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Q1 results & guidance: Revenue was $425 million and Contribution ex‑TAC was $250 million (down 9% at constant currency, including a $27M headwind from two Retail Media client scope reductions); Criteo now expects 2026 Contribution ex‑TAC to decline by low single digits at constant currency and guided Q2 to $260–$264M. The company ended March with $889M in liquidity, no long‑term debt, repurchased $31M of shares in Q1 and has $190M of buyback authorization remaining.
AI & product traction: Criteo named OpenAI its first ad‑tech partner and has “over 1,000 brands” live with incremental budgets, reporting that AI platform traffic (e.g., ChatGPT) converts at about 1.5x other referral channels, and it launched Criteo GO, with more than two‑thirds of U.S. small‑client campaigns already on the platform.
Macro and client dynamics: Management flagged softer demand in Performance Media—notably travel in Europe and reduced budgets from several very large U.S. clients—while stressing Retail Media’s underlying strength (Contribution ex‑TAC +24% excluding scope changes; media spend +30% YoY) and expecting Retail Media revenue to return to growth by Q4.
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Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) reported first-quarter 2026 results marked by continued progress on its strategic shift toward “commerce intelligence and AI decisioning,” alongside macro-related pressure in parts of its Performance Media business and previously disclosed Retail Media client scope reductions.
Chief Executive Officer Michael Komasinski said the company is one year into his tenure and is focused on “building Criteo into the leading commerce intelligence and AI decisioning platform for an increasingly complex and fragmented ecosystem.” While he noted the transformation “is not yet reflected in our results,” Komasinski highlighted execution in the quarter, including a third consecutive quarter of media spend growth and milestones tied to agentic AI, self-service, and Retail Media product innovation.
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Chief Financial Officer Sarah Glickman said first-quarter media spend surpassed $1 billion for the first time. Criteo posted revenue of $425 million and Contribution ex-TAC of $250 million, which included a $9 million year-over-year foreign exchange tailwind. At constant currency, Contribution ex-TAC declined 9%, which Glickman said was “as expected,” due primarily to a $27 million headwind tied to “previously communicated scope changes with two Retail Media clients.”
Excluding that impact, Glickman said Contribution ex-TAC grew 1% in the quarter, and client retention remained “close to 90%.” Adjusted EBITDA was $65 million, reflecting lower top line and planned investments in what she called the company’s “seasonally lowest quarter,” partially offset by lower-than-expected RSU-related social charges and one-time tax refunds recognized in Q1.
Performance Media: Revenue was $383 million and Contribution ex-TAC was $210 million, down 2% at constant currency. Glickman cited “mixed performance in Commerce Growth,” momentum in Commerce Grid SSP, and “improving trends in ad tech services.”
Retail Media: Revenue was $41 million and Contribution ex-TAC was $41 million, reflecting the $27 million scope-change headwind. Excluding that impact, Glickman said Contribution ex-TAC grew 24% across the underlying client base, driven by strength in on-site Retail Media.
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Glickman said operating cash flow was $48 million and free cash flow was $16 million in Q1. The company ended March with $889 million in total liquidity and no long-term debt.
Management emphasized a softer demand environment in certain areas, particularly in Performance Media. Komasinski pointed to “softer demand in specific verticals, particularly travel in Europe,” along with reduced budgets from “certain large U.S. clients,” which he said were driven by client-specific decisions. During Q&A, he told Stifel analyst Mark Kelley that the slowdown among U.S. clients is “across the Performance Media segment at large,” not limited to retargeting.
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Glickman said the company began seeing macro impacts within Q1, “March and then April,” describing the effect as “quite broad reaching” in Europe and APAC. In Q&A with Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Kost, she noted travel growth decelerated versus last year and said the company is taking a “prudent approach” in its assumptions. She also cited weakness in discretionary retail categories such as fashion.
On client dynamics, Glickman told Benchmark analyst Mark Zgutowicz that the weakness involves “a number of…extra large U.S. clients,” describing it as “a small number, but a number of U.S. clients,” while saying the rest of the base is resilient.
Despite the softness, Komasinski said the company does not view the U.S. situation as structural. He said Criteo has “not lost any clients” and framed the issue as needing to be “closer to those clients” and improve pipeline conversion at the enterprise level. He also referenced changes under Chief Customer Officer Ed Dinichert, including revamped commercial leadership and new hires that started in March and April.
Komasinski and Chief Product Officer Todd Parsons repeatedly highlighted agentic AI initiatives, including Criteo’s partnership with OpenAI. Komasinski said Criteo became OpenAI’s “first ad tech partner,” integrating demand into ChatGPT’s advertising offering. He said momentum is building, with “over 1,000 brands live with incremental budgets from both existing and new clients,” plus early international expansion.
As a performance indicator, Komasinski told Morgan Stanley that the “leading KPI right now is client count,” and said the company expects that figure to scale as additional markets open. He added that the company is working on data management feeds to help clients scale product data into the environment, and plans to incorporate that supply into its cross-channel setup in Criteo GO over the course of the year.
Management also shared early performance signals: Komasinski said traffic from AI platforms like ChatGPT “converts at approximately one and a half times the rate of other referral channels.” Parsons told KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson that new device types and multimodal or visual engagement are “absolutely baked into our strategy,” with a focus on “relevance,” “outcomes,” and “measurement” across emerging surfaces.
On the business model, Parsons told SSR analyst Tim Nollen the OpenAI integration involves “both data and placements,” and described it as “a normal course of doing business for us.” Komasinski said Criteo views AI discovery as complementary to Retail Media, arguing retailers “continue to own the transaction,” and that high-intent traffic landing on retailer sites can create additional opportunities for on-site monetization.
Komasinski said Criteo launched Criteo GO—its AI-powered self-service offering—at the end of Q1. He said GO unifies display, video, native, and social into a single campaign environment with AI budget allocation and generative creative tools. He also said “more than 2/3 of campaigns from small clients now running through GO in the U.S.”
Parsons emphasized the launch is still early, noting on multiple questions that Criteo is “a month into it,” with a focus on feedback loops and onboarding to ensure product-market fit. Komasinski said Criteo plans to introduce “discovery audiences in GO this quarter” as part of an effort to move further up the funnel, and expects to bring CTV into GO by the end of the year.
Komasinski also cited a partnership with Roku aimed at combining “premium inventory with our commerce audiences” to drive performance, and said social is a “strong driver” with expansion into short-form video on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
In Retail Media, management reiterated that reported results are being held back by the two scope reductions previously disclosed. Komasinski said underlying performance remained strong and that Contribution ex-TAC was up 24% in Q1 excluding the scope changes. Glickman added that media spending in Retail Media grew 30% year-over-year, accelerating from 25% in the prior quarter, as “4,150 global brands continue to prioritize Retail Media.”
Criteo said it partners with 235 retailers worldwide. Komasinski highlighted supply-side and partnership developments including an expanded DoorDash relationship in Canada, the addition of Hyundai Department Store in Asia-Pacific, and multi-year renewals including ASOS in the U.K.
On product format momentum, Komasinski said Auction-Based Display remains the fastest-growing format and is now live with more than 60 retailers, up from 49 in the prior quarter. In response to questions about take rates, Glickman said Performance Media take rate was “quite stable,” and attributed Retail Media take rate pressure primarily to the scope-change impact; she said the underlying take rate for other clients is at the “high end” of the previously communicated 10% to 15% range.
Looking ahead, Komasinski said the company remains on track for Retail Media revenue to return to growth in the fourth quarter as it moves past the scope reductions, and said it expects underlying Retail Media growth to accelerate in 2026 compared to 2025.
Glickman said Criteo’s updated 2026 outlook reflects softer Performance Media trends seen so far in Q2, while Retail Media expectations are unchanged. For 2026, the company now expects Contribution ex-TAC to decline by low single digits at constant currency. She said the change reflects the Retail Media client scope reductions, a “more cautious view of the volatile macro environment,” and reduced budgets from certain large U.S. Performance Media clients. At the midpoint, she said the full-year outlook is down “approximately 300 basis points.”
For Q2 2026, Criteo guided Contribution ex-TAC of $260 million to $264 million, down 11% to 9% at constant currency, and adjusted EBITDA of $67 million to $71 million.
On capital allocation, Glickman said the company repurchased $31 million of shares in Q1 (1.6 million shares), with $190 million remaining under the existing authorization at the end of March. She also said the company canceled 1.9 million shares in April, increasing capacity for additional repurchases.
Finally, management reiterated corporate structure plans. Komasinski and Glickman said the company’s redomiciliation to Luxembourg remains on track for completion in the third quarter of 2026 following shareholder support. They also said the company plans to pursue a subsequent redomiciliation to the U.S. as early as the first quarter of 2027, subject to approvals and other conditions, with the stated goal of making the company easier to invest in and improving access to U.S. capital markets.
Criteo is a global technology company specializing in digital performance advertising and commerce media solutions. The company provides a range of AI-driven ad products designed to help brands, retailers, and agencies deliver personalized promotional messages to consumers across web, mobile, and connected TV environments. By leveraging large-scale data analytics and machine learning algorithms, Criteo's platform optimizes the timing, placement, and creative of ads to drive engagement and conversions.
At the core of Criteo's offering is its dynamic retargeting solution, which enables advertisers to automatically generate and display personalized product recommendations based on user behavior.
The article "Criteo Q1 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat.