Getty Images Holdings, Inc. Q3 FY2025 earnings call

• Craig Peters began by highlighting quarter-over-quarter performance, noting Creative growth and Editorial declines. Jennifer Leyden then delved into financial details: Q3 revenue was $240 million, essentially flat on a reported basis and down 2% on a currency-neutral basis. Annual subscription revenue grew 11.2% year-over-year. SG&A expense increased due to professional fees for SOX compliance and litigation costs. Adjusted EBITDA was $78.7 million, down 2.4% year-over-year. CapEx was $14.7 million, up year-over-year. Free cash flow was $7.9 million, up from negative $1.8 million in Q3 2024.

Third quarter revenue for 2025 was $240 million, slightly down 0.22% year-over-year on a currency-neutral basis. Adjusted EBITDA was $78.7 million, down 2.4% reported and 4.4% on a currency-neutral basis, with a margin of 32.8% of revenue. Creative was up 8.4% year-over-year, aided by normalization of premium access revenue allocations, but agency customers continued to decline. Editorial was down 3.7% year-over-year due to tough comparisons to 2024 events, though partially offset by growth in Entertainment and Archive. Annual subscription revenue was 58.4% of total revenue, up from 52.4% in Q3 of the prior year, with premium access (PA) making up over one-third of total revenue and growing 17% year-over-year.

• Updated revenue guidance range: $942 million to $951 million, representing year-over-year growth of 0.3% to 1.2% or a decrease of 0.5% to growth of 0.5% on a currency-neutral basis. - Updated adjusted EBITDA guidance range: $291 million to $293 million, a year-over-year decrease of 3% to 2.3% or 4.1% to 3.3% currency-neutral. Guidance reflects impacts of editorial event calendar comparisons and continued lag in production levels post-Hollywood strikes, plus $8 million in one-off SG&A increases for SOX acceleration.

• UK's Competition and Markets Authority referred the proposed merger with Shutterstock to phase two review, delaying the close to 2026. - Ongoing legal matters including litigation with Stability AI and costs related to SOX compliance. - Potential broader impacts from tariffs and global macroeconomic conditions not fully reflected in guidance.

Q: Could you unpack Getty Images Holdings, Inc.'s PAI initiatives in the quarter and how they tie back to the overall AI strategy and potential impacts to '26 revenue, particularly the Perplexity partnership and iStock AI bundling?

A: Cannot disclose specifics of Perplexity deal but it's a licensing deal similar to others. AI strategy includes customer-facing licensing, bundling AI into subs for existing customers to drive retention, and AI in cost functions. No specific 2026 revenue impact yet mentioned.

Q: Dive deeper into the health of corporate and media customer segments, especially media and the Hollywood strikes impact?

A: Media's broadcast and production segments are still below pre-Hollywood strike levels and in decline in Q3. Corporate segment is a growth area with very healthy retention rates, approaching 60% of revenue base.