CuriosityStream Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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May 7, 2024

There are 5 speakers on the call.

Operator

Thank you for standing by. My name is Christa, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the CuriosityStream's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session.

Operator

Thank you. I would now like to turn the conference over to Andrew Lotta, Director of FP and A and Director of Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

Speaker 1

Thank you. Welcome to CuriosityStream's discussion of its Q1 2024 financial results. Leading the discussion today are Clint Stinchcombe, CuriosityStream's Chief Executive Officer and Peter Westley, CuriosityStream's Chief Financial Officer. Following management's prepared remarks, we will be happy to take care of questions, but first I'll review the Safe Harbor statement. During this call, we may make statements related to our business that are forward looking statements under the federal securities laws.

Speaker 1

These statements are not guarantees of future performance, but rather are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results could differ materially from expectations reflected in any forward looking statements. Please be aware that any forward looking statements reflect management's current views only and the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update these statements or to make additional forward looking statements in the future. For a discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could affect our actual results, please refer to our SEC filings available on the SEC website and on our Investor Relations website as well as the risks and other important factors discussed in today's press release. Additional information will also be set forth in our quarterly report on Form 10 Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024 when filed.

Speaker 1

In addition, reference will be made to non GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures can be found on our website at investors. Curiositystream.com. Now, I'll turn the call over to Clint.

Speaker 2

Thank you very much, Andrew. I appreciate everyone joining us today for this milestone report. For the Q1 in company history, we achieved a positive quarter. We generated over $1,000,000 in adjusted free cash flow in the Q1, a year over year improvement of over $7,000,000 Our top line revenue was roughly equivalent to Q1 2023. We believe we are well positioned to improve upon both of these critical metrics in Q2.

Speaker 2

Q1, we increased our direct subscription revenue sequentially and year over year. In June, we will begin to benefit from the fact that all of our new subscribers in the United States will finally be under the new pricing we introduced last year. In regard to partnerships, in Q1, we rolled out our subscription services with multinational global partners in 25 countries and we added 7 new content licensing partners. With an eye toward greater cash flow, higher margins and overall revenue, we revised some of our pay TV agreements, While these revisions will result in a near term revenue decrease in the bundled distribution category, we're confident that the midterm and long term upside from these adjustments far outweighs the minor near term decrease. Moreover, we believe the current chaotic disruption where MVPDs are dropping legacy services and even entire network groups along with their license fee entitlement demands create some meaningful opportunities that we believe we are uniquely suited to help solve and leverage.

Speaker 2

As a reminder, we have channels operating around the world today. And from our deep and vast library, we are well equipped to create additional factual category channels in areas like science, space and natural history to meet distributor demand. As an example of this, just last week Samsung announced that they will launch 3 of our Hispanic channels in June, Curiosity Espanol, Curiosity Animal and Curiosity Motors. In regard to advertising, we now have commercial relationships with over 20 key partners and platforms for our ad supported content in Pay TV, Fast and in AVOD. And we anticipate roughly doubling this roster of advertising platform partners in 2024.

Speaker 2

While the bulk of our advertising oriented revenue to date has been categorized as licensing revenue in light of the advances and minimum guarantees we negotiated, as our existing ad partners publish our content and as our new partners publish and promote curiosity content, we will begin to generate increasing and more predictable revenues from our ad supported content. Additionally, as we generate more impressions in front of the paywall, we will benefit from the expansion at the top of our marketing funnel, which we believe will be helpful in moderating our paid marketing allocations. We've accomplished these objectives while simultaneously rationalizing our cost base. Excluding the non cash expense inherent in content amortization, we cut our cost of revenue in half from Q1 'twenty three to Q1 'twenty four And we reduced G and A expense by about 30%. To reiterate, we believe we are now solidly situated to generate increasing positive cash flow and sturdy sustainable revenues that are increasingly predictable and reliable.

Speaker 2

In addition to guiding to greater positive cash flow and revenue in the 2nd quarter, we believe our dividend program, which is being paid from surplus cash, further underscores our positive trajectory for 2024 and beyond. At the core of curiosity is of course the creation and distribution of premium factual programming that both inspires and informs. In Q1, we released original series and specials across a range of genres and formats, including Science for Evil Geniuses, an irreverent real world test of supervillain science starring Game of Thrones actor Paul Kaye, 4th season of 4th and Forever following the DeSoto Eagles' quest to recapture another Texas state title. The invention of surgery, an unflinching look at the pioneers who transform medicine from a primitive art into a sophisticated and successful science. The art of seduction, an expose of the secret powers of some of history's most influential characters and Believe, a beautiful look at the origins, traditions and festivals of the world's 5 biggest religions and the challenges they face today.

Speaker 2

We celebrated the ancient world with Ancient Egyptian Week and on May 9, we kick off Jaws and Claws Week. Animals that can eat us are interesting to nearly all of us and interesting to people everywhere. As our dinosaurs and the compelling creatures that preceded us. In closing, I'm happy to reinforce that we ended the quarter with $39,000,000 in cash and equivalents, dollars 1,200,000 in adjusted free cash flow and 0 debt. We believe our strong balance sheet and projected 2024 positive cash flow are major competitive advantages in the current environment.

Speaker 2

Moreover, we continue to believe that our global appeal, our direct subscriber base and direct platforms, our broad and deep content library of over 17,000 evergreen titles, our multiyear third party agreements, our public company currency and our rationalized cost structure are uniquely favorable attributes that provide us with sustainable long term strength and exceptional flexibility. I'd now like to pass the baton to my good friend and colleague Peter about whom I will have more to say at the conclusion of his remarks.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Clint. As Clint said, our Q1 performance was a true milestone event for the company. Driven by strong execution, our Q1 revenue came in within our guidance range and our adjusted free cash flow came in above the high end of our guidance range. Our adjusted free cash flow of positive $1,200,000 which represented our 6th straight quarter of sequential improvement in this metric was the 1st positive quarterly adjusted free cash flow in the company's history. This accomplishment is particularly noteworthy given the cash flow losses experienced by so many other companies in the video streaming sector.

Speaker 3

1st quarter adjusted EBITDA improved by $3,500,000 compared with the prior year quarter, while adjusted free cash flow improved by $7,500,000 year over year. Getting into the details, revenue for the Q1 of 2024 was $12,000,000 compared to $12,400,000 in the prior year quarter. The year over year change was primarily driven by decreases in content licensing and bundled distribution. Despite this decline in revenue, we were able to improve our adjusted free cash flow from negative $6,300,000 in the prior year quarter to positive $1,200,000 in this year's Q1 as a result of our intense focus on the bottom line. Turning to the breakout of revenues.

Speaker 3

Our largest revenue category this quarter was our direct business. Direct revenue came in at $9,500,000 up 11% year over year and 4% sequentially as we continue to see the benefits of the price increases we put in place last year. Content Licensing, which was our 2nd largest revenue category this quarter generated $1,200,000 of revenue compared with $2,000,000 in the prior year quarter. I'd like to make a couple of comments about this comparison. First, it's worth noting that last year's content licensing figure included $1,200,000 of presales transactions compared with $300,000 of pre sales in this year's Q1.

Speaker 3

As I mentioned in prior calls, presales are 0% gross margin transactions for us, so this decline in revenue does not reduce our profitability. 2nd, our main focus in content licensing is on our positive gross margin library related transactions. In Q1 of 2024, we had approximately $900,000 of these transactions, an increase of 6% compared with the Q1 of 2023. Our next largest revenue category in Q1 of 2024 was bundled distribution, which generated $1,100,000 of revenue, down from $1,500,000 in the prior year's Q1. Bundled distribution is a challenging revenue stream for us right now, which is reflective of the pressures being felt in the linear pay television business worldwide.

Speaker 3

While we do continue to add new partners, we occasionally have situations where we do not renew agreements or where our affiliate fees are revised as contracts come up for renewal in response to the financial pressures that our distribution partners face. Our total barter revenue in each of the first quarter of 2023 and the Q1 of 2024 was approximately $200,000 Turning to our expenses. Content amortization in the Q1 was $5,200,000 an 11% decline from the $5,900,000 we recorded in the prior year quarter. We expect content amortization expense, the largest component of our cost of revenues, to continue to decline going forward and ultimately converge with the lower level of new content investment that we require now that we've achieved critical mass in our content library. 1st quarter gross margin of 43.8 percent increased from 27.3% in the prior year quarter, driven by significant reductions in our cash based cost of revenues, which are a result of our ongoing cost reduction efforts.

Speaker 3

One other metric that we find useful in assessing our profitability is our gross margin excluding content amortization. This metric really gets at the cash cost of delivering our services across all of our revenue streams. That figure was 87.2% in Q1 2024, which compares very favorably with 74.6% in the prior year quarter and 80.2% in the most recent quarter, Q4 of 2023. Our Q1 advertising and marketing expense of $3,100,000 was essentially flat year over year and we continue to exercise discipline and analytical rigor in deploying our customer acquisition dollars. G and A expense during the Q1 of 2024 was $5,800,000 of $5,800,000 was down $2,300,000 or 28 percent year over year as we're seeing the benefits of our planned spending reductions and workforce optimization efforts.

Speaker 3

Moving back to profitability, adjusted EBITDA loss was $2,800,000 compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $6,400,000 in the prior year quarter. Adjusted free cash flow in the quarter was positive $1,200,000 compared with negative $6,300,000 in the prior year quarter. We believe our overall balance sheet remained in great shape with $95,000,000 of assets, dollars 28,000,000 of liabilities and book value of $67,000,000 or approximately $1.26 per share. We ended the quarter with total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $38,900,000 and no outstanding debt. Moving to our 2nd quarter guidance.

Speaker 3

We expect revenue in the range of $12,000,000 to $13,000,000 and adjusted free cash flow in the range of $1,500,000 to $2,500,000 Finally, as you may have seen in our press release, I would note that this is my last earnings call as CFO. The Board is named Brady Hayden, CFO effective May 31. Brady has been with us since last June in the role of Controller, and I'm confident in his abilities to step up into the CFO position. We will work together to ensure a smooth transition, and I'll return to my prior role as a Senior Advisor to the management team of Curiosity Stream beginning in June. As I look back, I'm tremendously proud of all that we've achieved over the last 2 years.

Speaker 3

It's been a real pleasure to work with my good friends, Clint, Tia, Rob and the rest of the team at the company. With that, I'll turn the call over to Clint for some closing comments.

Speaker 2

Appreciate that, Peter. I first met Peter in 1986 when he was an undergraduate advisor to one of my closest friends in a freshman dorm at our alma mater. The maturity and leadership qualities that were requisite for Peter Wesley, the UGA are the same that we have called upon and appreciated here at Curiosity Stream. Most everyone else here met Peter in 2018 when he invested alongside our former Board member, the late and great Dick Blum and became a board observer in his capacity as an advisor to Dick. Peter's deep innate curiosity as well as his affection for our business naturally led us to engage him more formally as a consultant and then to enlist him as our CFO about 2 years ago.

Speaker 2

During these 2 years, Peter loaned the steadiness and cogency I've always enjoyed to our finance function and to our leadership team. I want to thank him for both his service in that capacity. It's been a privilege working shoulder to shoulder with Peter on the day to day work of our getting to cash flow positive. And on behalf of our Board and the entire team, thank him for the maturity, the leadership and the dedication he has offered us. And to say we look forward to more of the same as Peter returns to consulting status with the company, offering us continued access to his mighty brain and collegial demeanor.

Speaker 2

Since Peter's arrival in May of 2024, comparing the 12 months we just completed in March with the comparable period 2 years ago, we've grown our direct revenue by 17% while moderating our overall marketing spend, cut our annual G and A expenses by more than 25%, improved our cash flow from operations by more than 85%, enjoyed 6 straight quarters of sequentially improving adjusted free cash flow and we begun paying a dividend. In closing, let me not forget to thank Peter for bringing us Brady Hayden, who currently serves as Controller and whom the Board is named CFO upon Peter's departure May 31. It's been such a pleasure for me getting to know and work with Brady over the past year and I know you'll feel the same. Brady's experienced in the day to day operational and other requirements of a public company finance function. He's also a roll up the sleeves, hardworking, get it done right professional with a collaborative style that we, his colleagues have already come to respect, appreciate and rely on.

Speaker 2

So thank you, Peter, and thank you, Brady. I'm really excited for the chapter ahead.

Speaker 3

With that operator, let's open the call to questions.

Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. And your first question comes from the line of Jim Goss with Barrington Research. Please go ahead.

Speaker 4

Thanks. I was wondering if programmatic gives you the opportunity to consider an ad light option on the core subscription services where you might not be able to have an ad sales staff to be able to do it on your own?

Speaker 2

I think it's a great question, Jim, and I really appreciate it. We've certainly looked at that, and it's something that is always under consideration. But we've made the calculation today that we believe without that by putting our content to work on the larger AVOD platforms, putting our content to work on the larger fast platforms and putting our content to work, unlocking advertising with our pay TV channels, we think that in the aggregate that will be better and higher revenue and higher margin approach without disrupting our continued subscription growth. But you make a great point about programmatic. It's a way to get into the advertising business without having a massive staff.

Speaker 2

At same time, another way to get into it is through working with good partners. And so in regard to advertising, earlier this year, we began working on commercial partnership with Astraea Media, one of the largest Hispanic U. S. Media companies. Astraea owns and operates TV stations, radio stations, TV broadcast networks for fast channels and local and syndicated radio shows.

Speaker 2

Samsung announced last week, Samsung, one of the largest fast platforms in the world that they're going to launch 3 of our Hispanic U. S. Fast channels, Curiosity Espanol, Curiosity Animals, Curiosity Motors. And the beauty of this relationship is that Estrella as an expert in the Hispanic ecosystem, they'll manage the ad sales. They've got a robust ad sales organization, tightly enmeshed in the U.

Speaker 2

S. Hispanic brand and agency world. They've got a track record of selling the channel inventory that they have, Jim, at CPMs that are 3 to 4 times greater than the CPMs, FAST and AVOD platforms generally generate from programmatic sales. So this type of relationships is an absolute no brainer, makes sense for all the parties. And I think it's just another really good example of the broad appeal of our content and the opportunities for brand extension, promotion and content monetization that aren't always obvious.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Jim.

Speaker 4

Okay. And one other about with Warner Bros. Discovery blending the Discovery networks increasingly into MAX, does that open up any further opportunity for you

Speaker 2

competitively? Another great question, Jim. Thank you for asking that. I think so. You probably saw just last week some of the big announcements.

Speaker 2

Comcast launched all the dropped all of the Valley Sports, RSN, Fubo dropped all of the Discovery and Turner Networks. So yes, these do create opportunities for us. They create opportunities for us because, 1, we have factual channels that are operating around the world today. And through our 17,000 plus titles that we have in our library, we're able to put channels together pretty quickly to meet distributor needs. So as you look out over the rest of this year, you'll see channels emerge from us like Curiosity Science channel, like Curiosity History channel.

Speaker 2

And again, we announced last week with Samsung, 3 U. S. Hispanic channels that obviously we have the same content in on the English language side. Animals, natural history and then motor, which largely automotive cars, boats, bikes and planes.

Speaker 4

Okay. And one final one. With the pricing change that you made that seemed to go over well enough and so allowed you to increase the revenue base, do you think you might now be in a position to edge prices higher over time in the subscription service on a more gradual basis, maybe less aggressively than the first one was, but maybe set a pattern that might give you that upward bias?

Speaker 2

I'll take an initial shot at that and then I'd like to defer the second part to my good friend, Peter. I think we continue to believe, Jim, that we have that we're an incredible value exchange. Curiosity Stream, flagship channel, subscribe to it for $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. That's a heck of a value. At the same time, we're learning more because we also have what we call a smart bundle, which includes some additional factual type networks includes 1 Day University, which we own of course, includes SOM TV, which is wine, includes Kids Stream, which is incredible kids channel that features some of the best and most well known kids educational heroes.

Speaker 2

And that's priced at $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year. So through that, we're definitely learning a lot. And we do think that we have we do think that while we're incredible value exchange today that over time, if indeed we need to raise our rates, we have a lot of value to give an exchange for that. But if I could, Peter spent a lot of time on this and I'd love to give Peter a chance to talk about it as well.

Speaker 3

Yes. No, I think it's something that we'll continue to look at as the competitors continue to kind of raise the pricing ceiling. I think that does open up opportunities for us to think about it. To Clint's point, we did not raise the pricing on the Smart Bundle at the time we raised it on the core service. So I would think that the most likely next price increase to the extent that there was one would probably be on that Smart Bundle package, kind of depending on what's going on and what's included in the mix there.

Speaker 3

But we think both the core service and the Smart Bundle package remain just tremendous values in the marketplace given what you get for the low price that you're currently paying. So we do think there is long term opportunity there.

Speaker 4

All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Jim.

Operator

That concludes our question and answer session. And I will now turn the call back over to Clint Stitchcomb for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thank you everybody for attending.

Operator

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.

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Key Takeaways

  • CuriosityStream delivered its first-ever positive quarterly adjusted free cash flow of $1.2 million in Q1 2024, a $7.5 million improvement year-over-year and the sixth straight quarter of sequential improvement.
  • Total Q1 revenue was roughly flat at $12 million year-over-year, while direct subscription revenue rose 11% to $9.5 million, buoyed by new U.S. pricing set to benefit all subscribers starting in June.
  • The company expanded its global footprint by launching subscription services with partners in 25 countries, adding seven new content licensing partners, and securing three new Hispanic FAST channels (Curiosity Español, Curiosity Animals and Curiosity Motors) on Samsung platforms.
  • CuriosityStream now has commercial agreements with over 20 advertising partners across Pay TV, FAST and AVOD, and plans to double its ad-platform roster in 2024 to drive more predictable ad-supported revenue.
  • Cost rationalization efforts halved cash cost of revenue versus Q1 2023, cut G&A expenses by ~30%, and lifted gross margin excluding content amortization to 87.2%, up from 74.6% a year ago.
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Earnings Conference Call
CuriosityStream Q1 2024
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