and date of this broadcast, November 3rd, 2025. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being webcast, and a recording will be made available for replay on Gaia's investor relations website at ir.gaia.com. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Gaia's chairman, Jirka Rysavy. Please go ahead.

Speaker 6

Good afternoon, everyone. During the third quarter, we grew our revenue 14%. Our gross margin improved an additional 30 basis points to 86.4% from 86.1% a year ago quarter. The member count at the same period grew to 883,000. A year ago, we raised our subscription prices for most of our members by $2. While the losses from the price increase resulted in lower member growth, our revenue grew to $100 million run rate, or $25 million during the quarter, up from $22 million in the last year quarter. Our annualized gross profit per employee increased to $814,000, up from $703,000 in a year ago quarter, which was obviously driving further improvement in our free cash flow. The value of our subsidiary Igniton using pricing from its recent fundraising, it's about $106 million. Valuing Gaia's two-thirds ownership interest in Igniton, it's about $71 million.

Igniton products are now available on Gaia Marketplace. You can get more information on igniton.com. The Gaia cash position improved significantly to $14.2 million from $4.4 million a year ago. Now, Kiersten will speak more about business. Kiersten.

Speaker 5

Thank you, Jirka. Last week marked an important step in Gaia's evolution as we continue moving from a traditional SVOD model to an AI-forward company, one that brings together conscious media, community, and technology. We launched our new AI Guide in beta to our direct members, and the early results have been very encouraging. Session depth and repeat usage are both trending upward, confirming what we believed from the start, that Gaia's curated content library, paired with our customized AI, creates a truly distinctive and engaging experience. Now, as we move toward full rollout, this experience will expand to include personalized guidance, contextual recommendations, and integrated chats across both app and web. Beyond helping members discover content that fits their evolving interests, our AI acts as a research companion, helping members find what's relevant to them faster while keeping the experience fresh and evolving.

This direction reflects our commitment to grow in step with our members and the world around us, integrating intelligent technology in service of human potential and positioning Gaia at the leading edge of how people connect, how they learn, and transform in an increasingly digital world. AI will also play a central role in how we express our brand. It will become an integral part of our marketing, helping people discover Gaia, understand our mission, and meet them where they are on their spiritual path. In addition to AI, we're actively developing Gaia's community platform. While we're not ready to share specifics yet, we plan to launch next year. Our vision is for members to explore, learn, transform, and then naturally find their community of like-minded individuals to learn and share together.

We expect 2026 to be a key transition year for us, focused on advancing the technology and infrastructure that will deliver outstanding value to our direct Gaia.com members. This work will position Gaia for the next stage of growth as we fully integrate content, community, and AI into a seamless, cohesive experience. As part of this evolution, we're also reframing how we define success. Traditional viewership metrics no longer capture the actual depth of connection we're building. With the intersection of AI, content, and community, engagement actually becomes a true measure of value. This shift better reflects our mission, our technology, and the growing resonance within our direct member base. That being said, our third-party members don't have access to these new AI or community features as they're not supported on external platforms.

With churn nearly double on the larger platforms and revenue per subscriber roughly half compared to our direct members, we believe our focus is better spent on deepening those direct member relationships. Going forward, we'll prioritize revenue and members with higher RPO. Today, about two-thirds of our direct members have been with Gaia for more than a year, and that number continues to grow. This ongoing loyalty strengthens our foundation and positions Gaia for greater long-term profitability. Now, over to Ned to talk about the financials.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Kiersten. For the third quarter of 2025, Gaia delivered revenue of $25.0 million, up from $22.0 million, or 14% year over year, driven by growth in both RPO and member count. Total members increased in Q3 to 883,000. Gross profit increased 14% to $21.6 million from $19.0 million in Q3 of 2024, with gross margins expanding to 86.4%, up from 86.1%. Net loss was negative $1.2 million, or negative $0.05 per share, versus negative $1.2 million or negative $0.05 per share in Q3 of 2024. Operating cash flow was $0.3 million, with free cash flow of $0.9 million, representing the seventh consecutive quarter of positive free cash flow and further reflecting ongoing operational discipline. For the first nine months of 2025, free cash flow was $3.2 million, up from $1.8 million during the same period of last year.

Our cash balance increased to $14.2 million as of September 30th, 2025, up from $4.4 million a year ago with a fully available $10 million line of credit. In July, Gaia also renewed its credit line for an additional three years with improved terms, including a lower interest rate and a wider range of permitted use. The company's financial position continues to strengthen with double-digit revenue growth, improving margins, and a growing cash balance through accelerating cash flow generation. We have all of this with zero debt outside of the mortgage on our campus, which we are in the process of renewing by the end of this year. In summary, we continue to manage costs carefully and maintain healthy margins while investing in the strategic areas that will create long-term value for shareholders. I will now turn the call back over to Jirka.

Speaker 6

For the summary, we expect our annual growth rate for this year to be in the low double digits and similar, probably, revenue growth for the next year. We're continually increasing our RPO and obviously generating a positive free cash flow. This concludes our remarks. I would like to open the call for the question, operator, Sachi.

Speaker 5

Thank you. At this time, we'll open the line for questions from the company's publishing analysts. If you would like to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star two if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up set before pressing the star keys. One moment, please, while we pull for questions. The first question is from Ryan Myers from Lake Street Capital. Please go ahead.

Hey, guys. Thank you for taking my questions. First one for me, you called out some losses from the customers on price increases. Just curious what the churn number was during the quarter and kind of how that compares to what churn is historically.

Speaker 6

For the price increases, you can roughly figure out you lose about half of the price increase as additional churn because you increase prices. There are definitely some people, they kind of respond to it, but you get the delta about half of it. We kind of view it positively. That is where we kind of expect it. Based on their experience, we probably do another price increase next year. The churn, we do not really use a specific number because we try to do it, and everybody does it different. Like for, let's say, Netflix, if the customer comes back in 10 months, it is the same customer. For us, it is a different customer. Pretty much 80% of losses happen for six months. The numbers on its own do not really make sense.

Okay. Fair enough. With the AI offering that you guys talked a little bit about, how do you think that changes the core subscription model? Any additional details on that, I think, would be helpful.

Speaker 5

I think keep in mind it's still in beta, but it is considered a conversational experience that will connect our members with the right content, and the interaction will now be measured as an engagement. Our feeling is RPO will increase, and churn will decrease.

Okay. Got it. Lastly, did you guys see any significant growth in the Igniton offering on the actual Gaia Marketplace?

Speaker 6

We did not really launch Igniton on Gaia Marketplace till after Labor Day. We started, I think, selling it, so we have only like three weeks in the quarter. It went pretty well. Obviously, there is no cost to that. We probably sold about $300,000. It also was a new item. It is still for Igniton, it is to kind of stabilize all the lines. We find different outside fulfillment houses and stuff, and they will probably continue till end of the quarter, fourth quarter. I do not expect really push revenue in Igniton for this year until next year.

Okay. Got it. Thank you for taking my questions.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Ryan.

Speaker 5

The next question is from George Kelly from Roth Capital Partners. Please go ahead.

Speaker 0

Hey, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions.

Hey, George.

Just a couple. Hi. First, just a couple of follow-ups from the prior questions. It sounded like you're a little uncertain about taking pricing, core subscription pricing early next year. Did I hear that right? Is that still in the plan? If so, how much do you plan to take?

Speaker 6

Our plan is to go probably somewhere in mid-April time for another $2.

Speaker 0

Okay. Okay. Understood. There was also a discussion on the call about, with your AI features really prioritizing the direct channel. How should we think about that as far as partner marketing spend and you just allocating sort of marketing resources behind partners? Is there going to be some churn or some slower growth by channel next year as you sort of really emphasize the direct? How is that going to—I mean, how are you thinking about subscriber growth next year with those kind of changes?

Speaker 6

If we're going to raise prices, it's typically the most of the hit you take the months you introduce it because all the monthly, which is like half of the business monthly subscription compared to annual, it will kind of decide if they will continue or not. That's typically—I said about. If we don't raise the prices, the revenue growth and member growth is as a percentage about same. If we do price increase, the member growth, it's maybe half of the revenue growth. You're going to—I assume that's what we saw this year. That's what we're going to see next year.

Speaker 5

We continue to see challenges with advertising efficiencies and targeting on our third-party platforms, which we can't fully control. Our focus will remain on sustainable, profitable member growth and not short-term volume.

Speaker 0

Okay. Then.

Speaker 6

That's because if you have go-to third party, the churn is more than double of ours, and the revenue would be booked as half of ours. It is really what we need: one person for the same revenue, just one person. On our direct rather than four on outside parties. That is what she meant by the higher value members.

Speaker 0

Okay. Understood. Still on the core business. As you improve the sort of curation tools and you're discovering—I know it's still early days, but you're discovering sort of what people are most interested in wanting and learning about. Do you expect to raise your content spend, or do you think it's in a good place where it sits now?

Speaker 5

No, we are raising our content spend about 23% from the prior year, so we will continue to make more content.

Speaker 0

Next year, I'm just thinking of our numbers. I mean, next year, what's a good kind of ballpark? Maybe you're not ready to give that, but how should we think about content spend next year?

Speaker 5

We're not ready to give that, but I could say it's 23% more.

Speaker 6

No, I mean, and then a rough figure because we're going to right now look at engagement, which includes community and AI. But if you would strip that and just look at pure content investment, probably about $15 million.

Speaker 0

Okay. Okay. And then just a last one for me, just back to Igniton. I thought that the official big launch was in September. It sounds like maybe you're pushing it out a little bit. What have you seen? Did you put much marketing pump behind it in September? Or is there any more detail you can give there? And that's all I had. Thank you.

Speaker 6

All we did to put it in Gaia Marketplace and sent email to Gaia members. We didn't do any marketing push. We probably won't do anything till our Christmas time.

Speaker 0

Okay. Thanks.

Speaker 5

The next question is from Jim Sidoti from Sidoti & Company. Please go ahead.

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking the question. Jirka, I think I heard you say the Igniton revenue was about $300,000. Was that for the month or for the quarter?

Speaker 6

No, that was just the Igniton product on Gaia Marketplace. The revenue for the quarter was, I think.

Speaker 1

No, about.

Speaker 6

That's from the product. Yeah, probably 700.

Once this is fully launched, do you think this is an over $3 million a year product?

We expect to be pretty much close to it in this year.

Close to $3 million in 2025?

Well, yes.

Okay.

Speaker 1

Yeah. So hey, Jim, I can get into it in a little more detail. Actually, for this year, it's going to be on a run rate of around $3 million. For this year, because we launched it kind of two-thirds of the way through the year, we'll finish this year about, approximately half of that. Heading into 2026, I think that's when you would expect the higher number.

What will the impact on gross margin be?

Speaker 6

It's run right now about 82%, so it's slightly below the 86% Gaia does.

Okay. But still a pretty healthy gross margin?

Yes.

Okay. All right. In terms of the AI, can you just kind of detail how do you monetize that? Is that going to be greater member retention or help support the price increases? What is the ultimate goal of the AI investment?

There are several of them, but I kind of believe it would have pretty good engagement on its own because we see some people really spend more time on search through the AI. We spend a lot of time incorporated a lot of ancient books and videos from our side. It is quite different than other AIs could be. It is really proprietary. It will really function also as a search for Gaia for all the videos. If you ask any questions, we will recommend videos, which we have on the topics. That is really the kind of main function. Based by early indication, it was a good call because the engagements are already very good and increasing.

Okay. Thank you.

We launched it like a week ago. Yeah.

Right. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Jim.

Speaker 5

At this time, this concludes our question and answer session. I'd like to turn the call back over to Mr. Rysavy for his closing remarks.

Speaker 6

Thank you, everyone, for joining. We look forward to speaking with you when we report our fourth quarter results, which will be in early March next year. Thank you.

Speaker 5

Thank you for joining us today for Gaia's third quarter 2025 earnings conference call. You may now disconnect.