Advertising and marketing company Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) reported Q1 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations , with sales up 35.6% year on year to $264.4 million. The company expects next quarter’s revenue to be around $296.5 million, close to analysts’ estimates.

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Zeta (ZETA) Q1 CY2025 Highlights:

• Revenue: $264.4 million vs analyst estimates of $254.1 million (35.6% year-on-year growth, 4.1% beat)

• Adjusted Operating Income: $29.03 million vs analyst estimates of $25.73 million (11% margin, 12.8% beat)

• The company slightly lifted its revenue guidance for the full year to $1.24 billion at the midpoint from $1.24 billion

• EBITDA guidance for the full year is $258.5 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $256 million

• Operating Margin: -6.1%, up from -18.4% in the same quarter last year

• Free Cash Flow Margin: 10.7%, similar to the previous quarter

• Billings: $260.1 million at quarter end, up 32.6% year on year

• Market Capitalization: $3.29 billion

Company Overview

Co-founded by former Apple CEO John Sculley, Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) provides software and data analytics tools that help companies market their products to billions of customers.

Sales Growth

Examining a company’s long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but many enduring ones grow for years. Thankfully, Zeta’s 30.6% annualized revenue growth over the last three years was impressive. Its growth beat the average software company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.

This quarter, Zeta reported wonderful year-on-year revenue growth of 35.6%, and its $264.4 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 4.1%. Company management is currently guiding for a 30.1% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.

Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 19.9% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last three years. Despite the slowdown, this projection is healthy and implies the market is baking in success for its products and services.

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Billings

Billings is a non-GAAP metric that is often called “cash revenue” because it shows how much money the company has collected from customers in a certain period. This is different from revenue, which must be recognized in pieces over the length of a contract.