Taboola.com (NASDAQ:TBLA) executives highlighted stronger-than-guided fourth-quarter results and growing traction for its Realize advertising platform during the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings call. Management emphasized accelerated ex-TAC gross profit growth versus earlier expectations, ongoing investments in automation and measurement, and an aggressive share repurchase strategy funded by free cash flow.
Management points to acceleration in 2025
Founder and CEO Adam Singolda said Taboola closed 2025 with “another strong quarter,” exceeding the high end of guidance across key metrics, and described “clear early signs of acceleration” driven by Realize. He noted the company repurchased 77 million shares in 2025 for $254 million, reducing share count by roughly 18%, while continuing to invest in R&D.
Q4 and full-year results, including advertiser trends
CFO Stephen Walker said fourth-quarter revenue grew 6% to $522.3 million and full-year revenue increased 8% to $1.91 billion. He attributed momentum in part to expanding advertiser budgets through the rollout of Realize and “new embedded features.”
Walker detailed changes in Taboola’s advertiser base, including continued gains among higher-spending customers:
- In Q4, the number of scaled advertisers increased 3% year-over-year, and average revenue per scaled advertiser rose 2%.
- Non-scaled advertisers contributed about 1% to year-over-year growth in Q4, which Walker said suggested many advertisers were testing Realize for the first time.
- For the full year, scaled advertisers grew 6% and average revenue per scaled advertiser increased 2%.
Ex-TAC gross profit in the fourth quarter was $212.8 million, representing an ex-TAC gross profit margin of about 41%. Walker said the quarterly result was flat year-over-year due to lapping a strong Q4 2024 comparison. For the full year, ex-TAC gross profit grew 7% to $713.5 million, which he said was driven largely by scaling Realize and continued strong performance from Taboola News.
Gross profit for Q4 was $175.6 million and for the full year totaled $569.5 million. Walker said performance reflected ex-TAC gross profit growth as well as lower depreciation expense on servers following a reassessment of useful lives and tax efficiencies, offset by higher hosting and data costs.
Taboola reported Q4 net income of $50.1 million and non-GAAP net income of $79.1 million. For the full year, net income was $42.3 million and non-GAAP net income was $168.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA was $86.1 million in Q4 and $215.5 million for the full year, representing a 30% margin, which Walker said reflected expense discipline while maintaining targeted investments.
FX headwinds, cash flow, and balance sheet updates
Walker said foreign exchange was a “meaningful headwind” in Q4, primarily due to the strength of the Israeli shekel. He quantified FX as roughly a $3.5 million headwind to Q4 EBITDA and about $11 million for the full year, adding that without the FX headwind, full-year adjusted EBITDA would have been $226.3 million, or a 31.7% margin.
Operating cash flow was $59.7 million in Q4 and free cash flow was $46.9 million. For 2025, operating cash flow totaled $208.4 million and free cash flow was $163.4 million, maintaining a 76% conversion from adjusted EBITDA. Walker reiterated the company’s updated view that it can sustainably convert free cash flow at a 60% to 70% rate over a typical four-quarter period, up from prior expectations of 50% to 60%.
On the balance sheet, Taboola ended Q4 with net cash of $18.6 million, including $120.9 million of cash and cash equivalents and $102.3 million of long-term debt. Walker also noted the company secured a $270 million revolving credit facility early in 2025, repaid its prior term loan, and had about $168 million of available liquidity as of December 31. He said the facility reduced interest expense by $1.1 million in Q4 and $4.8 million for the year.
Share repurchases remain central to capital allocation
Walker said the company repurchased about 18.6 million shares in Q4 at an average price of $3.78 for $70.5 million. For the full year, Taboola repurchased 76.9 million shares at an average price of $3.30 for more than $250 million. Shares outstanding fell to about 276 million at the end of 2025 from about 337 million at the end of 2024.
Since the 2023 inception of the repurchase program, Taboola has repurchased 110.4 million shares at an average price of $3.49 for $383.5 million. Walker said the company has about $180 million remaining in authorization and intends to continue using a majority of free cash flow for buybacks, while noting the possibility of “small M&A” tuck-in acquisitions.
Realize priorities, open web positioning, and 2026 guidance
Singolda outlined three priorities: continued investment in Realize technology (including AI-driven optimization, predictive targeting, onboarding automation, and improved measurement/attribution), restructuring sales around “ideal customer profile” categories where retention and spend growth are stronger, and continued work on brand perception so advertisers increasingly view Taboola as a performance platform beyond “native.” He cited personal finance as an example, saying Taboola generated $120 million of personal finance revenue in 2025 within a $15 billion U.S. market, and said Taboola captures only 1% to 10% of advertisers’ total spend today.
Addressing generative AI concerns, Singolda said Taboola’s exposure to search traffic is in the single-digit percentages and that direct traffic to publishers is growing. He also highlighted in-app supply (about one-third of supply) and described Taboola’s proprietary “intent” data and distribution relationships with publishers as structural advantages.
For 2026, Walker guided first-quarter revenue of $444 million to $462 million and full-year revenue of $1.99 billion to $2.05 billion. First-quarter ex-TAC gross profit is expected to be $158 million to $164 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $20 million to $26 million and non-GAAP net income of negative $1 million to positive $7 million. For the full year, Taboola guided ex-TAC gross profit of $753 million to $774 million and adjusted EBITDA of $222 million to $236 million, with non-GAAP net income of $165 million to $191 million. Walker said adjusted EBITDA guidance includes an expected FX headwind of about $11 million in operating expenses, partially offset by ex-TAC tailwinds.
In closing remarks, Singolda called 2025 a “turning point” and said the company’s focus remains improving retention for new advertisers and increasing spend from existing ones as Realize continues to gain traction.
About Taboola.com (NASDAQ:TBLA)
Taboola.com (NASDAQ: TBLA) operates a leading content discovery platform that connects advertisers with premium publishers through native advertising and personalized recommendations. The company’s technology analyzes user behavior and contextual information to deliver promoted content, video, and product recommendations to audiences across a network of thousands of websites and mobile apps. By leveraging machine learning and big data, Taboola helps publishers generate incremental revenue while enabling advertisers to reach engaged users at scale.
Taboola’s suite of products includes feed placements, video recommendations, and sponsored content units designed to blend seamlessly with editorial pages.
