Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (ZETA) — Company Research

Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (NYSE: ZETA) is a US marketing-technology company that runs an AI-powered "intelligent marketing cloud" — the Zeta Marketing Platform — combining a large proprietary data set with machine learning and, more recently, agentic AI ("Athena") to help enterprises acquire, retain and grow customers across email, social, programmatic and other channels. For fiscal 2025 (year to 31 December 2025) the company reported revenue of $1,304.7m (up 30% year over year), a GAAP operating income of $5.4m (its first positive operating year), a net loss of $31.5m and free cash flow of $165.0m (revenue, operating income and net loss per the FY2025 10-K, filed 2026-02-25, and EDGAR XBRL; FCF per yfinance annual financials, pulled 2026-05-31). On 30 April 2026 Zeta reported Q1 2026 revenue of $396m (up 50% year over year) and raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to about $1,785m, while guiding to positive full-year GAAP net income. The shares trade at $22.89, within a 52-week range of $12.10 to $24.90, with a market capitalisation of $5.7bn (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31). The next earnings report (Q2 2026) is expected in late July 2026.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Name	Zeta Global Holdings Corp.
Ticker / Exchange	ZETA / New York Stock Exchange
Sector / Industry	Technology / Software (per yfinance)
Market cap	$5.71bn (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31)
Enterprise value	$5.64bn (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31)
FY2025 revenue	$1,304.67m (per the FY2025 10-K, filed 2026-02-25)
FY2025 operating income (EDGAR XBRL)	$5.37m GAAP (per EDGAR XBRL OperatingIncomeLoss; yfinance reports $28.8m on a different basis)
FY2025 free cash flow	$165.0m (operating cash flow $198.9m less capex $33.9m, per yfinance annual financials)
Gross margin	60.1% (per yfinance, TTM)
Net margin	-1.6% (per yfinance, TTM)
Employees	approximately 3,300 (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31)
CEO	David A. Steinberg, Co-Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Headquarters	New York, New York, USA
Website	https://www.zetaglobal.com
Fiscal year-end	31 December
Next earnings	Late July 2026 — Q2 2026 (date not yet confirmed)
Dividend yield	None (no dividend)
52-week high	$24.90 (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31)
52-week low	$12.10 (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31)
Short interest	30.9m shares short; short ratio 3.7 days (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31)

2. Bull Case vs Bear Case

Bull Case

• Rapid, sustained revenue growth. Per the FY2025 10-K (filed 2026-02-25), revenue grew 30% to $1,304.7m, and per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026) revenue grew 50% year over year to $396m (29% excluding the Marigold acquisition), marking what the company calls its 19th consecutive quarter of beating and raising guidance.

• Operating model has reached an inflection. Per EDGAR XBRL and the FY2025 10-K (filed 2026-02-25), FY2025 GAAP operating income turned positive at $5.4m (from a $67.9m loss in FY2024), and per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026) the company is guiding to positive full-year 2026 GAAP net income.

• Strong and rising free cash flow. Per yfinance annual financials (pulled 2026-05-31), FY2025 free cash flow was $165.0m (up from $92.1m in FY2024), and per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026) adjusted EBITDA was $66.1m with $41.7m of free cash flow in the quarter.

• Customer expansion and AI traction. Per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026), the number of "Super-Scaled" customers grew 19% year over year to 189 and their average revenue per user grew 21% to $1.7m, while the company's "Athena" AI layer was cited as influencing large platform-consolidation deals.

• Raised full-year outlook. Per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026), Zeta raised FY2026 revenue guidance by $30m to approximately $1,785m at the midpoint, implying about 37% growth.

Bear Case

• Still loss-making on a GAAP basis. Per EDGAR XBRL and the FY2025 10-K (filed 2026-02-25), Zeta reported a FY2025 net loss of $31.5m and a Q1 2026 net loss of $13.2m; GAAP operating margin remains thin at well under 1% for FY2025.

• Growth is partly acquisition-aided. Per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026), Q1 revenue growth was 50% but only 29% excluding the Marigold acquisition, so a meaningful portion of headline growth is inorganic.

• Reliance on third-party data and consumer-privacy exposure. Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), the business depends on access to consumer data and is subject to evolving privacy and consent regulation and signal-loss risks.

• Elevated short interest. Per yfinance (pulled 2026-05-31), about 30.9m shares are sold short (a short ratio of 3.7 days), reflecting continued scepticism among some investors.

• Premium growth valuation. Per yfinance (pulled 2026-05-31), the shares trade at roughly 4x trailing sales and about 19x forward earnings despite ongoing GAAP losses, leaving limited room for execution missteps.

3. What Does Zeta Actually Do?

Zeta sells an AI-powered marketing platform that helps large enterprises run data-driven customer acquisition and retention across channels (per the FY2025 10-K, Item 1, filed 2026-02-25). It combines three things: a large proprietary consumer data set (the Zeta Data Cloud), machine-learning and generative/agentic AI (including its "Athena" layer), and an execution platform that activates marketing across email, social, web, connected TV and programmatic channels. The company reports as a single operating segment, so a divisional revenue breakdown is not disclosed.

Zeta measures its business primarily by customer cohorts rather than product lines. Per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026), it tracks "Scaled" customers and "Super-Scaled" customers (the latter being its largest accounts), reporting 189 Super-Scaled customers at an average revenue per user of $1.7m in Q1 2026. Growth comes from adding customers, expanding spend within existing accounts (land-and-expand), and acquisitions such as the Marigold Enterprise Business. A precise current geographic breakdown is not reproduced in this report's source data, and a segment donut chart is not applicable given the single reportable segment.

4. The Business Model

Zeta earns revenue by charging enterprises to use its marketing platform — a mix of subscription and usage-based fees tied to the volume of marketing activity and data the customer runs through the system (per the FY2025 10-K, Item 1, filed 2026-02-25). Revenue is recurring and expands as customers adopt more channels and AI features; the company emphasises a "land-and-expand" motion measured by scaled-customer counts and average revenue per user.

The intended moat rests on the combination of proprietary data, identity resolution and AI models that are hard for customers to replicate, plus switching costs once the platform is embedded in a marketer's workflow. Distribution is direct enterprise sales plus agency and partner relationships. Unit economics show a 60.1% gross margin (per yfinance) and strong cash conversion — FY2025 free cash flow of $165.0m against a small GAAP operating profit — because non-cash stock-based compensation and acquisition-related items weigh on GAAP results. The gap between Zeta's positive operating income ($5.4m) and its net loss ($31.5m) in FY2025 reflects interest expense, changes in the fair value of certain liabilities and taxes below the operating line. Capital is returned via share repurchases ($121.0m in FY2025, per yfinance); there is no dividend.

5. Financial Health

Five-year trend (fiscal years to 31 December; $m unless stated). Operating income is the GAAP figure per EDGAR XBRL; revenue, net loss and diluted EPS per EDGAR / the 10-K; FCF per yfinance.

Metric	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025
Revenue	not disclosed	590.96	728.72	1,005.75	1,304.67
Operating income (GAAP, EDGAR)	not disclosed	-259.03	-167.69	-67.92	5.37
Net loss	not disclosed	-279.24	-187.48	-69.77	-31.51
Diluted EPS ($)	not disclosed	-2.01	-1.20	-0.38	-0.14
Free cash flow	not disclosed	39.2	54.6	92.1	165.0

Source: revenue/operating income/net loss/diluted EPS per EDGAR XBRL and the FY2025 10-K (filed 2026-02-25); FCF per yfinance annual financials (pulled 2026-05-31).

Balance sheet (fiscal year-ends; $m):

Metric	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024	FY2025
Cash & equivalents	121.1	131.7	366.2	319.8
Total debt	184.0	184.1	196.3	197.1
Total stockholders' equity	128.0	180.5	676.8	804.6
Shares outstanding (period-end, m)	207.4	217.7	237.3	244.8
Share repurchases ($m)	9.6	13.4	42.2	121.0

Source: yfinance annual financials (pulled 2026-05-31).

Quarterly trend (last five quarters; GAAP; $m except EPS):

Quarter (period end)	Revenue	Operating income	Net income/(loss)	Diluted EPS ($)
Q1 2025 (31 Mar 2025)	264.4	-16.1	-21.6	-0.10
Q2 2025 (30 Jun 2025)	308.4	-5.1	-12.8	-0.06
Q3 2025 (30 Sep 2025)	337.2	8.8	-3.6	-0.02
Q4 2025 (31 Dec 2025)	394.7*	17.8*	6.5*	0.03*
Q1 2026 (31 Mar 2026)	396.3	-18.8	-13.2	-0.06

Source: 10-Q periods per EDGAR XBRL; Q1 2026 also per the Q1 2026 results (30 April 2026). *Q4 2025 figures are derived as the FY2025 full year less the first nine months and are approximate. The business is seasonal — the fourth quarter is the strongest (it reached positive net income in Q4 2025) while the first quarter is the weakest — and revenue has grown sharply each year.

6. Valuation & Market Data

Raw market data only — no commentary on cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31)
Share price	$22.89
Previous close	$20.18
Day range	$20.43 – $23.03
52-week high / low	$24.90 / $12.10
Market cap	$5.71bn
Enterprise value	$5.64bn
Shares outstanding	225.6m (Class A; total economic shares are higher including Class B)
Float	220.2m
Average daily volume (10d)	9.78m shares
Volume (date)	not disclosed in this report's source data
Beta	1.29
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	not applicable (loss-making)
Forward P/E	19.3x
P/S (TTM)	3.97x
P/B	6.97x
EV/Revenue	3.92x
EV/EBITDA	not disclosed in this report's source data
P/FCF	not disclosed in this report's source data
Gross margin (TTM)	60.1%
Operating margin (TTM, GAAP)	-2.6%
Net margin (TTM)	-1.6%
ROE	-3.0%
ROA	not disclosed in this report's source data
Debt-to-equity	24.8%
Current ratio	2.07x
Dividend yield	None
Short interest	30.9m shares (short ratio 3.7 days)
Put/call ratio	not disclosed in this report's source data

7. What Are They Building / What's Coming

Zeta's roadmap is centred on agentic AI built into its marketing platform. Per the Q1 2026 results and earnings commentary (30 April 2026), its "Athena" AI layer is positioned as the operating system that brings AI directly into marketing workflows, and was cited as influencing large platform-consolidation deals — including a global apparel retailer that consolidated from four vendors onto Zeta. The company continues to expand its data, identity and channel capabilities and to add AI features that drive higher spend per customer.

On growth and capital allocation, Zeta has supplemented organic growth with acquisitions, most recently the Marigold Enterprise Business, which contributed to Q1 2026's 50% revenue growth (29% excluding the acquisition, per the Q1 2026 results, 30 April 2026). Management raised FY2026 revenue guidance to approximately $1,785m (about 37% growth) and guided to positive full-year GAAP net income (per the Q1 2026 results, 30 April 2026). The company repurchases shares ($121.0m in FY2025, per yfinance) and pays no dividend. No third-party analyst forecasts are used in this report; figures above are company disclosures.

8. Competitive Landscape

Zeta competes with marketing-technology, advertising-technology and customer-engagement software vendors. Peer market data (per yfinance, pulled 2026-05-31):

Company	Ticker	Market cap	Revenue (TTM)	Gross margin	P/S
Zeta Global	ZETA	$5.71bn	$1.30bn	60.1%	3.97x
The Trade Desk	TTD	$10.14bn	$2.97bn	77.8%	3.41x
AppLovin	APP	$205.96bn	$6.16bn	88.4%	33.41x
Criteo	CRTO	$0.92bn	$1.92bn	54.0%	0.48x
HubSpot	HUBS	$11.29bn	$3.30bn	83.7%	3.42x
Braze	BRZE	$2.89bn	$0.79bn	66.5%	3.67x
LiveRamp	RAMP	$2.26bn	$0.81bn	70.7%	2.78x

All figures are in US dollars. Zeta sits in the mid-tier of this group by revenue and trades at a price-to-sales multiple broadly in line with HubSpot, Braze and The Trade Desk, below the most richly valued peer (AppLovin) and above value-rated names such as Criteo. Its gross margin is lower than most software-oriented peers, reflecting its data- and media-inclusive revenue mix. No view is offered here on relative winners or losers.

9. Leadership and Ownership

David A. Steinberg is Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zeta Global (the company was co-founded in 2007 with former Apple CEO John Sculley). Chris Greiner serves as Chief Financial Officer and represented the company on the Q1 2026 earnings call (30 April 2026). Detailed individual tenures and compensation are set out in the company's proxy statement and are not fully reproduced in this report's source data. Zeta has a dual-class share structure, which concentrates voting control with its founders.

Ownership is largely institutional. Per yfinance (pulled 2026-05-31), institutions hold approximately 84.0% and insiders approximately 1.9%. The largest reported institutional holders (per yfinance, as at 31 March 2026):

Holder	Stake	Shares
BlackRock, Inc.	7.97%	18.0m
Vanguard (Portfolio Mgmt)	5.70%	12.9m
Greenvale Capital LLP	4.61%	10.4m
Capital World Investors	3.57%	8.1m
Disciplined Growth Investors	2.73%	6.2m

Recent specific insider transactions are not disclosed in this report's source data.

10. Risks and Challenges

• Data privacy and consent regulation (Regulatory): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), Zeta's data-driven model is subject to evolving privacy, consent and data-protection laws (such as GDPR and US state laws), the breach of which could result in penalties and constrain its products.
• History of net losses (Financial): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), the company has a history of net losses and may not sustain GAAP profitability, even as operating results have improved.
• Reliance on third-party data and signal loss (Market & Demand): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), changes in the availability of third-party data, identifiers and cookies, and platform policy shifts, could impair targeting effectiveness and demand.
• Competition (Competitive): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), Zeta competes with large platform and advertising vendors and specialised martech providers that have greater resources.
• Acquisition integration (Operational): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), Zeta has grown partly through acquisitions (including Marigold), which carry integration, retention and impairment risk.
• Cybersecurity and data breaches (Cyber & Physical): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), the company stores large volumes of consumer and customer data, making a security breach a material legal, financial and reputational risk.
• Customer and revenue concentration (Concentration): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), a meaningful portion of revenue comes from larger customers and can be affected by agency relationships and cyclical political advertising, introducing lumpiness.
• Founder control and dilution (Financial): Per the FY2025 10-K (Item 1A, filed 2026-02-25), a dual-class structure concentrates voting power with the founders, and ongoing equity issuance can dilute other shareholders.

11. Recent Developments

Most recent first.

• 30 April 2026 — Q1 2026 results, beat-and-raise: Zeta reported first-quarter revenue of $396m (up 50% year over year; 29% excluding the Marigold acquisition), a GAAP net loss of $13.2m, adjusted EBITDA of $66.1m and free cash flow of $41.7m; Super-Scaled customers grew to 189 and their ARPU to $1.7m, and the company raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to approximately $1,785m while guiding to positive full-year GAAP net income. Source: Zeta Global Q1 2026 earnings release / Form 8-K.

12. Key Dates Coming Up

• Late July 2026: Q2 2026 earnings (quarter to 30 June 2026). Date not yet confirmed in this report's source data; Q1 2026 results were released on 30 April 2026.
• Mid-2026: Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Date not disclosed in this report's source data.

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