Zeta Global just clocked its 15th straight beat-and-raise quarter. That’s not a typo. Revenue hit $264.4 million in Q1 2025, up 36% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $46.7 million, up 53%. Margins moved to 17.7%, up from 15.6% last year. That’s the good part.
Now the rest.
GAAP net loss was $22 million. That’s 8% of revenue gone. Stock-based comp alone was $42 million. EPS missed by 22 cents, landing at negative $0.10. The market didn’t shrug. Shares dropped 7.3% after hours. That’s not noise. That’s a red flag.
Zeta’s pitch is simple: AI-powered marketing that actually works. Their Agent Studio and Zeta Answers tools are automating campaign execution, not just analysis. One enterprise campaign using Zeta Answers saw a 4x lift in conversions and a 4x drop in CPA. That’s real. But it’s not enough to plug the hole.
The real moat is data. Zeta’s first-party data graph covers 245 million opted-in US consumers. With third-party cookies circling the drain, that’s a strategic asset. Their data licensing business grew 30% year-over-year. That’s not a side hustle. That’s core.
Customer count is rising. Scaled customers hit 548, up 19%. Super-scaled customers, those spending over $1 million annually—reached 159, up 10%. ARPU for scaled customers is $467,000, up 12%. For super-scaled, it’s $1.38 million, up 23%. These aren’t vanity metrics. They’re proof the platform’s sticky.
Cash flow is solid. Operating cash hit $35 million, up 41%. Free cash flow came in at $28 million, up 87%. They’ve got $364 million in cash and $343 million on the revolver. But they’re also carrying $196 million in term debt and $37.5 million in acquisition liabilities. That’s weight.
Valuation looks cheap. EV/sales is 2.5x. Adobe’s at 6.3x. Salesforce is north of 5x. But cheap doesn’t mean undervalued. It means the market’s pricing in risk. And there’s plenty.
Competition isn’t sleeping. Adobe, Oracle, Salesforce—they’re all circling. Zeta’s edge is its unified data and activation stack. But that edge dulls fast if execution slips.
Guidance for 2025 is $1.242 billion in revenue, up 23%. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to hit $258.5 million, up 34%. If they hit those numbers, they’ll clear the Rule of 60. But if they miss, the stock’s already shown it doesn’t forgive.
Bottom line: Zeta’s AI-driven growth is real. The data moat is deep. Margins are moving. But profitability is still a work in progress, and the competition isn’t standing still. For growth-focused investors with a stomach for volatility, the risk-reward is there. Just don’t confuse momentum with inevitability.
Sources:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/zeta-global-holdings-corp-zeta-071814066.html
https://www.panabee.com/news/zeta-q1-quarterly-earnings-2025
https://zetaglobal.com/zeta-data/
https://zetaglobal.com/resource-center/zetas-path-to-emerging-stronger-in-2025/
https://stockstotrade.com/news/zeta-global-holdings-corp-zeta-news-2025_06_23/
https://www.timothysykes.com/news/zeta-global-holdings-corp-zeta-news-2025_02_26/