Consumers set up a blockbuster holiday season at the Box Office
RESTON, Va., August 8, 2023 – Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting, and evaluating media across platforms, today reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2023.
Q2 2023 Financial Highlights
"The second quarter that we're announcing today represents meaningful progress as we remain focused on becoming a more profitable, scalable and nimble organization," said Jon Carpenter, CEO of Comscore. "We saw strength in our digital business and particularly in Proximic, our activation business. We continued our double-digit growth in local TV measurement and showed a substantial increase in adjusted EBITDA vs. the second quarter a year ago – all clear signs that we are moving in the right direction. Leaning into our digital heritage and unique scale and granularity, in ways that only Comscore can, we believe we can solve some of the inefficiencies in measurement that media companies and advertisers have tolerated for too long. We are intent on making audience data and measurement actionable for a cross-platform and cookieless world. While there is much work to do, I am confident that the focus and execution we demonstrated in the second quarter will drive us forward as we move into the back half of 2023."
Second Quarter Summary Results Revenue in the second quarter was $93.7 million, up 2.5% from $91.4 million in Q2 2022, driven by growth in both Digital Ad Solutions and Cross Platform Solutions. Digital Ad Solutions revenue was up 2.0% from Q2 2022, primarily due to increased usage of our Activation product (up 32% from the prior year quarter), along with higher revenue from certain custom digital products, which offset a decline in our syndicated digital revenue. Cross Platform Solutions revenue was up 3.1% from Q2 2022, with double-digit growth in local TV and continued strength in our movies business.
Our core operating expenses, which include cost of revenues, sales and marketing, research and development and general and administrative expenses, were $92.1 million, a decrease of 4.1% compared to $96.0 million in Q2 2022. The primary driver of the decline was employee compensation, which decreased from ongoing restructuring efforts and a higher amount of capitalization related to internally developed software as we increased our focus on product infrastructure and innovation in 2023. In connection with the restructuring plan announced in September 2022, we incurred restructuring costs of $4.1 million in Q2 2023.
Due in part to a decline in our stock price and market capitalization, we performed an interim review of our goodwill at quarter-end, resulting in a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $44.1 million as of June 30, 2023. This charge does not directly impact the Company's liquidity, cash flows or future operations.
Primarily due to the goodwill impairment charge and restructuring costs, net loss for the quarter was $44.9 million, compared to $5.1 million in Q2 2022. After accounting for dividends on our convertible preferred stock, loss per share attributable to common shares was $(0.51) and $(0.10) for Q2 2023 and Q2 2022, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $8.8 million, compared to $6.5 million in Q2 2022, resulting in adjusted EBITDA margins of 9.4% and 7.1%, respectively. Excluding the impact of foreign currency transactions, FX adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $9.0 million, compared to $4.0 million in Q2 2022. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin exclude stock-based compensation, impairment of goodwill, restructuring costs, amortization of cloud-computing implementation costs, change in fair value of contingent consideration and warrants liability, and other items as presented in the accompanying tables. FX adjusted EBITDA excludes these items as well as gain/loss from foreign currency transactions.
Balance Sheet and LiquidityAs of June 30, 2023, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $23.1 million. Total debt principal, including $16.0 million in outstanding borrowings under our senior secured revolving credit agreement, was $18.0 million.
2023 OutlookBased on current trends and expectations, we believe full-year 2023 revenue growth will be in the lower end of the range we previously provided, with growth in the low single digits over 2022, and are reaffirming our guidance for an adjusted EBITDA margin in the double digits.
We do not provide GAAP net (loss) income on a forward-looking basis because we are unable to predict with reasonable certainty our future stock-based compensation expense, fair value adjustments, variable interest expense, litigation and restructuring expense and any unusual gains or losses without unreasonable effort. These items are uncertain, depend on various factors, and could be material to results computed in accordance with GAAP. For this reason, we are unable without unreasonable effort to provide a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA margin to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, GAAP net (loss) income, on a forward-looking basis.
Conference Call Information for Today, Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ETManagement will host a conference call to discuss the results on Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET. The live audio webcast along with supplemental information will be accessible at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations. Participants can obtain dial-in information by registering for the call at the same web address and are advised to register in advance of the call to avoid delays. Following the conference call, a replay will be available via webcast at ir.comscore.com/events-presentations.
About ComscoreComscore is a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating media across platforms. With a data footprint that combines digital, linear TV, over-the-top and theatrical viewership intelligence with advanced audience insights, Comscore allows media buyers and sellers to quantify their multiscreen behavior and make business decisions with confidence. A proven leader in measuring digital and TV audiences and advertising at scale, Comscore is the industry's emerging, third-party source for reliable and comprehensive cross-platform measurement.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal and state securities laws, including, without limitation, our expectations, forecasts, plans and opinions regarding expected revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin for 2023, strategic and financial focus areas, evolving economic and industry trends, product infrastructure and innovation, and restructuring plans and cost-reduction initiatives. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from expectations, including, but not limited to, changes in our business and customer, partner and vendor relationships; external market conditions and competition; changes or declines in ad spending or other macroeconomic factors; evolving privacy and regulatory standards; and our ability to achieve our expected strategic, financial and operational plans, including the restructuring plan we announced in September 2022. For additional discussion of risk factors, please refer to our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and other filings that we make from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC's website ( www.sec.gov).
Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date such statements are made. We do not intend or undertake, and expressly disclaim, any duty or obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or new information after the date of this press release, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial MeasuresTo provide investors with additional information regarding our financial results, we are disclosing in this press release adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and FX adjusted EBITDA, which are non-GAAP financial measures used by our management to understand and evaluate our core operating performance and trends. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results, as they permit our investors to view our core business performance using the same metrics that management uses to evaluate our performance. Nevertheless, our use of these non-GAAP financial measures has limitations as an analytical tool, and investors should not consider these measures in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Instead, you should consider these measures alongside GAAP-based financial performance measures, net income (loss), various cash flow metrics, and our other GAAP financial results. Set forth below are reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, net income (loss). These reconciliations should be carefully evaluated.
Q2 2023 Earnings Report.pdf
Media Kai HeslopKCSA Strategic Communications for Comscore, Inc.comscore@kcsa.com
InvestorsJohn TinkerComscore, Inc.(212) 203-2129jtinker@comscore.com