ダイレクト・デジタル・ホールディングス（DRCT）2026年第2四半期決算説明会：減収、AI戦略が進展

主なポイント

• 2026年第2四半期の売上高は、主にデマンドサイドプラットフォーム（DSP）顧客による支出が250万ドル減少したことにより、前年同期の1,010万ドルから780万ドルに減少しました。
• 粗利益は270万ドルとなり、売上総利益率は2025年第2四半期の35%から34%に低下しました。
• 純損失は420万ドルから360万ドルへ改善した一方、調整後EBITDA損失は150万ドルから230万ドルへ拡大しました。
• 上半期の売上高は1,450万ドルでした。DSP顧客向け売上の450万ドルの減少を除くと、売上高は前年同期比で約70万ドル（5%）増加しました。
• ダイレクト・デジタル・ホールディングスは当四半期中、AI検索および生成エンジン最適化（GEO）ソリューションを開始しました。経営陣は既存および新規の見込顧客からの堅調な需要を報告する一方、この戦略的転換はまだ初期段階にあることを強調しました。
• 四半期末時点の現金及び現金同等物は50万ドルでした。同社は信用協定に基づく特定の財務制限条項（コベナンツ）を遵守できておらず、融資元に権利放棄（ウェイバー）を申請しました。

主な財務データ

2026年上半期の売上高は、前年同期の1,830万ドルに対し、計1,450万ドルとなりました。経営陣によると、DSP顧客向け売上の450万ドルの減少を除くと、売上高は前年同期比で約5%増加しました。

事業および業績

ダイレクト・デジタル・ホールディングスは、2026年第1四半期に発表した戦略的転換を継続し、業務をより合理化されたモデルへと集約しました。同社はパイプラインの多様化、顧客関係の拡大、製品機能の拡張を目指しています。

第2四半期中、同社はAI検索および生成エンジン最適化製品を導入しました。また、AIサポートやウェブインフラ技術サービスも拡大しており、経営陣によれば、これにより新たな技術予算を獲得し、顧客のコンバージョン改善や顧客獲得コストの削減を支援できるとしています。

経営陣は、同社のポジショニングがメディア支援から、より広範なデジタル成長パートナーシップへと進化していると説明しました。しかし、この移行はまだ初期段階にあり、DSP顧客の活動低下が引き続き報告売上高の重荷となっています。

2026年6月30日までの6ヶ月間の売上高の約80%を占める顧客層における顧客維持率は約80%でした。また、経営陣はプラットフォームを補完する戦略的提携やその他の機会を評価する柔軟性を維持していると述べました。

リスクと主な注目点

• デマンドサイドプラットフォーム（DSP）顧客の支出減少により、第2四半期の売上高は250万ドル、上半期の売上高は450万ドル減少しました。
• 四半期末時点の現金及び現金同等物は50万ドルに減少、現金および売掛金は320万ドルに低下しました。
• ダイレクト・デジタル・ホールディングスは、2026年6月30日時点で現行の信用協定に基づく特定の財務制限条項（コベナンツ）を遵守できていませんでした。
• 同社は権利放棄（ウェイバー）を申請しており、融資元との協議は建設的であるものの、手続きは継続中であると述べました。
• 経営陣は、AI検索、生成エンジン最適化、テクノロジーサービスを中心とする戦略はまだ初期段階にあると注意を促しました。

決算説明会トランスクリプト全文

決算説明会の完全なトランスクリプト

経営陣による説明

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Direct Digital Holdings Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to hand things over to Walter Frank, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Walter Frank

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Direct Digital Holdings Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. On today's call are Direct Digital Holdings Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Walker; and Chief Financial Officer, Diana Diaz. Information discussed today is qualified in its entirety with the Form 8-K and accompanying earnings release, which has been filed today by Direct Digital Holdings, which may be accessed at the SEC's website and the company's website. Today's call is also being webcast, and a replay will be posted to Direct Digital's Investor Relations website.

Immediately following the speaker's presentation, there will be question and answer session. Please note that the statements made during the call, including financial projections or other statements that are not historical in nature, may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are made on the basis of Direct Digital's views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance at the time they are made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update these statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, which could cause Direct Digital's actual results to differ from its historical results and forecasts, including those risks set forth in Direct Digital's filings with the SEC, and you should refer to those for more information.

This cautionary statement applies to all forward-looking statements made during this call. During the call, Direct Digital will be referring to non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in the earnings release that Direct Digital filed in its Form 8-K today. I will now hand over the conference to Mark Walker, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, Mark.

Mark Walker

Thanks, Walter, and thank you to everyone joining our call today. I'll start by reviewing some of the highlights of our operations and financial results during the second quarter and first half of 2026. Before turning the call over to our Chief Financial Officer, Diana Diaz, for a more detailed look at our financial results, we'll conclude by opening the call for a brief Q&A. We saw encouraging progress in our core business during the second quarter. To recap, during the first quarter of 2026, we announced a comprehensive shift in our strategy that saw us aggregate our operations to a streamlined model to sharpen our focus on the areas where we believe we can create the greatest value for both our clients and our shareholders. We believe that by diversifying our pipeline, broadening our customer relationships and enhancing our product capabilities, we're positioning ourselves to drive more consistent, scalable long-term growth.

We successfully unveiled AI search and GEO offerings this past quarter and are seeing strong demand from current clients and prospective new clients as well as our AI support and web infrastructure technology services, which will both expand our addressable market. These products unlock new technology budgets and the technical upgrades we provide clients service performance multipliers that improves conversion performance and lowers cost to acquire for our new clients. We're seeing our technical expertise position us with clients as a comprehensive digital growth partner rather than just supporting the media needs and leaning into helping companies facing conversion bottlenecks. Demand is strong, but it's important to remember that we're still in the early stages of this shift.

Total revenue was down in the quarter related to decreased activity from our demand-side platform customers, which is expected as we continue to shift our strategy. In fact, excluding the impact of reduced spending from DSP customers, total revenue increased approximately 5% year-to-date when compared with the first 6 months of 2025. While these numbers seem small compared to our historical results, they are trending in the right direction. Our value proposition is heightened by complete alignment across our digital supply platform. We're technology and media agnostic and our clients rely on us to provide the best opportunity their brands and businesses to achieve enhanced market reach through strategic digital advertising.

Strong relationships we have built are evidenced in our client retention rate of approximately 80% among clients that represent approximately 80% of our revenue for the 6 months ended June 30, 2026. We still have a tremendous amount of work to do, but we're operating from a much stronger foundation and driving measurable results. Additionally, we have the flexibility to evaluate strategic partnerships and opportunities that complement and enhance the strength of our platform with the goal of driving shareholder value. As always, I sincerely appreciate your support of Direct Digital Holdings. I will now hand the call over to Diana Diaz, our Chief Financial Officer, who will walk through some of the financial highlights in further detail.

Diana Diaz

Thank you, Mark, and good evening, everyone. I'll now provide a review of our second quarter results with some commentary on year-to-date results where relevant. Consolidated revenue in the second quarter of 2026 was $7.8 million compared to revenue of $10.1 million in the second quarter of last year. As Mark mentioned, revenue declined in the quarter related to a decrease in spending by demand-side platform customers of $2.5 million. On a year-to-date basis, revenue of $14.5 million decreased compared to $18.3 million in the first half of last year. Excluding the decrease in sales to DSP customers of $4.5 million for the first half of the year, revenue grew about $700,000 or 5% year-over-year.

Gross profit was $2.7 million for the second quarter of 2026 or 34% of revenue compared with $3.6 million or 35% of revenue in the second quarter of 2025. Operating expenses in the second quarter of 2026 decreased 7% to $5.6 million compared to $6 million in the second quarter of 2025. Total operating loss for the second quarter was $2.9 million compared with an operating loss of $2.4 million in the second quarter of 2025. Net loss in the second quarter was $3.6 million compared to a net loss of $4.2 million in the second quarter of last year. And the adjusted EBITDA loss for the second quarter was $2.3 million compared with adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.5 million in the second quarter of last year. Turning to the balance sheet. We ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $500,000 compared to $700,000 at the end of December 2025.

Total cash plus our accounts receivable balance as of June 30, 2026, was $3.2 million compared to $3.9 million at the end of 2025. Related to our current credit facility, we were not in compliance with certain financial covenants as of the end of the quarter. We are actively engaged with our lender and have requested a waiver. Discussions have been constructive. And while the process remains ongoing, our current focus is on improving operating performance and working toward a mutually acceptable resolution. We will provide further updates when appropriate. Our focus continues to be on driving operational efficiencies and managing the business with financial discipline, and we're strategically investing in the business to capitalize on opportunities and drive sustainable long-term growth. Now I'd like to turn it back over to Mark for some closing comments.

Mark Walker

Thank you, Diana, and thank you to everyone for joining. We appreciate your interest in Direct Digital Holdings and I would like to now open the call for questions. Operator, please open the line.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Everyone, there are no questions. That does conclude our conference for today. We would like to thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.