Ibotta Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Ibotta returned to year-over-year growth earlier than expected: Q2 revenue rose 3% to $88.9 million, redemption revenue increased 10% to $80.2 million, and adjusted EBITDA reached $16.5 million, or an 18.6% margin. Growth was driven by stronger advertiser offer supply, broader publisher relationships and improved sales execution.
• Third-party channels and publisher expansion strengthened demand: Third-party redemption revenue jumped 27% and total redeemers grew 21% to 20.9 million. Ibotta also added 7-Eleven to its Performance Network, with coverage spanning more than 11,500 U.S. locations and a rollout expected in the second half of 2026.
• Ibotta expects continued growth despite near-term seasonality: The company guided for Q3 revenue of $86 million to $90 million and adjusted EBITDA of $12 million to $14 million, while raising its full-year free-cash-flow conversion expectation to approximately 70% of adjusted EBITDA. Management expects modest sequential growth in Q4 and to exit 2026 with mid-single-digit year-over-year revenue growth.

Ibotta NYSE: IBTA reported second-quarter revenue growth that exceeded its guidance range, marking the company’s first year-over-year increase in total revenue since the first quarter of 2025. Management attributed the improvement to stronger advertiser offer supply, expanded publisher relationships and changes to its sales organization.

Revenue for the second quarter was $88.9 million, up 3% from a year earlier. Redemption revenue increased 10% to $80.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA reached $16.5 million, representing an 18.6% margin. CFO Matt Puckett said revenue and adjusted EBITDA came in 6% and 58%, respectively, above the midpoint of the company’s prior guidance.

Redemption activity and advertiser supply improve

Founder and CEO Bryan Leach said the company’s return to growth occurred a quarter earlier than expected, driven primarily by a steady improvement in advertiser offer supply. Ibotta’s third-party redemption revenue rose 27% year over year to $61.5 million, while direct-to-consumer redemption revenue fell 24% to $18.7 million as activity continued to shift toward third-party publisher platforms.

Total redeemers increased 21% year over year to 20.9 million. Total redemptions grew 14% to 91.4 million. Redemptions per redeemer declined 6% to 4.4, which Puckett said reflected the growing mix of third-party redeemers, who tend to redeem offers less frequently than direct-to-consumer users.

However, third-party redemptions per redeemer rose 2% to 3.8, marking the first year-over-year increase in that metric since the third quarter of 2024. Leach said the result indicated offer supply was increasing at a pace sufficient to exceed growth in third-party demand.

Management credited its verticalized sales structure and broader revenue organization, introduced beginning in the third quarter of last year, with improving client engagement. Leach said sales teams have spent more time with clients, expanded their relationships across client organizations and used a more consultative sales approach.

“The recovery we’re seeing is distributed broadly across our clients,” Leach said, adding that the majority of enterprise accounts that declined in 2025 returned to year-over-year growth during the second quarter.

LiveLift, seasonal campaigns support growth

Ibotta said its LiveLift product continued to generate revenue growth both sequentially and year over year. The offering is designed to help consumer packaged goods brands measure and optimize incremental sales from promotions.

Leach cited one household-products client whose net revenue with Ibotta rose 75% year over year in the first half of 2026 after the client expanded its use of LiveLift across multiple brands and product divisions. He said the customer had initially tested the product late last year.

Management also highlighted its seasonal-events marketing strategy, which targets retail events including Back to School, Prime Day and Walmart Deals. Puckett said the timing of Walmart Deals, which occurred in June this year rather than July last year, generated more revenue than Ibotta had projected and added roughly two to three percentage points of growth relative to its outlook.

Revenue growth during the quarter was led by emerging brands, food, and health and beauty, according to Leach. He said challenger brands were using the network to acquire new households, while food clients were responding to Ibotta’s performance-marketing proposition amid a more difficult macroeconomic environment.

Ibotta also discussed a study conducted with Circana covering 48 campaigns across multiple CPG categories. According to Leach, the analysis found an average 16.5% lift in incremental sales, a 17% increase in new household penetration and a 10.9% average sales lift on non-promoted products within the same brand portfolio.

Publisher network expands with 7-Eleven

On the demand side, Ibotta announced that 7-Eleven Inc. joined the Ibotta Performance Network. Ibotta will be the exclusive third-party provider of CPG digital promotions, excluding age-restricted items, across the 7-Eleven, 7NOW and Speedway applications, covering more than 11,500 U.S. store locations.

Leach described 7-Eleven as the company’s third major publisher addition this year and said the convenience-store channel could unlock budgets from food and beverage clients with significant exposure to individual-pack products. The rollout is expected in the second half of 2026.

The company also launched native offer experiences with Uber near the end of the second quarter and said its Giant Eagle integration went live in July. Leach said Ibotta expects a “steady stream” of additional publisher announcements in coming quarters, though he did not provide a specific outlook for new signings.

Margins, cash flow and outlook

Non-GAAP gross margin was 79.3%, down about 60 basis points from a year earlier but up 170 basis points from the first quarter. Puckett said the sequential increase, alongside higher revenue, demonstrated the company’s opportunity to expand gross margins as sales grow.

Non-GAAP operating expenses increased 8% year over year, while sales and marketing expense rose 17%, reflecting higher labor costs and investments in third-party lift studies. Ibotta ended the quarter with $148.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and generated $8.1 million in free cash flow.

During the quarter, the company repurchased approximately 700,000 shares for about $23 million at an average price of $32.33 per share. It had $67.3 million remaining under its repurchase authorization at quarter-end.

• Third-quarter revenue guidance: $86 million to $90 million.
• Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA guidance: $12 million to $14 million.
• Expected year-over-year revenue growth at the third-quarter midpoint: about 6%.
• Expected third-quarter adjusted EBITDA margin at the midpoint: about 15%.

Puckett said Ibotta expects a slight sequential revenue decline at the third-quarter midpoint because seasonal promotional events shifted into the second quarter. The company nevertheless expects a modest sequential revenue increase in the fourth quarter and anticipates exiting 2026 with mid-single-digit year-over-year revenue growth. Ibotta raised its expectation for full-year free cash flow as a percentage of adjusted EBITDA to approximately 70%, from its prior expectation of 65%.

About Ibotta (NYSE:IBTA)

Ibotta NYSE: IBTA is a Denver‐based mobile commerce platform that connects consumers, retailers and brands through a unified cash-back rewards experience. Users access the Ibotta mobile app or browser extension to unlock rebates on everyday purchases, redeemable on groceries, retail goods, travel bookings and digital services. The platform integrates with major supermarket chains, big‐box retailers and online merchants, enabling shoppers to earn automatic cash-back both in physical stores and across e-commerce channels.

Founded in 2012 by co‐founder and CEO Bryan Leach, Ibotta has evolved from a simple rebate app into a comprehensive performance marketing partner for consumer goods companies.

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