ZT
ZoomInfo Technologies Inc. (ZI)·Q1 2025 Earnings Summary
Executive Summary
- Q1 2025 delivered better-than-expected results versus company guidance: revenue $305.7M, adjusted operating income $100.9M, adjusted diluted EPS $0.23; revenue and AOI came in above the high end of guidance, EPS at the high end .
- Upmarket mix reached 71% with upmarket revenue growth of 3% YoY; $100k+ ACV customers rose to 1,868 (+108 YoY) and net revenue retention improved sequentially while rounding to 87% .
- FY 2025 guidance raised at the low end for revenue to $1.195–$1.205B and adjusted EPS increased to $0.96–$0.98 (driven by share count reductions); AOI and UFFCF maintained; Q2 2025 guide: revenue $295–$298M, AOI $101–$104M, adjusted EPS $0.22–$0.24 .
- Strategic catalysts: launch of Go-To-Market Studio (GTM Studio) and change of trading symbol to “GTM” effective May 13, 2025, reinforcing platform repositioning toward enterprise go-to-market intelligence .
What Went Well and What Went Wrong
What Went Well
- Upmarket momentum: upmarket grew 3% YoY and now represents 71% of ACV; enterprise wins include Stripe deploying Copilot across 300+ sellers and expansions at Intuit and other large logos . “ZoomInfo will be synonymous with enterprise go-to-market… much like Workday for HR and ServiceNow for IT” .
- Product innovation: launched GTM Studio to unify first- and third-party data and orchestrate revenue plays, positioning ZoomInfo as “the only vendor with natively integrated data orchestration, AI and frontline execution” .
- Strong cash generation and capital returns: CFFO $119.2M and UFFCF $124.5M; repurchased 8.6M shares for $95.0M at $11.05 average, with additional repurchases post-quarter and $543M authorization remaining at Q1 close .
What Went Wrong
- Top-line contraction persists: GAAP revenue declined 1% YoY, and adjusted operating income fell 15% YoY; adjusted operating margin compressed to 33% from 39% YoY .
- Downmarket headwinds: downmarket declined 10% YoY; management continues to intentionally shrink and “qualify risk out” of this cohort, implying ongoing drag to consolidated growth in 2025 .
- Cautious outlook despite beats: management layered incremental caution into Q2 and FY guidance due to macro uncertainty (not company-specific demand issues), limiting flow-through from the Q1 beat .
Financial Results
Segment/KPI breakdown:
- Upmarket vs Downmarket growth (Q1 2025 YoY): Upmarket +3% ; Downmarket −10% .
- KPI trajectory:
- $100k+ ACV customers: 1,809 (Q3’24) → 1,867 (Q4’24) → 1,868 (Q1’25) .
- Upmarket ACV mix: 71% (Q1’25) .
- Net Revenue Retention: “stable” (Q3’24) → 87% (Q4’24) → improved sequentially while rounding to 87% (Q1’25) .
- RPO and Unearned Revenue: RPO $1.13B with $837M current; unearned revenue $484M (Q1’25) .
Guidance Changes
Earnings Call Themes & Trends
Management Commentary
- “We delivered another consecutive quarter of better-than-expected financial results… Much like Workday is synonymous with Enterprise HR and ServiceNow for Enterprise IT, ZoomInfo will be synonymous with enterprise go-to-market” (Henry Schuck) .
- “GTM Studio… positions us as the only vendor with natively integrated data orchestration, AI and frontline execution” (Henry Schuck) .
- “Operating cash flow was $119M in Q1 and unlevered free cash flow… $125M… We expect to continue to primarily use the cash flow we generate to retire shares” (Michael O’Brien) .
- “Down market will be more reactive to macro slowdown… we feel… in probably the best shape… upmarket/downmarket mix perspective to weather something” (Michael O’Brien) .
- “The upmarket business is meaningfully more profitable than our downmarket business” (Henry Schuck) .
Q&A Highlights
- Copilot enterprise rollouts: Management is increasingly adept at navigating data privacy/security and AI governance; Q1 saw the most upmarket Copilot deals to date .
- NRR dynamics: Improvement driven primarily by upmarket retention; downmarket expected to remain pressured; mix tailwind grows as upmarket share rises .
- Guidance conservatism: No change in customer behavior; incremental caution added due to broader macro uncertainty, not company-specific inputs .
- Downmarket outlook: Intentional contraction likely to continue in 2025; mix milestones targeted at ~75% then ~80% upmarket .
- Bookings/RPO: Current bookings trajectory improving; expected to turn positive after lapping prior downmarket cohort qualification changes .
Estimates Context
- S&P Global/Capital IQ consensus estimates were unavailable due to a mapping issue for ticker ZI in the CIQ dataset; therefore, comparisons to Street estimates cannot be provided at this time. Values would normally be retrieved from S&P Global; the data was unavailable in this instance.
- As a proxy, results exceeded the company’s own guidance ranges: revenue $305.7M vs $294–$297M, AOI $100.9M vs $96–$99M, adjusted EPS $0.23 vs $0.22–$0.23 .
Additional Press Releases Relevant to Q1 Context
- PathFactory x ZoomInfo integration (April 1, 2025): Integration leverages ZoomInfo’s Reverse IP Lookup to enrich anonymous visitors and enable real-time personalization, supporting the GTM Studio narrative of unified data and activation .
Key Takeaways for Investors
- Mix shift upmarket is the core driver: with 71% ACV upmarket and 3% YoY growth there, expect steadier retention and superior margins versus downmarket; management targets ~75% then ~80% upmarket mix over time .
- Platform expansion: GTM Studio plus Copilot broadens TAM into RevOps and AE/AM personas, increasing seat penetration and supporting multi-product expansion at large enterprises .
- Capital returns remain a priority: robust UFFCF ($124.5M) and low net leverage enable continued buybacks; post-quarter repurchases indicate opportunistic use of dislocation .
- Guidance posture is conservative: despite beats and stable demand, management inserted macro caution; near-term trading likely sensitive to evidence of bookings and NRR improvement translating to reacceleration .
- Watch operating leverage: as upmarket mix rises, AOI margins should benefit given “several thousand basis points” margin advantage vs downmarket, even as investments support growth .
- KPIs to monitor: $100k+ customer growth trajectory, NRR progression in upmarket, RPO/current performance obligations, Copilot adoption in enterprise cohorts .
- Symbol change to GTM is more than optics: it signals category leadership ambitions in go-to-market intelligence, a potential narrative catalyst alongside product launches .
Appendix: KPIs and Operating Metrics
Notes:
- Company changed trading symbol from ZI to GTM on May 13, 2025; references above relate to the period prior to and including the change .
- All non-GAAP measures reconciled in the 8-K exhibits; management emphasizes non-GAAP AOI, adjusted EPS, and UFFCF for performance evaluation .