Executive Summary

Kubient’s Q4 2021 revenue was approximately $0.85M, up sequentially vs Q3 ($0.68M) but down year-over-year vs Q4 2020 ($1.10M). Full-year 2021 revenue was $2.74M, slightly below 2020 ($2.90M). Management cited a late-Q4 legal settlement and fees that prevented hitting EPS targets, and emphasized progress on DSP integrations and Managed Services expansion .
Strategic wins: acqui-hire of MediaCrossing to build Kubient Managed Services (KMS), CTO hire (Mitchell Berg), DSP expansion (Yahoo extension; direct partnership with MediaMath), and Verve Group partnership to enhance supply transparency and fraud reduction .
Product strategy pivot: KAI (fraud prevention) will be bundled into the Audience Marketplace rather than sold standalone, aiming to accelerate monetization by channeling brand budgets through Kubient’s pipes .
Liquidity remains strong with $24.9M cash at 12/31/21 (vs $28.7M at 9/30/21), providing runway to fund go-to-market, hiring, and M&A initiatives .
Street consensus from S&P Global for Q4/FY 2021 was unavailable for KBNT; we could not benchmark against estimates. Management commentary suggests operational milestones and partnerships as the near-term stock catalysts in lieu of numeric guidance .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well
- Signed and expanded key partnerships: Yahoo DSP extension and a direct partnership with MediaMath, plus Verve Group to increase access to premium inventory and reduce fraud—broadening advertiser reach and supply quality .
- Organizational build-out: acqui-hired MediaCrossing to scale Managed Services and appointed CTO Mitchell Berg to accelerate development and talent attraction .
- Strategic focus sharpening: decision to bundle KAI within the Audience Marketplace based on brand feedback, expected to speed budget flow through Kubient’s platform. “People don’t want to use KAI in somebody else’s platform. They want to use it natively in Kubient’s marketplace” .
What Went Wrong
- YoY revenue decline in the seasonally strong Q4: ~$0.85M vs $1.10M in Q4 2020, despite sequential improvement vs Q3 2021 ($0.68M) .
- Profitability pressure: management cited a late-Q4 legal settlement and related legal fees that prevented hitting cost and EPS targets; FY GAAP net loss was $(10.29)M (EPS $(0.75)) .
- KPI normalization: direct publisher partnerships decreased from 3,568 in Q2 to 3,270 in Q3 as KAI identified and removed fraudulent sites; while healthy for quality, it reduces near-term inventory breadth .

Financial Results

Revenue progression and comparisons

Metric	Q4 2020	Q2 2021	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
Revenue ($USD Millions)	$1.10	$0.50	$0.68	$0.85 (approx.)
QoQ Growth	—	—	+36% (calc. $0.68/$0.50−1)	+26% (calc. $0.85/$0.68−1)
YoY Growth	—	—	—	−23% (calc. $0.85/$1.10−1)

EPS and profitability snapshot

Metric	Q4 2020	Q2 2021	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
GAAP EPS	$(0.28)	$(0.12)	$(0.16)	n/a (not disclosed; mgmt cited legal settlement impact)
Loss from Operations ($M)	n/a	$(1.73)	$(2.33)	n/a
Operating Margin %	n/a	−349% (calc. $(1.7348)/$0.4976)	−344% (calc. $(2.3303)/$0.6770)	n/a
FY GAAP EPS	—	—	—	$(0.75) (FY21)

Cash and liquidity

Metric	6/30/21	9/30/21	12/31/21
Cash & Equivalents ($M)	$30.46	$28.75	$24.91

KPIs and operating metrics

KPI	Q2 2021	Q3 2021	Q4 2021
Direct publisher partnerships (#)	3,568	3,270 (down due to KAI fraud removals)	n/a
Audience Cloud impression opportunities (QoQ change)	+54.6% vs Q1 2020	+156% vs Q2 2021	n/a
KAI audits	13 scheduled in Q2; 27 scheduled in H1	8 performed in Q3; 14 YTD performed	n/a

Notes: Q4 2021 EPS and detailed margins were not disclosed in the press release or call; management indicated legal settlement costs in Q4 impacted EPS .

Guidance Changes

Kubient did not provide formal numeric guidance. Management emphasized operational execution (DSP integrations, bundling KAI, CTV expansion) and continued M&A evaluation without giving revenue/margin targets .

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Revenue	FY 2022	n/a	No formal guidance	Maintained no guidance
Margins/OpEx/Tax	FY 2022	n/a	No formal guidance	Maintained no guidance

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q-2: Q2 2021; Q-1: Q3 2021)	Current Period (Q4 2021)	Trend
KAI strategy	Q2: Strong demand for KAI audits; product momentum	Bundling KAI into Audience Marketplace to accelerate monetization; brands prefer native execution	Pivot to bundled model
DSP/partners	Q3: Verve Group partnership; marketplace access expansion	Yahoo DSP extension; direct partnership with MediaMath; plan to leverage partner client lists for outreach	Broadening demand access
Hiring/talent	Q2: Added senior operators; ongoing selective hires	38 FTEs; CTO hire; targeting demand-side sales; plan toward ~50 FTEs by early Q4’22	Scaling team
M&A	Q2: Executed LOI; active pipeline	Acqui-hired MediaCrossing; evaluating larger opportunities given market shifts	Increasingly strategic
CTV focus	—	Entering CTV due to higher CPMs and fraud risk; integrating with key CTV platforms	New channel expansion
Fraud/quality	Q3: Reduced publisher count to remove fraud; KAI audits rising	Continued emphasis on KAI as differentiator and revenue driver	Ongoing quality-first approach
Geo/operational risk	—	Terminated Russia-based contractors; replaced with US resources without dev impact	Risk mitigation

Management Commentary

“We beat our revenue target for the fourth-quarter and full-year by achieving approximately $850,000 and $2.7 million respectively… if not for the disclosed legal settlement and associated legal fees incurred towards the tail end of Q4, we believe that we would have also hit our overall costs and EPS target” — Paul Roberts .
On KAI bundling: “What we’ve been hearing from the brands… ‘Can we just buy the media through your audience marketplace?’… People don’t want to use KAI in somebody else’s platform. They want [to] use it natively in Kubient’s marketplace” — Paul Roberts .
On DSP strategy: “Once we… get the sign off of… MediaMath… and… Yahoo… we then request the list of all the brands [and] agencies… That’s basically our list of go-to people to call…” — Paul Roberts .
On CTV: “We have to follow where the brand dollars are going… CPMs… are at a much higher premium… and there’s also a huge issue with digital fraud within CTV” — Paul Roberts .
Organizational updates: “We now have a total of 38 valued employees… we have decided to no longer work with any contractors based within Russia… [which were] replaced… without experiencing any drop in development progress” — Paul Roberts .

Q&A Highlights

Hiring and OpEx trajectory: 38 FTEs currently; targeting near ~50 by early Q4’22, balancing organic hiring with potential overlap from M&A to manage OpEx prudently .
DSP activation ramp: After securing DSP integrations (e.g., Yahoo, MediaMath), Kubient will directly target end-buyers on those platforms to channel spend into the marketplace .
Product packaging: KAI is now bundled into the Marketplace based on brand demand for native execution; focus is on driving media dollars “through our pipes” rather than standalone KAI sales .
CTV entry: Prioritizing integrations with platforms like Roku/Hulu; sees higher CPMs and material fraud issues that align with KAI differentiation .
M&A pipeline: Broader opportunities given tighter private/public funding markets; evaluating larger, strategic deals to add headcount, revenue, and technology .

Estimates Context

We attempted to retrieve S&P Global (Capital IQ) consensus for Q4 2021 and FY 2021 revenue and EPS; a CIQ mapping for KBNT was unavailable, so Street consensus could not be obtained. As a result, we cannot quantify beats/misses vs consensus for this quarter [GetEstimates attempt failed].

Key Takeaways for Investors

Sequential revenue acceleration continues, but Q4 remained below the elevated Q4 2020 COVID/election comp; sustaining growth now hinges on converting DSP integrations and KAI-bundled offering into spend inflows .
Expense discipline is a focus following a one-time legal settlement in Q4; watch 2022 OpEx trajectory as hiring scales and M&A opportunities potentially add headcount .
Strategic pivot to bundle KAI in the Marketplace is designed to shorten sales cycles and capture more media dollars; evidence of traction would be rising quarterly revenue and improved unit economics .
Demand-side access expanded (Yahoo, MediaMath), which should aid pipeline build; execution now requires sales motion into DSP client lists and case studies demonstrating KAI impact .
CTV represents a high-CPM, fraud-prone channel aligned with Kubient’s differentiation; integration progress and initial CTV revenue contributions will be key proof points .
Balance sheet provides flexibility (cash $24.9M at year-end) to fund GTM and selective M&A; investors should monitor cash burn vs revenue ramp as the model scales .
Absence of numeric guidance and unavailable Street consensus shift focus to operational KPIs (DSP activation, Managed Services growth, CTV traction) and disclosed quarterly revenue cadence as primary near-term stock drivers .

Sources:

Q4/FY2021 8-K and press release, including financial statements and operational highlights .
Q4 2021 earnings call transcript (prepared remarks and Q&A) .
Q3 2021 8-K press release and financials .
Q2 2021 8-K press release and financials .
Q4 2020 8-K press release (YoY reference) .

Kubient, Inc. (KBNT)·Q4 2021 Earnings Summary