Zeta Global Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Zeta Global Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points Strong Q2 performance: Zeta Global’s revenue rose 44% year over year to $443 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased 56% to $92 million. The company also returned to GAAP profitability and generated $58 million in free cash flow, marking its 20th consecutive quarter of beating and raising guidance. Guidance raised: Zeta increased its full-year revenue outlook to $1.818 billion, adjusted EBITDA guidance to $405 million, free-cash-flow guidance to $255 million and GAAP EPS guidance to $0.10 at the midpoint. AI and platform expansion are accelerating growth: Athena adoption is growing among enterprise customers, with AI-focused users showing faster growth and stronger retention. Zeta is also expanding beyond marketing through its Zeta Business Intelligence offering and partnerships with OpenAI, Snowflake and Palantir.

Zeta Global NYSE: ZETA reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $443 million, up 44% from a year earlier, or 28% excluding revenue from mergers and acquisitions. The company said the result marked its 20th consecutive quarter of beating and raising its outlook. Adjusted EBITDA rose 56% year over year to $92 million, producing a 20.7% margin that expanded 170 basis points. Zeta also reported GAAP net income of $8.2 million, or $0.03 per share, compared with a net loss of $12.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Free cash flow reached $58 million, an increase of 73% from a year earlier.

“We delivered our 20th consecutive beat and raise quarter,” Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Steinberg said. He described Zeta as evolving beyond its historical marketing-technology positioning into an “intelligent AI infrastructure platform,” with marketing as its first application rather than its sole focus.

Guidance Raised Across Revenue, Profit and Cash Flow Based on its second-quarter performance, Zeta raised the midpoint of its full-year revenue outlook by $33 million to $1.818 billion. The updated forecast implies 39% annual revenue growth, or 25% growth excluding M&A and political candidate revenue. Third-quarter revenue is expected to be $471 million at the midpoint, up $10 million from prior guidance. Full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance was increased by $8 million at the midpoint to $405 million. Third-quarter adjusted EBITDA is forecast at $115 million at the midpoint, up $3 million from the previous outlook. Full-year free-cash-flow guidance rose by $20 million at the midpoint to $255 million. Full-year GAAP EPS guidance increased to a midpoint of $0.10, compared with the prior range of $0.02 to $0.04.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Greiner said the outlook retains a 2% to 5% cushion and assumes minimal contribution from new partnership-related revenue. The company maintained its prior second-half outlook for political candidate revenue of $7 million in the third quarter and $8 million in the fourth quarter. Greiner said Zeta’s full-year GAAP EPS outlook excludes the possible impact of a one-time tax benefit associated with the release of a valuation allowance, which he said has a reasonable probability of occurring later in the year.

AI Adoption and Platform Usage Zeta highlighted adoption of Athena, its conversational AI offering, as a driver of engagement and expansion. Since Athena became available to enterprise customers about 130 days ago, more than 40% of super-scaled customers have become monthly active users, according to Greiner. Super-scaled customers are those with at least $1 million in annual revenue. The company said 83% of Athen...