IZEA

Image source: The Motley Fool. Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET VP, Sales and Marketing Operations - John Francis Chief Executive Officer - Patrick Venetucci Chief Financial Officer - Peter Biere Operator: Greetings, and welcome to the IZEA Worldwide, Inc. Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to John Francis, VP of Sales and Marketing Operations. Thank you, John. You may begin. John Francis: Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to IZEA's earnings call covering the second quarter of 2026. I'm John Francis, VP, Sales and Marketing Operations at IZEA, and joining me on the call are IZEA's Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Venetucci and IZEA's Chief Financial Officer, Peter Biere. Thank you for being with us today. Earlier this afternoon, the company issued a press release detailing IZEA's performance during Q2 2026. If you would like to review those details, please visit our Investor Relations website at izea.com/investors. Before we begin, please take note of the safe harbor paragraph included in today's press release covering IZEA's financial results, and be advised that some of the statements we make today regarding our business, operations, and financial performance, may be considered forward-looking, and such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. We encourage you to consider the disclosures contained in our SEC filings for a detailed discussion of these factors. Our commentary today will also include the non-GAAP financial measure of adjusted EBITDA. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP metrics for our reported results can be found in our earnings release issued earlier today and in our publicly available filings. And with that, I would now like to introduce and turn the call over to IZEA's Chief Executive Officer, Patrick Venetucci. Patrick? Patrick Venetucci: Thank you, John, and good afternoon, everyone. The second quarter represented another important step in IZEA's transformation into a more focused enterprise business. While our financial results did not meet our original expectations, I remain confident that the strategic decisions we have made are the right ones and that the foundation we have built is positioning the company for stronger long-term growth. Our first half performance was affected by 2 primary factors. First, marketers across nearly every major industry we serve became more cautious as macroeconomic uncertainty increased. Second, our transition from an SMB-focused organization to an enterprise-focused company has required operational changes that have taken longer to fully mature than we originally anticipated. Neither of these factors has changed our conviction in the opportunity ahead. Beginning with the market, many of our largest customers faced challenges that were largely outside of our control. Tariffs, consumer spending concerns, financing conditions, organizational restructurings, procurement consolidation and delayed marketing decisions affected clients across CPG, automotive, technology, retail, and entertainment. Several large customers postponed or reduced programs, while others experienced company-specific events such as mergers, restructurings or product timing changes. Despite those headwinds, one thing became increasingly clear during the quarter. Our relationships with enterprise customers remain exceptionally strong. In fact, many of the leading indicators that matter most to our long-term business are moving in the right direction. We continue to gain share with strategic accounts. Client engagement has reached the highest level since I've been with the company. Our executive relationships are broader and deeper than ever. And we believe that the risk levels on our enterprise accounts are at the lowest levels we've seen in years. Most importantly, our visibility into future enterprise opportunities continues to improve. Today, we have a well-defined pipeline of large, scalable enterprise opportunities, including multiple opportunities capable of generating more than $1 million in annual revenue. That gives us confidence that our investments we've made over the past 2 years are beginning to translate into larger and more durable revenue opportunities. Operationally, we've also made significant progress. Our sales organization is becoming increasingly aligned around the enterprise buying journey. During the quarter, we strengthened leadership, continued onboarding new sales talent and improved the coordination between sales and account management. We also continued refining our strategic account development and the quality of our enterprise engagement. Marketing has become a much more important growth engine for the company. Our industry-specific campaigns generated meaningful awareness, high-quality enterprise leads, and increased confidence in IZEA's capabilities. We launched ZED to the market, expanded our own marketing channels and established new relationships with many of the world's leading brands through targeted events and digital programs. On the technology front, we made substantial progress with ZED. Beyond introducing the platform to customers, we enhanced its capabilities in brand safety, analytics, creator workflows, platform intelligence and overall stability. We believe ZED will improve operational efficiency while creating a stronger technology foundation for future innovation. Internally, we took decisive action to better align our cost structure with current market conditions while continuing to invest in the capabilities we believe will drive long-term shareholder value. We streamlined the organization, strengthening our operational leadership and continued building a high-performance culture. Importantly, we accomplished this while maintaining exceptionally high employee engagement and extremely low voluntary turnover, an indication that our team remains highly committed to our mission and strategy. Looking ahead, I believe IZEA is emerging from this period as a stronger company. We have a more focused client portfolio than at any point in our history. We have stronger relationships with some of the world's largest brands. We have a more capable leadership team, a modernized technology platform and an increasingly sophisticated enterprise sales organization and a growing pipeline of meaningful opportunities. In addition to investing organically, we continue to see compelling opportunities to accelerate our strategy through acquisitions. Activity across the creator economy remains robust and we have been exceptionally active evaluating companies to acquire that could expand our capabilities, deepen our expertise and strengthen our competitive position. Today, our acquisition pipeline is the most active it has ever been. While we remain disciplined and will pursue only transactions that create long-term shareholder value, we believe the current environment presents a unique opportunity to complement our organic growth strategy. While macroeconomic conditions remain uncertain, those conditions will eventually normalize. What will remain are the capabilities we have spent the last 2 years building. Our objective has never been simply to become a larger influencer marketing agency. Our objective is to build the leading enterprise creator marketing company, one that combines world-class strategy, services, technology and long-term client relationships. Every major decision we've made has been in support of that vision. I continue to believe the creator economy is one of the most important secular shifts in marketing. Brands are allocating more attention to creator-led marketing because it delivers measurable business outcomes. And IZEA is uniquely positioned to help the world's largest companies capitalize on that shift. Although the transition has taken longer than we expected, I have never been more confident in the long-term opportunity before us. We are building the right company, serving the right customers and strengthening the capabilities that will define IZEA's next chapter. Thank you for your continued support. With that, I'll turn the call over to Peter Biere, our Chief Financial Officer, for a closer look at the financial results. Peter Biere: Thank you, Patrick, and good afternoon, everyone. Earlier today, we reported our second quarter 2026 results and filed our Form 10-Q with the SEC. I'll begin with our operating results for the quarter, then discuss our liquidity and capital position before turning the call back for questions. Managed Services bookings during the quarter totaled $4.5 million, down 19% from the prior year quarter. We saw softer demand across our enterprise portfolio as customers navigated economic uncertainty and reassessed their marketing spend. Delayed contracting and campaign timing also affected a number of enterprise accounts, including 1 large customer we discussed last quarter. While we've seen encouraging progress through contract awards received in July, the pace of customer commitments remains uneven. As a reminder, revenue from Managed Services bookings is recognized over the life of the underlying contract with the period from contract signing to final revenue recognition averaging approximately 7 months. As a result, the softer bookings environment in the second quarter is expected to be reflected in near-term revenue trends. While the benefit of improving booking activity is more likely to be recognized over several quarters as campaigns move into execution. Managed Services revenue was $5.8 million, down 36% from $9.1 million in the prior year period. The majority of the decline reflected runoff from legacy non-core customers, a transition that is now substantially complete. The remaining revenue decline was due in part to soft market demand and timing across several enterprise accounts related to campaign launch schedules. Customer engagement across our enterprise portfolio remains strong, and we're encouraged by the level of contract awards we've seen in July. While this supports our expectation for improving activity in the second half of the year, the timing of campaign launches will determine when the activity is reflected in reported revenue. Cost of revenue, which includes direct production costs, direct labor and allocated overhead produced gross margins that were relatively consistent with the prior year period despite lower revenue. Operating expenses were $3.3 million for the quarter, down 18% year-over-year. Sales and marketing costs declined due to lower commission expense and headcount costs. G&A decreased approximately 20% over the prior year period, driven primarily by lower payroll and related costs. Overall, we believe our cost structure is well aligned with our current operating model, and we expect operating expenses to remain relatively stable through the balance of the year. For the quarter, we reported a net loss of $0.7 million or negative $0.04 per share on 17.5 million shares outstanding, compared to net income of $1.2 million in the prior year period or $0.07 per share on 16.9 million fully diluted shares. The year-over-year change reflects lower revenue in the quarter, partially offset by the benefits of our reduced cost structure. Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was negative $0.4 million compared to positive $1.3 million in the prior year quarter. Reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net income is included in our earnings release. As of June 30, 2026, we had $46.6 million in cash and cash equivalents, a decrease of $4.3 million from the beginning of the year. The change in cash reflects our EBITDA loss, normal changes in working capital and other investing and financing activities. We're well capitalized with no debt on our balance sheet. Turning to our share repurchase activity, the Board authorized a $10 million share repurchase program in the fall of 2024. We have repurchased approximately 658,000 shares, investing $1.8 million, primarily under our various Rule 10b-5-1 trading plans, including approximately 135,000 shares or $0.5 million since our current plan was adopted in May. We believe our strong balance sheet positions us well to support organic growth initiatives and pursue strategic acquisition opportunities. Thank you for your time today. We'll now open the call for questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] We have reached the end of the question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to John Francis for closing comments. John Francis: Thanks so much, Max, and thank you, everyone, for joining us this afternoon. As a reminder, a replay of today's call will be available shortly on our website, izea.com/investors. We appreciate your continued interest and support and hope you'll join us for our next conference call to discuss our third quarter 2026 results. Thank you. Operator: This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation. Before you buy stock in Izea Worldwide, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Izea Worldwide wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $409,970!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,381,040!* That performance is why people listen. With a track record of beating the S&P 500 by nearly 5x, Stock Advisor offers a distinct advantage. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 18, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. IZEA (IZEA) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management attributed the second-quarter performance shortfall to increased macroeconomic uncertainty and a longer-than-anticipated transition from SMB to enterprise-focused operations. Macroeconomic factors including tariffs, consumer spending concerns, and procurement consolidation led several large customers in CPG, automotive, and tech to postpone or reduce marketing programs. The company is intentionally shifting away from legacy non-core customers, a transition management now considers substantially complete, to focus on high-value enterprise accounts. Operational changes to the sales organization are being implemented to better align with the complex enterprise buying journey, including strengthened leadership and improved coordination with account management. Management highlighted that enterprise client engagement is at its highest historical level, with the risk profile of these accounts reaching multi-year lows despite broader market volatility. The launch of the ZED platform is intended to drive operational efficiency and provide a modernized technology foundation for brand safety and creator workflows. A disciplined cost-alignment strategy was executed to streamline the organization while maintaining high employee engagement and low voluntary turnover. Revenue trends in the near term are expected to reflect the softer Q2 bookings due to a typical seven-month lag between contract signing and final revenue recognition. Management expressed confidence in a second-half recovery based on a well-defined pipeline of large-scale opportunities, including multiple prospects exceeding $1 million in annual revenue. The company is actively evaluating its most robust acquisition pipeline to date, seeking to complement organic growth by expanding capabilities and expertise within the creator economy. Operating expenses are projected to remain relatively stable through the balance of the year as the current cost structure aligns with the new operating model. Strategic focus remains on capitalizing on the secular shift toward creator-led marketing, which management believes delivers more measurable outcomes for large brands than traditional channels. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Managed Services revenue declined 36% year-over-year, primarily driven by the planned runoff of legacy non-core customers and timing delays in enterprise campaign launches. The company maintains a strong liquidity position with $46.6 million in cash and no debt, providing flexibility for both organic investment and M&A. Share repurchase activity continued with $1.8 million invested to date out of a $10 million authorization, reflecting management's view on capital allocation. A net loss of $0.7 million was reported, as the benefits of a reduced cost structure only partially offset the impact of lower quarterly revenue.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: August 11, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Client engagement has reached the highest level since the CEO joined, with broader and deeper executive relationships. The pipeline of large, scalable enterprise opportunities is well-defined, including multiple opportunities capable of generating over $1 million in annual revenue. The transition from SMB to enterprise focus is substantially complete, with legacy non-core customer runoff now largely behind the company. Operating expenses decreased 18% year-over-year, reflecting a well-aligned cost structure with expectations for stability through the balance of the year. The company maintains a strong balance sheet with $46.6 million in cash and no debt, supporting organic growth and strategic acquisitions. The acquisition pipeline is the most active it has ever been, presenting unique opportunities to complement organic growth. The launch of ZED has enhanced brand safety, analytics, creator workflows, and platform stability, improving operational efficiency. July contract awards showed encouraging progress, supporting expectations for improving activity in the second half of the year. Managed Services bookings declined 19% year-over-year to $4.5 million, reflecting softer demand across the enterprise portfolio. Managed Services revenue fell 36% year-over-year to $5.8 million, impacted by legacy customer runoff and soft market demand. The company reported a net loss of $0.7 million, compared to net income of $1.2 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA turned negative at -$0.4 million, versus positive $1.3 million in the prior year quarter. Macroeconomic uncertainty, including tariffs, consumer spending concerns, and delayed marketing decisions, affected clients across multiple industries. The transition to an enterprise-focused model has taken longer than anticipated, with operational changes not yet fully matured. The pace of customer commitments remains uneven, with the benefit of improving bookings likely to be recognized only over several quarters. Cash and cash equivalents decreased by $4.3 million from the beginning of the year, reflecting EBITDA loss and working capital changes. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with IZEA. Is IZEA fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: What were the primary factors affecting IZEA's first-half 2026 performance, and how does management view the company's strategic position?A: CEO Patrick Venetucci attributed the weaker performance to two main factors: increased macroeconomic uncertainty causing marketers across major industries to become more cautious, and operational changes from the SMB-to-enterprise transition taking longer to mature than anticipated. Despite these headwinds, he emphasized that enterprise customer relationships remain exceptionally strong, with client engagement at its highest level since he joined the company, executive relationships broader and deeper than ever, and risk levels on enterprise accounts at their lowest in years. He remains confident the strategic decisions are correct and that the foundation positions the company for stronger long-term growth. Q: What is the current state of IZEA's enterprise pipeline and visibility into future opportunities?A: Venetucci stated that visibility into future enterprise opportunities continues to improve, with a well-defined pipeline of large, scalable opportunities, including multiple opportunities capable of generating more than $1 million in annual revenue. This growing pipeline gives management confidence that investments made over the past two years are beginning to translate into larger and more durable revenue opportunities. Q: Can you provide details on the second-quarter 2026 financial results, including bookings, revenue, and profitability?A: CFO Peter Biere reported Managed Services bookings of $4.5 million, down 19% year-over-year, due to softer demand and delayed contracting. Managed Services revenue was $5.8 million, down 36% from $9.1 million in the prior year, with the majority of the decline reflecting runoff from legacy non-core customers. The company reported a net loss of $0.7 million, or negative $0.04 per share, compared to net income of $1.2 million in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $0.4 million, compared to positive $1.3 million in the prior year quarter. Q: How is the company managing its cost structure in light of current market conditions?A: Biere noted that operating expenses were $3.3 million for the quarter, down 18% year-over-year, driven by lower commission expense, headcount costs, and payroll-related costs in G&A. Management believes the cost structure is well-aligned with the current operating model, and they expect operating expenses to remain relatively stable through the balance of the year. The company streamlined the organization while maintaining high employee engagement and low voluntary turnover. Q: What is the company's capital position and how does it plan to use it?A: As of June 30, 2026, IZEA had $46.6 million in cash and cash equivalents with no debt on its balance sheet. The company is well capitalized to support organic growth initiatives and pursue strategic acquisitions. Biere also mentioned the Board authorized a $10 million share repurchase program in fall 2024, with approximately 658,000 shares repurchased for $1.8 million to date, including 135,000 shares for $0.5 million since the current plan was adopted in May. Q: What progress has been made on the ZED platform and its role in the company's strategy?A: Venetucci highlighted substantial progress with ZED, including enhancements in brand safety, analytics, creator workflows, platform intelligence, and overall stability. The platform was launched to the market and is expected to improve operational efficiency while creating a stronger technology foundation for future innovation. Marketing has become a more important growth engine, with industry-specific campaigns generating meaningful awareness and high-quality enterprise leads. Q: What is the company's outlook for revenue recognition and near-term trends given the softer bookings environment?A: Biere explained that revenue from Managed Services bookings is recognized over the life of the underlying contract, with an average period of approximately seven months from contract signing to final revenue recognition. As a result, the softer bookings environment in Q2 is expected to be reflected in near-term revenue trends, while the benefit of improving booking activity is more likely to be recognized over several quarters as campaigns move into execution. He noted encouraging progress through contract awards received in July, though the pace of customer commitments remains uneven. Q: How is IZEA approaching acquisitions and what is the current M&A environment?A: Venetucci stated that activity across the creator economy remains robust, and the company has been exceptionally active evaluating companies to acquire that could expand capabilities, deepen expertise, and strengthen competitive position. The acquisition pipeline is the most active it has ever been. While remaining disciplined and pursuing only transactions that create long-term shareholder value, management believes the current environment presents a unique opportunity to complement the organic growth strategy. Q: What are the key indicators of customer engagement and how are they trending?A: Venetucci emphasized that leading indicators are moving in the right direction: the company continues to gain share with strategic accounts, client engagement has reached the highest level since he's been with the company, executive relationships are broader and deeper than ever, and risk levels on enterprise accounts are at the lowest levels seen in years. These factors support confidence in the long-term opportunity despite near-term macroeconomic uncertainty. Q: What operational changes have been made to align the sales organization with the enterprise buying journey?A: Venetucci noted that the sales organization is becoming increasingly aligned around the enterprise buying journey. During the quarter, the company strengthened leadership, continued onboarding new sales talent, and improved coordination between sales and account management. They also continued refining strategic account development and the quality of enterprise engagement, which has contributed to the improved pipeline and customer relationships. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Interested in Izea Worldwide, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Second-quarter results weakened materially: Managed Services bookings fell 19% to $4.5 million, revenue declined 36% to $5.8 million, and IZEA posted a $700,000 net loss versus $1.2 million in net income a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA also turned negative at $400,000. Enterprise customers delayed or reduced marketing programs amid macroeconomic uncertainty, while IZEA’s transition from SMB clients to larger enterprise accounts took longer than expected. Management said weaker bookings could pressure near-term revenue because campaigns typically take about seven months to generate recognized revenue. IZEA remains financially flexible and anticipates improved activity: The company ended June with $46.6 million in cash and no debt, continued share repurchases, and cited July contract awards, a sizable enterprise pipeline, technology investments and potential acquisitions as drivers of longer-term growth. IZEA Worldwide Stock is a Social Media Influencer Play Izea Worldwide (NASDAQ:IZEA) reported lower second-quarter results as enterprise customers delayed marketing decisions amid macroeconomic uncertainty, while the company continued its shift from a small- and midsize-business focus toward larger enterprise accounts. Managed Services bookings totaled $4.5 million in the second quarter, down 19% from the prior-year period. Managed Services revenue fell 36% to $5.8 million from $9.1 million a year earlier. The company reported a net loss of $700,000, or $0.04 per share, compared with net income of $1.2 million, or $0.07 per share, in the prior-year quarter. → SoundHound AI Sends a Loud Signal After Its Q2 Earnings Beat Adjusted EBITDA was negative $400,000, compared with positive $1.3 million a year earlier. IZEA ended the quarter with $46.6 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt. Chief Executive Officer Patrick Venetucci said results fell short of the company’s original expectations, citing a more cautious marketing environment and the longer-than-expected operational transition to an enterprise-focused business. → 3 Dividend Champion Utilities for a Market That Can't Sit Still Venetucci said clients across consumer packaged goods, automotive, technology, retail and entertainment faced pressure from factors including tariffs, consumer-spending concerns, financing conditions, organizational restructurings, procurement consolidation and delayed marketing decisions. Several large customers either postponed or reduced programs, he said. “Our first-half performance was affected by two primary factors,” Venetucci said. “First, marketers across nearly every major industry we serve became more cautious as macroeconomic uncertainty increased. Second, our transition from an SMB-focused organization to an enterprise-focused company has required operational changes that have taken longer to fully mature than we originally anticipated.” → Is Wingstop's Growth Story Losing Steam? Chief Financial Officer Peter Biere said softer enterprise demand, delayed contracting and campaign timing affected bookings during the quarter, including one large customer previously discussed by the company. He noted that Managed Services revenue is generally recognized over the life of contracts, with the period between signing and final revenue recognition averaging about seven months. As a result, Biere said the weaker second-quarter bookings environment is expected to affect near-term revenue trends, while improving booking activity would likely contribute to results over multiple quarters as campaigns are executed. Management said enterprise customer engagement remained strong despite the near-term pressures. Venetucci said the company has gained share with strategic accounts, expanded executive-level client relationships and lowered risk levels across enterprise accounts. IZEA also cited a pipeline of larger potential enterprise engagements, including multiple opportunities that could generate more than $1 million in annual revenue. Venetucci said the company’s investments over the past two years are beginning to create larger and more durable revenue opportunities. Biere said the company received encouraging contract awards in July, although customer commitments have remained uneven. He said those awards support expectations for improved activity in the second half of 2026, but the timing of campaign launches will determine when activity appears in reported revenue. The revenue decline also reflected runoff from legacy non-core customers, according to Biere. He said that transition is now substantially complete, with the remaining decline attributable in part to softer market conditions and campaign-launch timing at enterprise accounts. Operating expenses declined 18% year over year to $3.3 million. Sales and marketing expenses decreased because of lower commission expense and headcount costs, while general and administrative expense declined about 20%, primarily due to reduced payroll and related costs. Biere said gross margins were relatively consistent with the prior-year quarter despite lower revenue. The company expects operating expenses to remain relatively stable through the rest of 2026. Venetucci said IZEA streamlined its organization while strengthening operational leadership and maintaining investments in capabilities intended to support long-term growth. He also highlighted the company’s ZED technology platform, which was launched to customers during the quarter and enhanced in areas including brand safety, analytics, creator-economy workflows, platform intelligence and stability. The company said its industry-specific marketing campaigns and targeted events generated enterprise leads and increased awareness of its capabilities among brands. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $46.6 million as of June 30, down $4.3 million from the beginning of the year. Biere attributed the reduction to the company’s EBITDA loss, routine working-capital changes and other investing and financing activities. IZEA has no debt on its balance sheet, Biere said. The board’s $10 million share-repurchase authorization, adopted in fall 2024, has funded repurchases of about 658,000 shares for $1.8 million. That amount includes approximately 135,000 shares repurchased for $500,000 since the current trading plan was adopted in May. Venetucci also said the company has been actively reviewing potential acquisitions that could broaden its capabilities, deepen its expertise and strengthen its competitive position. He described the acquisition pipeline as the most active it has been, while emphasizing that the company would pursue only transactions it believes can create long-term shareholder value. IZEA Worldwide, Inc is a technology-driven marketing services company that operates a global digital marketplace connecting brands, agencies and media companies with content creators and influencers. The company's platform enables clients to plan, execute and measure content marketing and social media campaigns across blogs, social networks, video channels and other digital outlets. Through both self-service tools and managed service engagements, IZEA provides end-to-end solutions for influencer marketing, sponsored content creation and content distribution. Key offerings include campaign management software, content licensing and rights management, influencer discovery and analytics, and performance reporting. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Izea Worldwide Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management confirmed the completion of a deliberate 12-month transition away from SMB accounts to focus exclusively on high-quality enterprise clients. The exit from non-core SMB business, characterized by unprofitable project work, resulted in a net profit swing of $18.9 million during 2025. While total account volume decreased by more than 1/3, the average revenue per account increased by more than 33% due to higher-quality relationships. Q1 revenue decline was attributed entirely to the intentional runoff of SMB business, masking double-digit growth within the core enterprise portfolio. A temporary slowdown in the top three accounts was driven by macroeconomic factors like inflation and tariffs in the CPG sector, rather than client churn. The company added 12 new team members to its growth organization to deepen expertise in enterprise marketing and influencer strategy. Management expects meaningful growth in the second half of 2026 as the impact of SMB runoff diminishes after the second quarter. The launch of ZED, an AI-infused marketing operations platform, is expected to drive operational efficiency and enable clients to scale influencer campaigns 10x. Revenue recognition for managed services is expected to follow a typical seven-month cycle from contract signing to final recognition. Operating expenses are projected to remain relatively stable through the balance of the year as the cost structure is now aligned with the new model. The company intends to adopt a new share repurchase plan following the expiration of the current 10b5-1 plan on May 15, 2026. IZEA maintains a strong liquidity position with $46.5 million in cash and zero debt to support organic growth and M&A. Management is actively evaluating a 'target-rich' M&A environment, prioritizing new capabilities in content, media, and social commerce over simple scale. A $4.4 million decrease in cash during the quarter was primarily attributed to working capital timing and the payout of prior-year incentive compensation. The company noted a 'bid-ask spread' in the M&A market and emphasized a disciplined approach to avoid overpaying for acquisitions. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management stated there are no meaningful gating issues, but the primary variable is the speed of traction and activation of new enterprise assignments. The ZED platform is viewed as a key enabler for scaling operations as clients move from testing small groups to managing thousands of influencers. The strategy prioritizes adding cross-sellable capabilities like social commerce rather than 'look-alike' acquisitions for scale. Management characterized the environment as target-rich but noted they are being disciplined due to valuation gaps in the market. While specific segment numbers were not disclosed, management highlighted that the enterprise portfolio has grown at a double-digit rate over the past 12 months. The underlying health of enterprise accounts is reportedly outpacing general industry growth rates. Inflation and tariffs have caused some 'angst' and spending slowdowns in sectors like CPG, but management views this as temporary. Enterprise clients are beginning to release budgets again, and IZEA has not lost any major enterprise partners due to these macro factors.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Release Date: May 12, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. IZEA Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:IZEA) successfully transitioned from SMB accounts to enterprise clients, resulting in a net profit swing of $18.9 million during 2025. The company has established relationships with large enterprise brands such as Warner Brothers, Coursera, Nestle, Danone, Georgia Pacific, and Stellantis. IZEA Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:IZEA) increased average revenue per account by more than 33% and established a more consistent and scalable profitability profile. The launch of Zed, a proprietary creator economy marketing operations platform infused with AI, is expected to differentiate IZEA Worldwide Inc (NASDAQ:IZEA)'s capabilities and drive efficiency. The enterprise portfolio has grown at a healthy double-digit rate over the past 12 months, outpacing overall industry growth. Revenue in Q1 2026 declined year-over-year due to the transition away from SMB accounts. Managed services bookings were down $1.2 million year-over-year, with $1 million related to timing across several enterprise accounts. The company reported a net loss of $0.8 million for the quarter, compared to a net loss of $0.1 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was minus $0.5 million compared to minus $0.1 million in the prior year quarter. Cash and cash equivalents decreased by $4.4 million from the beginning of the year, primarily driven by working capital timing and payout of prior-year incentive compensation. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Signs with IZEA. Is IZEA fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Q: Now that you've exited the SMB business, what are the main factors affecting your ability to grow over the next year or two? A: Patrick Venetucci, CEO: There aren't significant gating issues. We're expanding our reach with clients and receiving more assignments from enterprise clients. The challenge is how quickly we can gain traction and activate opportunities with our clients. Q: Does the release of Zed help with growth, and can you provide some context? A: Patrick Venetucci, CEO: Zed is opening more doors as demand for creator economy campaigns increases. Clients are scaling up their campaigns, and Zed enables us to manage this scale efficiently. It's a significant tool for growth. Q: How are you approaching M&A opportunities, and do you see it as a target-rich environment? A: Patrick Venetucci, CEO: We have a well-defined M&A strategy focused on adding new capabilities rather than just scale. We're looking for opportunities to cross-sell into enterprise clients. It's a target-rich environment, but we're disciplined about pricing and capital use. Q: Can you provide insights into your core revenue and bookings growth, excluding the SMB business? A: Patrick Venetucci, CEO: While we don't report at that level of detail, our enterprise portfolio has grown at a double-digit rate over the past 12 months, outpacing market growth. We're focused on transitioning away from SMB to highlight the health of our enterprise accounts. Q: How does the current economic environment affect your business, especially with consumer discretionary companies facing challenges? A: Patrick Venetucci, CEO: It varies by sector. In CPG, tariffs and inflation have impacted business, causing some slowdown. However, these are temporary, and we're seeing signs of recovery. We haven't lost any enterprise clients, but macroeconomic factors are at play. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Interested in Izea Worldwide, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. IZEA’s Q1 revenue fell to $6.6 million from $8 million a year ago, as the company completed its shift away from small and midsize business accounts and toward larger enterprise clients. Management said the SMB runoff should be mostly behind the company after Q2, with more consistent profitable growth expected in the second half of 2026. Enterprise customers are now the core growth engine, with recurring revenue relationships and average revenue per account up more than 33%. Izea said it added or expanded work with brands such as Hulu, ASICS, Garanimals, and Emmi Roth, while clients like Warner Bros., Nestlé, Danone, and Stellantis remain key accounts. The company is betting on ZED, acquisitions, and capital returns to support growth, while maintaining a strong balance sheet with $46.5 million in cash and no debt. Izea has also repurchased about $1.3 million of the $10 million buyback authorization and said it may continue repurchases depending on market conditions. IZEA Worldwide Stock is a Social Media Influencer Play Izea Worldwide (NASDAQ:IZEA) reported lower first-quarter 2026 revenue as the influencer marketing company said it completed a strategic shift away from small and midsize business accounts and toward larger enterprise clients. Chief Executive Officer Patrick Venetucci told investors that the company intentionally exited a significant portion of its SMB business over the past 12 months, describing that work as smaller, non-recurring and often unprofitable. He said the move reset the company’s economic model and contributed to a net profit swing of $18.9 million during 2025. → MercadoLibre Boldly Invests in Growth: Discount Deepens “As expected, revenue in Q1 2026 declined year-over-year, primarily reflecting the impact of this transition,” Venetucci said. “However, this quarter represents an important milestone, marking the completion of our exit from the SMB model and the full transition to an enterprise-focused business.” Chief Financial Officer Peter Biere said first-quarter revenue was $6.6 million, down from $8 million in the prior-year period. He said the decline was “entirely due” to the company’s move away from non-core customers. → Rocket Lab Just Hit a New All-Time High—Time to Buy or Let It Breathe? Managed Services bookings were down $1.2 million year-over-year. Biere said roughly $1 million of that decline was related to timing across several enterprise accounts, while the remainder came from runoff in non-core SMB business. Biere said both contract bookings and revenue associated with non-core SMB customers should be “substantially behind” the company after the second quarter, reducing their effect on year-over-year comparisons. He said the company expects more consistent profitable growth in the second half of 2026. → MP Materials Is Quietly Building a Rare Earth Powerhouse For the quarter, Izea reported a net loss of $0.8 million, or $0.04 per share, compared with a net loss of $0.1 million, or $0.01 per share, in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $0.5 million, compared with negative $0.1 million a year earlier. Operating expenses totaled $4.1 million, down 3% from the prior-year period. Sales and marketing expenses declined by $0.2 million, primarily due to lower commission and headcount costs, while general and administrative expenses rose about 3% due to modestly higher payroll-related costs. Venetucci said Izea has reduced its total number of accounts by more than one-third while increasing the quality and scale of its client relationships. He cited enterprise clients including Warner Brothers., Coursera, Nestlé, Danone, Georgia-Pacific and Stellantis. Many of the company’s largest clients are now recurring revenue streams, which Venetucci described as more predictable and durable than the prior SMB mix. He said average revenue per account has increased by more than 33% as the company streamlined its client base. Although Izea experienced a temporary slowdown across its top three accounts during the quarter, Venetucci said that was more than offset by growth across newer enterprise clients and contributions from new business wins. He said the company added clients such as Hulu, ASICS, Garanimals and Emmi Roth. “Over the past 12 months, our enterprise portfolio has grown at a healthy double-digit rate, outpacing overall industry growth,” Venetucci said. In response to an investor question about growth constraints, Venetucci said he did not see meaningful gating issues. He said the company is “reaching higher and wider” with clients and receiving more assignments, with the key question being how quickly Izea can gain traction and activate opportunities. Venetucci also highlighted the launch of ZED, Izea’s proprietary creator economy marketing operations platform with artificial intelligence features. He said the platform is opening doors as large brands look to scale creator campaigns. Venetucci said clients are moving beyond small tests with five or 10 creators and are seeking much larger programs. He described a recent meeting with the chief marketing officer of a major global brand that was working with 1,000 influencers at a time and wanted to increase that tenfold. “ZED is certainly going to be something that’s going to enable us to scale this and operate more efficiently,” Venetucci said. The company is also active in the mergers and acquisitions market. Venetucci said Izea has a “well-defined M&A strategy” focused on adding new capabilities that can be cross-sold into enterprise clients, rather than simply buying similar businesses for scale. He said enterprise customers are increasingly looking for integrated offerings across content, media and commerce, including social commerce. Venetucci characterized the market as “target-rich,” but said there can be a wide gap between buyer and seller price expectations. “We’re being very disciplined,” he said. “We want to pay fair prices, but also don’t want to overpay.” As of March 31, 2026, Izea had $46.5 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt, down $4.4 million from the beginning of the year. Biere said the decrease was primarily driven by working capital timing, including higher accounts receivable at quarter-end that was collected in early April, the payout of prior-year incentive compensation and normal working capital fluctuations. Biere said the company’s board authorized a $10 million share repurchase program in fall 2024. To date, Izea has repurchased 523,268 shares for approximately $1.3 million, primarily under its initial Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The current plan is scheduled to expire on May 15, 2026, and Biere said the company expects to adopt a new plan with updated purchase parameters based on market conditions. “We continue to view share repurchases as an attractive use of capital when our stock trades below the board’s view of our intrinsic value,” Biere said, adding that the balance sheet supports both organic growth initiatives and potential strategic acquisitions. During the question-and-answer session, an investor asked whether softer conditions among consumer discretionary companies were affecting demand for Izea’s services. Venetucci said the impact varies by sector and noted that tariffs and inflation have affected some consumer packaged goods clients. He said some of the slowdown referenced earlier in the call was related to those pressures, but added that Izea has not lost those enterprise clients. “Clearly there are some macroeconomic environment factors at play here,” Venetucci said. “What we’re also seeing too is that it can’t last forever.” The company did not provide specific guidance for bookings, but Venetucci said management is focused on increasing bookings and that some timing issues with larger clients were already showing improvement. IZEA Worldwide, Inc is a technology-driven marketing services company that operates a global digital marketplace connecting brands, agencies and media companies with content creators and influencers. The company's platform enables clients to plan, execute and measure content marketing and social media campaigns across blogs, social networks, video channels and other digital outlets. Through both self-service tools and managed service engagements, IZEA provides end-to-end solutions for influencer marketing, sponsored content creation and content distribution. Key offerings include campaign management software, content licensing and rights management, influencer discovery and analytics, and performance reporting. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Izea Worldwide Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for May 2026.

Path to profitability: Management said IZEA reached break‑even in 2025 with an $18.9 million year‑over‑year net profit swing, driven by a 40% reduction in operating expenses and improved cash operating profit to $0.7 million. Revenue and bookings hit by strategic reset: Annual revenue fell 13% to $31.2 million and Q4 revenue dropped 45% to $6.1 million as IZEA deliberately off‑boarded lower‑margin SMBs and saw a $10.3 million (27%) decline in contract bookings, though backlog is $10.1 million and management expects bookings to recover in early 2026 with revenue growth returning in H2 2026. Strong balance sheet and M&A focus: IZEA held $50.9 million in cash with no debt at year‑end, has a $10 million repurchase authorization ( $1.4 million executed so far), and is prioritizing disciplined acquisitions of enterprise customers to drive future growth. Interested in Izea Worldwide, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. IZEA Worldwide Stock is a Social Media Influencer Play Izea Worldwide (NASDAQ:IZEA) executives said the company reached a key profitability milestone in 2025 after a year of strategic repositioning, including an intentional pullback from lower-margin customers and a broad reset of operating costs. On the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, management described 2025 as a “reset” year designed to establish durable break-even economics and position the business for more profitable growth as the revenue mix shifts toward larger enterprise accounts. Chief Executive Officer Patrick Venetucci said the leadership team committed at the end of 2024 to accelerate the company’s path to profitability and delivered on that goal by the end of 2025. Venetucci pointed to a year-on-year break-even result, an increase in cash, and relatively stable Managed Services revenue excluding the divested Hoozu business. → Dollar Tree Planted the Seeds for Triple-Digit Gains in Q4 Venetucci said the company achieved a net profit swing of $18.9 million year-over-year. Annual revenue was $31.2 million, down 13%, which he attributed to a deliberate pivot toward long-term profitability alongside macroeconomic headwinds. He also cited internal actions such as exiting international markets and off-boarding lower-margin SMB accounts to prioritize a higher-potential enterprise portfolio, along with “government-induced disruptions” tied to “DOGE and trade policies” that negatively affected government and retail accounts. For the fourth quarter, Venetucci said revenue was $6.1 million, down 45% year-over-year. He said more than half of the decline was due to the company’s strategic client rationalization, while the remainder was tied to delayed bookings on a few key enterprise accounts in a conservative holiday marketing environment. → Why Credo and Astera Soared After Oracle and Broadcom's Earnings Chief Financial Officer Peter Biere added that fourth-quarter Managed Services revenue was $6.0 million, down from $9.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Biere said roughly half of the year-over-year revenue decline was expected runoff from non-core customers following the strategic repositioning, while the rest primarily reflected the timing of bookings from several enterprise accounts and cautious holiday marketing budgets. Despite the revenue pressure, Venetucci emphasized that Managed Services revenue excluding Hoozu finished the year down 2%, describing it as resilient given the company’s strategic shifts. He said the company has scaled five enterprise accounts above the $1 million threshold, with each delivering double- or triple-digit growth. → Members of Congress Bought These 5 Stocks—Should You? Management repeatedly highlighted cost actions as a major driver of the turnaround. Venetucci said the company achieved a 40% reduction in total operating expenses and improved cash operating profit to $0.7 million, compared with an $11.1 million cash operating loss in the prior year. He said the company implemented human capital management systems intended to institutionalize cost discipline and support scalability. Biere said operating expenses in the fourth quarter were $4.4 million, down 40% year-over-year, driven mainly by lower sales and marketing spending and reduced employee and contractor costs. For the quarter, IZEA reported a net loss of $1.2 million, or $0.07 per share on 17.1 million shares outstanding, compared with a net loss of $4.6 million, or $0.27 per share, in the prior-year period. Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was negative $0.9 million, compared with negative $2.0 million a year earlier. Biere noted that in late 2024 the company refined its non-GAAP definition of adjusted EBITDA to exclude non-operating items, primarily interest income from its investment portfolio, and restated prior-year amounts for comparability. Biere said the strategic reset significantly impacted 2025 contract bookings, which declined by $10.3 million, or 27%, year-over-year. He attributed most of the decline to the intentional reduction in non-core customer activity rather than weakness in the enterprise business. The company ended 2025 with a $10.1 million contract backlog. Looking ahead, Biere said that based on current pipeline opportunities and first-quarter progress, the bookings reset is “largely behind us,” and management expects a return to year-over-year bookings growth in early 2026. He added that revenue recognition for Managed Services typically trails contract bookings by about seven months, meaning 2025 revenue still reflected runoff from non-core contracts booked before the repositioning. As a result, Biere said the company expects year-over-year revenue comparisons in the first half of 2026 to be lower, followed by a return to year-over-year revenue growth in the second half of 2026 as revenue increasingly reflects the current mix of core enterprise engagements. In the Q&A, Venetucci said the company is “aiming for growth,” describing the creator economy as a growth market, though he reiterated that IZEA does not provide specific guidance. Asked about gross margins, he did not provide a range, saying the company’s focus is on growing net revenue and keeping the cost structure aligned with that. Biere said the company earned $0.4 million of interest income in the quarter, primarily from cash balances held in a money market account following the maturity of all investment securities. He added that IZEA continues to have no debt on its balance sheet. As of December 31, 2025, IZEA had $50.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, down $0.2 million from the beginning of the year. Biere contrasted that with a $13.1 million reduction in cash during 2024 and said the 2025 result reflected improved operating performance and disciplined cost management. He said the company believes it is well positioned to support organic growth initiatives and pursue strategic acquisition plans. On capital returns, Biere reviewed the company’s previously announced authorization to repurchase up to $10 million of common stock. Through December 31, 2025, cumulative repurchases totaled 561,950 shares for $1.4 million, and no shares were repurchased during the fourth quarter. He said the company will evaluate further repurchases based on market conditions, liquidity needs, and alternative uses of capital. Venetucci said M&A is a “very high priority” and that the company is active in discussions, using both his personal network and investment bankers specializing in the sector. He said IZEA is primarily interested in acquiring customers—particularly enterprise-grade clients with recurring revenue and strong relationships—while also looking at capability additions that expand services offered to enterprise clients. He added that the company has enough cash to buy at fair market value and intends to remain disciplined, modeling returns on capital and applying hurdle rates. Separately, Venetucci described what he called a “massive shift” in marketing as social audiences surpass television audiences, arguing that brands increasingly need creator-led strategies to reach consumers—an area where he said IZEA serves as a marketing partner by helping brands select creators, structure deals, and execute campaigns. IZEA Worldwide, Inc is a technology-driven marketing services company that operates a global digital marketplace connecting brands, agencies and media companies with content creators and influencers. The company's platform enables clients to plan, execute and measure content marketing and social media campaigns across blogs, social networks, video channels and other digital outlets. Through both self-service tools and managed service engagements, IZEA provides end-to-end solutions for influencer marketing, sponsored content creation and content distribution. Key offerings include campaign management software, content licensing and rights management, influencer discovery and analytics, and performance reporting. The article "Izea Worldwide Q4 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat.