BuzzFeed Q4 2025 Earnings Results & Report

BuzzFeed EPS Results

• Actual EPS: -$0.72
• Consensus EPS: $0.03
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$0.75
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A
• EPS Beat Rate: 0 of last 6 quarters

BuzzFeed Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $56.53 million
• Expected Revenue: $58.38 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$1.84 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

BuzzFeed (NASDAQ:BZFD) is a digital media company that develops and distributes news, entertainment, lifestyle and culture content across websites, social media platforms, video services and other digital channels. Its content is published under brands including BuzzFeed and HuffPost, with coverage spanning current events, politics, pop culture, food, shopping and lifestyle topics.

The company generates revenue primarily through digital advertising, branded content, content licensing, commerce and other publisher-related activities. Its products and services include editorial articles, online video, social media content, quizzes, shopping recommendations and advertising solutions for marketers.

BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti, who serves as its chief executive officer. The company acquired HuffPost from Verizon Media in 2020 and completed its public listing on the Nasdaq under the symbol BZFD in 2021. BuzzFeed serves audiences internationally through its digital properties and distribution partnerships, with operations centered in the United States.

BuzzFeed Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Positive Sentiment: Management says the company is undervalued versus the sum of its parts, noting proceeds of nearly $200 million from asset sales and that it is actively exploring strategic options to unlock value for shareholders.
• Negative Sentiment: Liquidity and balance-sheet pressure remain — a $30.2 million non‑cash goodwill impairment widened the net loss, cash and restricted cash stood at $27.7 million versus total debt of $60.2 million, and the company is withholding 2026 guidance while evaluating material strategic changes.
• Positive Sentiment: Operational bright spots include continued programmatic advertising strength (7% full‑year growth and the 7th consecutive quarter of programmatic growth, now 76% of ad revenue) and a surge in Studio/content revenue (Studio revenue nearly tripled to $16.1 million; Q4 content revenue rose 56%).
• Negative Sentiment: Commerce revenue softened — full‑year commerce and other declined 8% and affiliate commerce fell 7% (Q4 affiliate down 23%), driven primarily by reduced supplemental partner incentives despite stable conversion and GMV metrics.

Presentation

[Operator]

Day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to BuzzFeed Inc. fourth quarter 2025 earnings conference call. I'll now hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Juliana Clifton, Vice President of Communications. Please go ahead.

[Juliana Clifton, VP of Communications at BuzzFeed Inc]

Hi, everyone. Welcome to BuzzFeed, Inc.'s fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. I'm Juliana Clifton, Vice President of Communications for BuzzFeed. Joining me today are Chief Executive Officer Jonah Peretti and our Chief Financial Officer Matt Omer. Before we get started, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that our remarks today will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause these results to differ materially are set forth in today's press release, our 2025 annual report on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC, and our 2025 quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Any forward-looking statements that we make on this call are based on assumptions as of today, and we undertake no obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

[Juliana Clifton, VP of Communications at BuzzFeed Inc]

During this call, we present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin. The use of non-GAAP financial measures allows us to measure the operational strength and performance of our business, to establish budgets, and to develop operational goals for managing our business. We believe adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are relevant and useful information for investors because they allow investors to view performance in a manner similar to the method used by our management. A reconciliation of these GAAP to non-GAAP measures is included in today's earnings press release. Please refer to our investor relations website to find today's press release. Now I'll hand the call over to Jonah.

[Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining us. Before Matt walks through the numbers, I wanna step back and talk about how we're thinking about the business and what we're trying to accomplish this year. At a high level, we believe BuzzFeed, Inc. is undervalued. The current market value of the company does not reflect the strength of our individual brands, the quality of our assets, or the innovative work we've been doing to create new products with big upside in the future. In other words, we believe the sum of the parts is worth more than the whole. We generated close to $200 million in proceeds from selling Complex and First We Feast. While owning these assets, our market cap was as low as $30 million, with these assets representing a minority of our revenue.

[Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO at BuzzFeed Inc]

We believe this pattern continues today, where the assets we own would be valued much higher individually than the market capitalization of BuzzFeed Inc., and this is only partly attributable to corporate debt. In fact, we believe that our current assets are worth a multiple of our market cap, especially when you consider the promise we see in unlaunched products and forthcoming features. This value isn't being recognized for a combination of reasons, including the pessimistic view of digital media in general, legacy centralized costs and downstream debt from our SPAC transaction, pre-COVID real estate commitment, and the timing of cost reductions and new initiatives. We are in a much better position today on many of these issues, but we believe we can overcome these legacy costs and complications to help the market see the underlying value of the core assets and new products.

[Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO at BuzzFeed Inc]

When we look inside the company, we see several distinct sources of value. One, first, we have a powerful, durable brands with loyal audiences. Properties like HuffPost, Tasty, BuzzFeed, and BuzzFeed Studios each serve different communities, have different monetization profiles, and in many cases, are attractive in their own right to partners, advertisers, and potential strategic counterparts. These are not generic media properties. They are category-defining brands with strong recognition and engagement. Secondly, we have assets and IP, particularly in BuzzFeed Studios, that are scaling rapidly. Studio revenue nearly tripled this year as we delivered three feature films and entered the micro drama category. This IP can travel across formats and platforms, which gives us optionality around partnerships, licensing, and other ways to monetize what we've created over many years.

[Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Thirdly, we have a growing body of innovative work that will launch this year as new products and enhanced features in our core businesses. Over the past year, we've been investing in new products and AI-driven experiences that deepen engagement, make our content more personalized, interactive, and make our advertising and commerce offerings more effective. This year is about surfacing that value and proving it, not just talking about it. On the innovation side, we're rolling out new apps and product experiences that integrate AI more directly into the core BuzzFeed experience. You'll see more of this throughout the year, including at South by Southwest tomorrow, where we'll share details on the apps that we've built and where we're headed. Over the coming quarters, we plan to demonstrate the value of our assets in concrete ways.

[Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO at BuzzFeed Inc]

We are actively exploring a range of strategic options, and we are focused on closing the gap between how the market values BuzzFeed Inc. today and what we believe our individual assets are worth. To summarize, our brands and assets are more valuable than our current market capitalization implies. Our innovative work, especially in AI and new product experiences, represents meaningful upside that is not yet priced in. Our mandate this year is to prove the value of our parts, narrow the disconnect between intrinsic value and trading value, and take the steps necessary to create value for our shareholders. With that, I'll hand it over to Matt to walk you through our financials.

[Matt Omer, CFO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Thank you, Jonah. I want to start by providing some context on the full year before getting into Q4 specifics. Total revenue for the full year 2025 was $185.3 million, down 2% year-over-year from $189.9 million in 2024. Breaking down our full year numbers. Advertising revenue declined 3% to $91.7 million. Programmatic advertising grew 7% to $69.6 million. This is our seventh consecutive quarter of programmatic growth, and it now represents 76% of total advertising revenue. Direct sold advertising declined 25% to $22.1 million. Content revenue increased 9% to $37 million. Studio revenue nearly tripled to $16.1 million as we delivered three feature films during the year, coupled with positive contributions from our micro drama vertical.

[Matt Omer, CFO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Direct sold content declined 26% to $21 million. Commerce and other revenue declined 8% to $56.5 million. Affiliate commerce declined 7% to $55.5 million, primarily reflecting changes in supplemental bonus structures from our partners. The underlying business remains strong, and we have not seen a decline in our conversion rates, click-through rates, and total GMV driven from partners. The decline was primarily driven by a reduction in supplemental incentives from the prior year. Net loss from continuing operations was $57.3 million compared to $34 million in 2024, reflecting a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $30.2 million, driven by a sustained decline in our share price. For the full year, adjusted EBITDA improved 61% to $8.8 million, compared to $5.5 million in 2024.

[Matt Omer, CFO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Time spent totaled 276.5 million hours, down 7% year-over-year and expected given that 2024 included elevated engagement during the presidential election cycle. We ended the year with cash and cash equivalents in restricted cash of approximately $27.7 million, a decrease of $10.9 million compared to 2024. As a reminder, in 2025 included approximately $9 million in expenses related to refinancing our former convertible notes, severance, and purchasing shares back from a prior investor. Before I get into Q4 specifics, I want to provide some context on our balance sheet position. As of December 31st, 2025, we had total debt of $60.2 million. That's broken up with $45 million in our term loan and $15.2 million in film financing arrangements.

[Matt Omer, CFO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Our term loan is secured by our existing accounts receivable, and our film financing indebtedness is generally repaid directly with production tax credits, proceeds, or minimum guarantee payments for feature films. The cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash on the balance sheet is $27.7 million, which includes approximately $19.3 million pledged as collateral for our letters of credit on our office leases. We expect that approximately $15 million of those letters of credit will be released by our landlord after our sublease concludes in May of 2026, and we expect to use those funds to pay down debt. Now, let's turn to Q4 2025 specifically. Q4 revenue was $56.5 million, up 1% year-over-year. Advertising revenue increased slightly to $25.6 million.

[Matt Omer, CFO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Programmatic advertising grew 2% to $18.4 million, and direct sold advertising declined 3% to $7.2 million, reflecting continued market softness. Content revenue increased 56% to $14.7 million, driven by Studio. Studio revenue grew $7.3 million as we recognized two feature films in Q4, plus contributions from micro dramas. Direct sold content declined 5% to $7.4 million. Commerce and other revenue declined 24% to $16.3 million, and affiliate commerce declined 23% to $16.1 million, primarily driven by the continued decline in supplemental bonuses from affiliate partners as they refine their commission structures. Net loss from continuing operations was $26.8 million, compared to a net loss of continuing operations of $4.1 million in Q4 2024, again reflecting a $30.2 million-dollar non-cash goodwill impairment charge.

[Matt Omer, CFO at BuzzFeed Inc]

Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2025 was $12 million, compared to $10.9 million in Q4 2024. Time spent was 70.3 million hours, down 11% year-over-year, again reflecting the comparison to an elevated engagement of the presidential election cycle in Q4 2024. As Jonah mentioned, we are evaluating strategic opportunities to unlock value and remedy the liquidity challenges that we are currently facing. Some of those options could have a material impact on the shape of the company and our business in 2026. Given this, we are withholding the 2026 guidance at this time. We expect to provide an update on both our strategic direction and financial outlook in the coming quarters. Thank you for joining us today. I'll hand the call back to our host.

[Operator]

Thank you for your participation in today's conference.

[Operator]

This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

Participants

Executives

• Jonah Peretti, Founder and CEO
• Juliana Clifton, VP of Communications
• Matt Omer, CFO