Emerald (NYSE:EEX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Emerald (NYSE:EEX) announced its earnings results on Friday. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by ($0.19), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $132.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.00 million. Emerald had a return on equity of 1.20% and a net margin of 1.05%.

Here are the key takeaways from Emerald’s conference call:

• Emerald delivered a transformational 2025 with $463.4M in revenue (+16.2% y/y) and $127.1M adjusted EBITDA (+25%), with pro forma organic revenue growth of ~4.8% when including 2025 acquisitions.
• Management initiated 2026 guidance of $490–495M revenue and $137.5–142.5M adjusted EBITDA (midpoint ≈ 6% revenue, 10% EBITDA growth) and says >70% of 2026 revenue is already contracted.
• Reported free cash flow was compressed in 2025 by acquisition timing (~$30M) and $6.5M of refinancing fees, but management expects normalized 2026 free cash flow of roughly $85–90M; balance sheet liquidity is healthy with $100.9M cash, $210.4M total liquidity and net leverage at 2.86x.
• The company continued active portfolio reshaping—exiting underperformers and completing tuck-ins (This is Beyond, Insurtech Insights, Generis) to target higher-growth verticals, while the board is continuing a strategic review with no update, creating potential optionality and near-term uncertainty.
• Operational improvements include completed Las Vegas Convention Center construction (removing a 2025 headwind), early AI rollouts to improve exhibitor scalability, and ongoing automation initiatives intended to drive margin expansion over time.

Emerald Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE EEX traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 38,280. Emerald has a fifty-two week low of $3.21 and a fifty-two week high of $5.45. The company has a market cap of $837.73 million, a PE ratio of 141.21 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $4.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EEX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Emerald in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $7.70 target price on shares of Emerald in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.70.

Institutional Trading of Emerald

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MSD Partners L.P. grew its position in Emerald by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. MSD Partners L.P. now owns 1,400,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,260,000 after purchasing an additional 333,701 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Emerald by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 241,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 2,394 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Emerald by 239.7% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 82,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 57,886 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Emerald by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 59,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 4,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Emerald by 197.6% during the third quarter. Citadel Advisors LLC now owns 92,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after buying an additional 61,273 shares during the last quarter. 14.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Emerald

Emerald (NYSE: EEX) is a global provider of independent data, news and analytics for commodity, financial and energy markets. The company operates digital platforms that deliver real-time and historical price assessments, market commentary, research reports and risk-management tools. Its subscriber base spans traders, asset managers, corporate hedgers and financial institutions seeking timely intelligence to support trading, risk management and investment decisions.

Serving clients across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, Emerald covers a broad range of markets including metals, energy products, agriculture, freight, environmental emissions and treasury benchmarks.