BuzzFeed, Inc. Reports Q4 and Full Year 2025 Results

BuzzFeed, Inc.'s ("BuzzFeed" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:BZFD) fourth quarter and full year (ended December 31, 2025) financial results were in line with its outlook shared in November. In 2025, BuzzFeed grew programmatic advertising by 7% year over year, expanded its studio business with three feature films, and advanced product innovation in key areas.

"We believe there is a gap between the value of our individual assets and our market capitalization that suggests significant unrecognized upside," said Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed Founder & CEO. "In 2026, our focus is demonstrating the value of our brands, Studio IP, and new AI apps to the market, and we're actively exploring strategic options to close that value gap."

"We're engaged in strategic conversations to unlock the value Jonah described and remedy the liquidity challenges we currently face, which are described in detail below," said Matt Omer, BuzzFeed CFO. "Three years ago we had over $180 million in debt—we've reduced that by more than 65%. While we've significantly reduced operating costs and real estate obligations, we're still facing legacy commitments that are burdening the business. We're exploring strategic options to complete the work we started years ago and position the Company to operate profitably on a sustainable basis."

2025 Full Year Financial and Operational Highlights for Continuing Operations¹

• BuzzFeed delivered Full Year 2025 revenues of $185.3 million, declining 2.4% compared to 2024.
  • Advertising revenue declined 2.8% year-over-year to $91.7 million.
    • Programmatic advertising grew 7.4% year-over-year to $69.6 million, demonstrating strength in scalable, tech-enabled advertising.
  • Content revenue increased 9.4% year-over-year to $37.0 million.
    • Studio revenue nearly tripled to $16.1 million reflecting the delivery of three feature films during the year plus contributions from micro-dramas.
  • Commerce and other revenue declined 8.3% year-over-year to $56.5 million.
    • Affiliate commerce declined 6.9% to $ 55.5 million, primarily reflecting changes in supplemental bonus structures from our partners.
• Net loss from continuing operations was $57.3 million, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $34.0 million in 2024, which reflects a $30.2 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge driven by a sustained decline in share price.
• Adjusted EBITDA² improved 61.4% to $8.8 million positive Adjusted EBITDA for the full year, an increase of $3.3 million from 2024.
• In 2025, audience Time Spent³ with our content totaled 276.5 million hours, reflecting a 7.2% decline compared to 2024 —which included elevated engagement of the presidential election cycle.

Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial and Operational Highlights for Continuing Operations

• BuzzFeed delivered Q4 revenues of $56.5 million, increasing 0.6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.
  • Advertising revenue increased 0.5% to $25.6 million.
    • Programmatic advertising increased 2.1% year-over-year to $18.4 million.
  •  Content revenue increased 55.7% year-over-year to $14.7 million.
    • Studio revenue grew to $7.3 million, reflecting the recognition of two feature films during the period plus contributions from micro-dramas.
  • Commerce and other revenue decreased 23.7% year-over-year to $16.3 million.
    • Affiliate commerce declined 22.7% to $16.1 million, primarily driven by a decline in supplemental bonuses from affiliate partners as they refine commission structures.
• Net loss from continuing operations was $26.8 million, compared to net loss from continuing operations of $4.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, reflecting a $30.2 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge.
• Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2025 was $12.0 million, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $10.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• Time Spent in Q4 2025 declined approximately 11.3% year-over-year to 70.3 million hours. This was largely expected as Q4 2024 saw elevated engagement during the presidential election cycle.

Business and Content Highlights

• BuzzFeed, the Company's largest brand, maintained its position as the #1 brand in total U.S. time spent in its competitive set⁴, reaching 42.4 million hours in Q4 2025 — up 14% from Q3, and 9% year-over-year. This significantly outpaced second-place People at 32.0 million hours for Q4 2025.
• HuffPost generated 16.6 million hours in total U.S. time spent in Q4 2025, significantly outperforming competitors including The New Yorker (3.7 million hours), Vanity Fair (3.0 million hours), New York Magazine (2.5 million hours), Vox.com (1.4 million hours), and Bustle.com (0.9 million hours).
• Direct traffic and internal traffic (including direct visits, internal referrals, and app page views) continued to account for a majority of traffic on BuzzFeed.com, strengthening audience connection and reducing platform dependency.
• Studio business delivered three feature films in 2025, significantly expanding BuzzFeed's IP portfolio and demonstrating the scalability of the content business.

Full Year 2026 Financial Outlook

As we evaluate strategic opportunities, we're withholding 2026 guidance at this time. We expect to provide an update on both our strategic direction and financial outlook in the coming quarters.

Quarterly Conference Call

BuzzFeed's management team will hold a conference call to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2025 results today, March 12, at 5 PM ET. The call will be available via webcast at investors.buzzfeed.com under the heading News and Events, and parties interested in participating must register in advance at the same location. Upon registration, all telephone participants will receive a confirmation email detailing how to join the conference call, including the dial-in number along with a unique PIN that can be used to access the call. While it is not required, it is recommended you join 5 minutes prior to the event start time. A replay of the call will be made available at the same URL.

We have used, and intend to continue to use, the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.buzzfeed.com as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Definitions

BuzzFeed reports revenues across three primary business lines: Advertising, Content and Commerce and other. The definition of "Time Spent" is also set forth below.

• Advertising revenues are primarily generated from advertisers, both programmatically and directly, for ads distributed against our editorial and news content, including display, pre-roll and mid-roll video products. We distribute these ad products across our owned and operated sites as well as third-party platforms, primarily YouTube and Apple News.
• Content revenues are primarily generated from clients for custom assets, including both long-form and short-form content, from branded quizzes to Instagram takeovers to sponsored content. Studio generally includes revenue from films, micro-dramas, content licensing, TV projects, and other projects inspired by BuzzFeed IP. 
• Commerce and other revenues consist primarily of affiliate commissions earned on transactions initiated from our editorial shopping content. Revenues from our product licensing businesses are also included here.
• Time Spent captures the time audiences spend engaging with our content across our owned and operated sites, as well as YouTube and Apple News, as measured by Comscore. This metric excludes time spent with our content on platforms for which we have minimal advertising capabilities that contribute to our Advertising revenues, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, and X (formerly Twitter). There are inherent challenges in measuring the total actual number of hours spent with our content across all platforms; however, we consider the data reported by Comscore to represent industry-standard estimates of the time actually spent on our largest distribution platforms with our most significant monetization opportunities.

About BuzzFeed, Inc.

BuzzFeed, Inc. is home to the best of the Internet. Across pop culture, entertainment, shopping, food and news, our brands drive conversation and inspire what audiences watch, read, and buy now — and into the future. Born on the Internet in 2006, BuzzFeed is committed to making it better: providing trusted, quality, brand-safe news and entertainment to hundreds of millions of people; making content on the Internet more inclusive, empathetic, and creative; and inspiring our audience to live better lives.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial measures and represent key metrics used by management and our board of directors to measure the operational strength and performance of our business, to establish budgets, and to develop operational goals for managing our business. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss from continuing operations, excluding the impact of net (loss) income attributable to noncontrolling interests, income tax provision, interest expense, net, other expense, net, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, change in fair value of warrant liabilities, restructuring costs, impairment expense, transaction-related costs, certain litigation costs, amortization of capitalized interest for content, and other non-cash and non-recurring items that management believes are not indicative of ongoing operations. Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA by revenue for the same period.

We believe Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are relevant and useful information for investors because they allow investors to view performance in a manner similar to the method used by our management. There are limitations to the use of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin, and our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies. Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate non-GAAP financial measures differently than we do, limiting the usefulness of those measures for comparative purposes.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin should not be considered a substitute for measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial results as determined in accordance with GAAP are included at the end of this press release following the accompanying financial data.

Liquidity and Going Concern

There is substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern. Based on the Company's liquidity position as of December 31, 2025 and our current forecast of operating results and cash flows, in the absence of any of the Company's plans to address our capital needs, we anticipate that we will not have sufficient resources to fund our cash obligations for the next 12 months following the date of our Annual Report on Form 10-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we anticipate filing on March 16, 2026.

The Company's principal sources of liquidity are our cash and cash equivalents and cash generated from continuing operations. Our cash and cash equivalents consist of demand deposits with financial institutions and investments in money market funds.

Our financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("U.S. GAAP") on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business.

Since its inception, the Company has generally incurred significant losses and used net cash flows from operations to grow its owned and operated properties and its iconic brands. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company incurred a net loss of $57.3 million and used net cash flows from operations of $18.7 million. Additionally, as of December 31, 2025, the Company had unrestricted cash and cash equivalents of $8.5 million and an accumulated deficit of $679.6 million.

The Company's current restricted cash balance of $15.8 million relates to funds held in Company-owned deposit accounts that are pledged as collateral for the Company's existing letters of credit and, upon the expiration of certain of these letters of credit, approximately $15.0 million is required to be paid to its lenders under the Credit Agreement, dated as of May 23, 2025 (as amended, restated, amended and restated, supplemented or otherwise modified from time to time, the "Credit Agreement"), which also includes a $5.0 million minimum cash covenant.

Under the Credit Agreement, the Company secured a $40.0 million asset-backed loan and, in a subsequent amendment, borrowed an incremental $5.0 million, and therefore $45.0 million of aggregate principal amount of indebtedness associated with the Credit Agreement remains outstanding as of today, March 12, 2026.  $5.0 million was due under the Credit Agreement on February 20, 2026 (a due date that has been further extended through April 30, 2026, as will be further described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission).

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our management team's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "affect," "anticipate," "believe," "can," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek," "should," "target," "will," "would," and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (1) macroeconomic factors including: adverse economic conditions in the United States and globally, including the potential onset of recession; actual or potential government shutdowns or failure to raise the U.S. federal debt ceiling; current global supply chain disruptions; the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine and any related sanctions and geopolitical tensions, and further escalation of trade tensions between the U.S. and its trading partners; tariffs; the inflationary environment; and the competitive labor market; (2) developments relating to our competitors and the digital media industry, including overall demand of advertising in the markets in which we operate; (3) demand for our products and services or changes in traffic or engagement with our brands and content; (4) changes in the business and competitive environment in which we and our current and prospective partners and advertisers operate; (5) our future capital requirements, including, but not limited to, our ability to obtain additional capital in the future, any restrictions imposed by, or commitments under, agreements governing any future indebtedness, and any restrictions on our ability to access our cash and cash equivalents; (6) developments in the law and government regulation, including, but not limited to, revised foreign content and ownership regulations, and the outcomes of legal proceedings, regulatory disputes, or governmental investigations to which we are subject; (7) the benefits of our restructuring; (8) our success divesting of companies, assets, or brands we sell, or in integrating and supporting the companies we acquire; (9) our success in launching new products or platforms, including any new social media platform; (10) technological developments including artificial intelligence; (11) our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, officers, other key employees or directors; (12) use of content creators and on-camera talent and relationships with third parties managing certain of our branded operations outside of the United States; (13) the security of our information technology systems or data; (14) disruption in our service, or by our failure to timely and effectively scale and adapt our existing technology and infrastructure; (15) our ability to maintain the listing of our Class A common stock and warrants on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; and (16) those factors described under the sections entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual and quarterly filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that we consider immaterial or which are unknown. It is not possible to predict or identify all such risks. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

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