ORLANDO, Fla., May 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IZEA Worldwide, Inc. $(IZEA)$, a leading influencer marketing company that makes Creator Economy solutions for marketers, reported its financial and operational results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
Q1 2026 Financial Summary Compared to Q1 2025
-- Revenue was $6.6 million, off $1.4 million (18%) compared to $8.0 million,
driven by the shedding of small, unprofitable, non-recurring small and
mid-size business $(SMB)$ accounts
-- Managed Services bookings declined 17% to $6.3 million, primarily
reflecting contract timing within several large enterprise accounts,
which we expect to contribute to growth in 2026
-- Total costs and expenses decreased 10% to $7.7 million, compared to $8.6
million, reflecting a normalized cost base positioned to scale with
revenue growth
-- Net loss totaled $0.8 million, or $(0.04) per share, compared to a net
loss of $0.1 million, or $(0.01) per share
-- Adjusted EBITDA* for the quarter was $(0.5) million, compared to $(0.1)
million
-- Cash and equivalents as of March 31, 2026 totaled $46.5 million,
declining $4.4 million during the quarter, primarily reflecting working
capital timing
Q1 2026 Highlights
-- IZEA won new business from Hulu, ASUS, Garanimals, and Emmi Roth
-- IZEA launched ZED, its proprietary creator economy marketing operations
platform infused with AI, designed to connect brands and creators through
a unified operating system, enabling teams to plan smarter campaigns,
collaborate seamlessly, automate workflows, and measure impact in real
time
-- IZEA executed many high-impact creator campaigns including a global
fandom activation for Warner Bros.' Wuthering Heights, gaming activations
for Acer, vehicle showcases for Jeep, and launch support for Netflix
Games
-- IZEA strengthened its talent base with a dozen strategic growth hires,
including Lindsey Gamble as Vice President of Creator Strategy and
Innovation, bringing a powerful combination of deep influencer marketing
expertise and enterprise-scale marketing leadership
* Adjusted EBITDA and revenue from on-going operations are non-GAAP financial measures. Refer to the definition and reconciliation of these measures under "Use of Key Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures."
Management Commentary
"Q1 marked a pivotal milestone for IZEA as we completed our transition to an enterprise-focused business model," said Patrick Venetucci, CEO. "Over the past year, we made the disciplined decision to exit lower-margin SMB work, which reset our economic foundation and drove a nearly $19 million swing in profitability in 2025. Today, we have a higher-quality, more predictable revenue base anchored by large enterprise clients, with growing relationships and increasing revenue per account. Over the past twelve months, we have seen double-digit growth across our enterprise portfolio, supported by new client wins and continued momentum in our creative and technology capabilities, including the launch of ZED, our proprietary AI-powered platform. We believe this transformation positions IZEA for accelerated growth and long-term value creation."
Q1 2026 Financial Results
Total revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was $6.6 million, compared to $8.0 million in the prior year period, a decrease of $1.4 million, or 18%. The decline primarily reflects the Company's deliberate shift toward growing its core enterprise customer base and reducing reliance on non-core, lower-margin customers, supporting a focus on improving the quality, sustainability, and long-term profitability of revenue. The decrease was also, to a lesser extent, impacted by contract timing differences across several enterprise accounts during the quarter, which are expected to contribute to growth in 2026.
Cost of revenue for the first quarter of 2026 was $3.6 million, a decrease of $0.8 million, or 18%, compared to the prior-year period. The decrease was primarily driven by lower overall delivery volume, consistent with the decline in revenue, and a more favorable mix of higher-margin enterprise engagements.
Costs and expenses, excluding the cost of revenue, totaled $4.1 million for the first quarter of 2026, a decrease of $0.1 million, or 3%, compared to the first quarter of 2025. Sales and marketing expense totaled $0.9 million, down 17% from $1.1 million in the prior-year period, primarily due to lower payroll and related expenses, partially offset by program costs to support growth initiatives. General and administrative expenses were $3.0 million, an increase of $0.1 million, or 3%, year over year, primarily driven by higher payroll and related expenses, net of continued cost management initiatives.
Net loss in the first quarter of 2026 was $0.8 million, or $(0.04) per share, as compared to a net loss of $0.1 million, or $(0.01) per share in the first quarter of 2025, based on 17.3 million and 17.0 million average shares outstanding, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA (as defined below, a non-GAAP measure management used as a proxy for operating cash flow) totaled $(0.5) million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $(0.1) million in the comparative period.
As of March 31, 2026, our cash and cash equivalents totaled $46.5 million. The company has no outstanding long-term debt.
We previously announced our commitment to repurchase up to $10.0 million of our stock in the open market, subject to certain restrictions. Through March 31, 2026, we have purchased a total of 523,268 shares, investing $1.3 million under the repurchase program. No share purchases were made in the current quarter.
Conference Call
IZEA will hold a conference call to discuss its first quarter 2026 results on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. IZEA's CEO Patrick Venetucci and CFO Peter Biere will host the call, followed by a question and answer period.
Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2026
Time: 5:00 p.m. ET
Webcast link: https://viavid.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1760886&tp_key=951f9d5729
Toll-free dial-in number: 1-877-407-4018
International dial-in number: 1-201-689-8471
Please call the conference telephone number five (5) minutes before the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. A call replay will be made available approximately 3 hours after the conference ends until Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Toll-free replay number: 1-844-512-2921
International replay number: 1-412-317-6671
Replay ID: 13760257
About IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
IZEA Worldwide, Inc. ("IZEA") is a full-service creator economy agency powered by our proprietary ZED technology, with a mission to make Creator Economy solutions for marketers. We do this by lighting up the Creator Economy with IZEAs--our strategies, campaigns, and solutions that build brands and drive demand. Since launching the industry's first-ever influencer marketing platform in 2006, IZEA has facilitated nearly 4 million collaborations between brands and creators.
Use of Key Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Managed Services Bookings is a key metric representing total sales orders received during a period, net of cancellations and refunds. Contracts vary by customer and scope, ranging from custom content projects to integrated marketing campaigns, and generally extend from several months up to a year. Managed Services Bookings provide a useful measure of overall demand but are not necessarily predictive of quarterly revenue, as the timing of revenue recognition varies with contract size, complexity, and customer arrangements. Certain customers enter into annual spend commitments that establish a defined budget for services to be performed throughout the year, while others engage the Company for specific campaigns or deliverables. These differing contract structures may influence the timing and distribution of bookings and related revenue. The Company uses this metric to evaluate customer and market trends, to plan operational staffing, and to inform product development initiatives.
"Adjusted EBITDA" is a non-GAAP financial measure under the Securities and Exchange Commission rules. EBITDA is commonly defined as "earnings before interest income and expense, taxes, depreciation, and amortization." IZEA defines "Adjusted EBITDA" as earnings or loss before interest expense, interest income, taxes, depreciation and amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation, gain or loss on asset disposals or impairment, and certain other unusual or non-cash income and expense items such as gains or losses on settlement of liabilities and exchanges, and changes in the fair value of derivatives, if applicable. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors as it primarily excludes non-cash and non-operating transactions, and it provides consistency to facilitate period-to-period comparisons.
Not all companies calculate bookings and Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner. These metrics and financial measures, as presented by IZEA, may not be comparable to those presented by other companies. Moreover, these metrics and financial measures have limitations as analytical tools. You should not consider them in isolation or as a substitute for an analysis of our results of operations or, with respect to non-GAAP financial measures, as reported under GAAP. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA and revenue and costs from on-going operations to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is presented in the financial tables included in this press release.
Safe Harbor Statement
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