PodcastOne (PODC) Fiscal Q1 2027 Earnings Call: Record Revenue and EBITDA Growth

Key Takeaways

• PodcastOne reported record fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $16.1 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased to $1.6 million from $580,000 a year earlier, supported by revenue growth and improved contribution margin.
• Operating loss widened to $1.6 million from $1.1 million, primarily because of higher stock-based compensation within general and administrative expenses.
• Net loss was $1.6 million, or $0.05 per basic and diluted share, compared with $1.1 million, or $0.04 per share, a year earlier.
• PodcastOne ended the quarter with $7 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt on its balance sheet.
• The company advanced to No. 6 in Podtrac’s U.S. podcast publisher ranking, surpassing Disney, and management said it retained that position in July.

Core Financial Data

Business and Operating Performance

PodcastOne expanded its content portfolio through acquisitions, original programming and creator renewals. The company acquired The Magnificent Others, hosted by The Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan, and Life Happens with Barb and Michelle. It also launched the original series It’s Okay, We’re All Gonna Die with Nurse Julie.

The company renewed its partnership with Lindsie Chrisley’s The Southern Tea, which has exceeded 2.5 million downloads across more than 248 episodes. PodcastOne also partnered with PAVE Studios on A&E’s The First 48.

Video is becoming a larger component of discovery and monetization. Management highlighted YouTube AdSense revenue, higher advertising CPMs for video integrations and the use of short clips on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Shows featuring Adam Carolla, Some More News and Stassi Schroeder were cited as notable video performers.

Stassi Schroeder’s podcast is being distributed through Netflix, while her television series House of Stassi premiered on Hulu. Management said the broader distribution supports audience discovery and premium advertising rates. PodcastOne is discussing the addition of more shows to Netflix.

The company said major brands including Progressive, State Farm, O’Reilly, Lowe’s and Macy’s are using podcast advertising. Management emphasized integrated campaigns spanning audio, video and social media rather than conventional spot advertising alone.

PodcastOne continues to use AI-supported tools across advertising, production, discovery and attribution. These include Flightpath, Boostr, Adobe Audition, Pod Engine, Magellan AI and Opus Pro.

Management Outlook

Management said summer is typically a slower period for podcast consumption. It expects listening activity to improve as schools resume and people return to work, while calendar-year Q4 is generally the company’s strongest quarter.

PodcastOne plans to pursue a combination of organic growth, original intellectual property development, show acquisitions and broader M&A opportunities. Management expects acquisition activity across the podcast industry over the next six to 12 months, although no specific transaction or financial target was announced.

The company also expects video and additional distribution channels to remain central to content discovery and advertising monetization. Discussions about adding more PodcastOne programming to Netflix are continuing, with management pointing to potential developments over the next six months.

Risks and Watchpoints

• GAAP operating and net losses both widened by $500,000 year over year, despite positive adjusted EBITDA.
• Higher stock-based compensation within G&A was the main factor behind the increased operating loss.
• Podcast consumption and advertising activity are seasonal, with management describing summer as typically slower.
• Expansion onto Netflix and other distribution platforms remains subject to ongoing discussions and phased rollout decisions.
• Potential acquisitions remain under evaluation and are not assured.

Analyst Q&A Highlights

Video monetization: Management said video supports discovery, YouTube AdSense revenue and higher advertising CPMs. Host-read video advertisements featuring products were cited as particularly effective for advertisers.

Advertising demand: PodcastOne said established brands are increasingly seeking integrated access to creator communities across audio, video and social media. Its No. 6 Podtrac ranking also gives the sales team a stronger position in advertiser discussions.

Programmatic advertising: Higher network consumption creates more impressions that can be monetized through direct sales, the company’s Amazon ART19 relationship and other programmatic partners.

Audience demographics: Management said the largest share of consumption is likely among women aged 25–44, supported by true-crime and personality-led programming. Shows hosted by Adam Carolla, Jordan Harbinger and Brendan Schaub help reach men aged 25–54 and older listeners.

M&A strategy: PodcastOne is evaluating opportunities involving podcast representation, paywall expansion and technology while continuing to acquire established shows and develop internally owned intellectual property.

Full Earnings Call Transcript

Complete Earnings Call Transcript

Management Remarks

Operator

Good morning, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to PodcastOne's Fiscal First Quarter 2027 Financial Results and Business Update Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Presenting on today's call is Kit Gray, President and Founder of PodcastOne; and Craig Christensen, Interim Chief Financial Officer. I would like to remind you that some of the statements made on today's call are forward-looking and based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve various risks and uncertainties.

These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of the company, including expected future financial results and expected future growth in the business. Actual results may differ materially from those discussed on this call for a variety of reasons. Please refer to the company's filings with the SEC for information about factors which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements, including those described in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended March 31, 2026, and subsequent SEC filings.

You'll find reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures discussed today in the company's earnings release, which is posted on its Investor Relations website. The company encourages you to periodically visit the Investor Relations website for more important content. The following discussion, including responses to your questions, contains time-sensitive information and reflects management's views as of the date of this call, August 12, 2026. And except as required by law, the company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise this information after today's call.

I'd like to highlight to all participants that this call is being recorded. The company will make it available to investors and media via webcast, and a replay will be available on its website in the Investor Relations section shortly following the conclusion of the call. Additionally, it is the property of the company and any redistribution, transmission or rebroadcast of this call or the webcast in any form without the company's express written consent is strictly prohibited. I would now like to turn the call over to PodcastOne's President, Kit Gray.

Kit Gray

Thank you, and welcome to our fiscal first quarter 2027 earnings call. We entered fiscal 2027 with strong momentum, building on the progress we made throughout the past year. During the first quarter, we continued expanding our content portfolio, strengthening strategic partnerships and growing our audience through premium programming, original content development and creator-led franchises. PodcastOne continues to distinguish itself as the leading pure-play podcasting platform in the public markets through a vertically integrated model that combines talent development, content creation, distribution, analytics, monetization and operational efficiencies, all supported by our AI-powered infrastructure.

Our AI toolkit continues to enhance performance across every aspect of the business. Flightpath drives predictive profitability, Boostr scales advertising management and proposal recommendations, Adobe Audition ensures best-in-class audio quality, Pod Engine supports discoverability through SEO and insights, Magellan AI powers advertising attribution and Opus Pro converts long-form video into short-form content that fuels audience growth across platforms.

Our team continues leveraging AI-based search capabilities to discover new talent, identify emerging trends and connect timely topics with the content across our network. These tools directly support how we grow shows, monetize audiences and operate more efficiently at scale.

Throughout the quarter, we continued executing on our strategy of expanding our network through premium creator partnerships, strategic acquisitions, original content development and long-term creator relationships. One of our most significant milestones this quarter was advancing to the #6 position in Podtrac's ranking of U.S. podcast publishers, surpassing Disney and further reinforcing PodcastOne's position as one of the largest podcast networks in the country. This achievement reflects the continued growth of our audience, the strength of our programming and the dedication of our creators and team.

We also continued strengthening our content portfolio through the acquisition of The Magnificent Others hosted by Billy Corgan, lead singer of Grammy Award-winning rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins, adding another highly respected voice to our network while expanding our reach across music, entertainment and culture. We also acquired Life Happens with Barb and Michelle while officially launching our original series, It's Okay, We're All Gonna Die with Nurse Julie reflecting our continued investment in both established creator brands and original intellectual property.

Further strengthening our creator roster, we renewed our partnership with Lindsie Chrisley's, The Southern Tea, which recently surpassed 2.5 million downloads across more than 248 episodes. We also partnered with PAVE Studios on A&E's The First 48, expanding our relationship with premium media brands and creating additional opportunities to reach new audiences.

Across our network, PodcastOne creators continued attracting influential voices from across entertainment and popular culture. Notable guests during the quarter include actor Josh Duhamel on The Adam Carolla Show, Dancing with the Stars pro Ezra Sosa on Off the Vine and Mandy Moore on Yestergays. Our influence also extends beyond podcasting as House of Stassi premiered on Hulu with Stassi Schroeder's podcast, STASSI with Tay, serving as one of the central storylines throughout the series. Stassi's continued presence across major platforms, including Netflix, highlights the growing ability of podcast talent and brands to expand into broader entertainment franchises and reach audiences across multiple platforms.

As our network continues to grow, so do the opportunities to create value for creators, advertisers and listeners alike. Our investment in technology, audience development and advertising infrastructure continue to strengthen our ability to connect brands with highly engaged audiences while helping creators expand their reach across audio, video and social platforms.

As podcast advertising continues to mature and brands increasingly seek trusted creator relationships and measurable results, we believe PodcastOne remains well positioned to capitalize on these long-term industry trends through our diversified content portfolio, expanding creator network and technology-enabled platform.

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Craig to review our financial results.

Craig Christensen

Thank you, Kit. As a reminder, our fiscal year 2027 began on April 1. Revenue in our first quarter of fiscal 2027 was a record $16.1 million. Operating loss in the first quarter was $1.6 million compared to an operating loss of $1.1 million in the same year ago quarter. This $500,000 increase was driven primarily by stock-based compensation within G&A.

Net loss for the first quarter was $1.6 million or negative $0.05 per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of $1.1 million or negative $0.04 per share in the same year ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was positive $1.6 million compared to $580,000 in the same year ago quarter, driven by revenue growth and contribution margin improvement. We ended the quarter with $7 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt on the balance sheet.

With that, I'll turn the call back over to you, Kit.

Kit Gray

Thanks, Craig. We are pleased with the momentum we've carried into fiscal 2027 and remain very optimistic about the opportunities ahead for PodcastOne and the broader podcast industry. Podcasting continues to evolve rapidly, and we believe the opportunity extends well beyond traditional audio. Video is becoming an increasingly important part of podcast discovery and consumption, while major media and technology companies continue investing in creator-led content and premium intellectual property. As that ecosystem expands, we see significant opportunities to extend the reach and value of the content we developed across additional platforms and formats.

We are also seeing continued strategic activity across the broader media landscape with major companies making significant investments in creator-led businesses, content and intellectual property. These transactions reinforce the value being placed on premium content, engaged audiences and the data and relationships that come with them. Under Steve Lehman's leadership, we continue to evaluate opportunities that can strengthen our platform, expand our creator offerings and create long-term shareholder value. At PodcastOne, we believe the next phase of growth is about more than simply adding podcasts to our network. It's about identifying great creators and ideas, developing them into successful franchises and finding opportunities to distribute that content across audio, video, television and other platforms.

We are particularly excited about our ability to develop original intellectual property that can travel beyond the podcast feed. Projects like Varnamtown demonstrate the potential for PodcastOne content to become broader entertainment franchises, and we believe there is significant opportunity ahead as we continue developing and investing in original programming.

At the same time, AI continues to help us improve operational efficiencies, enhance audience discovery, identify emerging listener interests and better understand the topics and formats that resonate with audiences. Combined with our growing content library and audience data, these capabilities give us an increasingly powerful foundation for developing and monetizing content.

The podcast industry itself continues to demonstrate significant long-term potential with consumption reaching record levels and audiences increasingly engaging with podcasts across audio, video and social platforms. We believe PodcastOne is uniquely positioned at the intersection of creators, content, audiences, data and distribution.

As we look ahead, our focus is on continuing to build that platform, finding the next great creators and ideas, expanding the ways our content can reach audiences and creating more value from the intellectual property we develop. I want to thank our team, our creators, our advertising partners and our shareholders for their continued support.

With that, we'll now open the line for questions. Operator?

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Barry Sine with Litchfield Hills Research.

Question-and-Answer Session

Barry Sine

I wanted to touch on the topic of video on podcast, adding a video instead of just audio. I know that's a pretty significant trend. Kit, maybe you could tell us where you stand on that? How much of your content is now also produced in video format? If you could tick off some of the major talents that are available in video? And what has been the reception of that through some of your distribution partners?

Kit Gray

Thank you, everyone, for the questions today and the time. I appreciate it. Yes, video is a huge part of what we're doing, not only at PodcastOne but in the medium. It's widely accepted. It's huge for discovery, leading with YouTube, their YouTube AdSense revenue generation model has helped us out quite a bit. For some of our shows, specifically Adam Carolla has a big audience in his YouTube channel. The Some More News guys do as well. Stassi and others in our network have really significant audio views, even -- or video views even beyond just YouTube now. I mean Stassi, whose television show just relaunched on Hulu just this last month, where she references her podcast quite often is also featured on Netflix now, too.

So all these video distribution channels are getting more and more into the podcasting world, which allows us to expand our discovery but also charge more for advertising CPMs just based on having their commercials in video. And many of our shows, if you watch them now, the commercials are host done with video and with product, which allows us to charge great CPMs and advertisers see amazing results.

So video is a huge part of what we do. And specifically in the discovery side of it, these short clips, whether it's on YouTube or Instagram or TikTok, it's great for us to clip 2-, 3-minute segments of the podcast to promote the shows, make them sponsorable, all of that adds to what we do.

Barry Sine

That's very helpful. And then my follow-up is more on advertising revenue. So you recently jumped up to the #6 ranking in the Podtrac rankings. Congratulations on that. What does that mean for Sue McNamara and her sales team and then also for programmatic? And how has advertiser willingness to use podcast for their advertising changed over the last year? Is the perception changing and improving?

Kit Gray

Yes. I mean I'll answer the last part first. Yes, you're seeing brands -- when I say brands, it's not just the using-the-code type brands. You're seeing the Progressives, the State Farms, the O'Reilly's, the Lowe's, those type of companies are jumping into the podcasting space, Macy's as well. These are these brands are actually realizing the benefit of podcasting, one, because they get the attribution for using it as a digital medium, but they're also using it on the creative side where they're really developing integrations into the communities of the talent, right? So Macy's we're trying on clothes on air, we're talking about deals and discounts and what people can go and buy, right? And it's just really integrated not only in the audio, the video, but also the social.

When you look at that, that's the exciting thing for brands because they're just not buying spots and dots. That business is definitely booming, especially with us, but it's not -- it's gone beyond that. The brands are really trying to buy into the communities, which is awesome.

And for a company like us, where we have really strong relationships with the talent and the production of the shows, we can gain trust for these brands to make sure they're getting what they pay for and they're protected in their messaging. That's a big part of really growing the brand business in the podcasting space is actually having trust, and we're able to provide that.

As far as the programmatic side and being #6, we actually -- we just came out for July too, we remain #6, which is great news for us. That's really -- it's a good thing to open doors for our sales team in the sense that there's some big names behind us, whether it's Disney or Barstool or CNN, some of those networks, sometimes it's easier for them to get in the door of advertisers or brands, and we can actually say we're bigger than them, which is a nice sales point.

When it comes to programmatic and the Amazon ART19 deal, that's where that really comes into play, right? As we get more and more consumption on our network, there's more impressions to monetize, whether that's done by our direct sales team with our highest CPMs or the Amazon deal and having them buy through our network or programmatically where we continue to evolve and grow through our partners that we have in that world, too. So yes, it's been honestly really just a great year for growth on all levels, whether it's revenue, audience and just brands buying into the space. So it's been great.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of Barry Sine with Litchfield Hills Research.

Barry Sine

That's not a mistake. I limited myself and then jump back in the queue, but I guess I am the next one. I had one more question, Kit. On the LiveOne call, Rob mentioned the Netflix, and I haven't seen a separate press release. I'm very enthusiastic about that. And I want to get a little more data from you because it seems to me as if your core demographic is very closely aligned with the Netflix core demographic.

If you could remind us what your demographics look like, age, gender, et cetera? And then when did PodcastOne podcasts start appearing on Netflix? And then Rob was asked what the revenue model is. He said you're not disclosing that. But whatever that model is, when will investors start to see the benefit of that relationship show up on the PodcastOne income statement?

Kit Gray

Yes. So the Netflix got into podcasting, I don't know, maybe 6 months ago, maybe a little bit longer if I had to guess. Stassi is our lead pony in that world. She's a great personality, great -- she comes from the Vanderpump world, if you guys don't know. Barry, I know you're well versed in Vanderpump. So you've got this. But she is a superstar.

And just an amazing talent. Her show on Hulu has gotten picked up. This is the second season. It's fantastic. She's really fun. So her podcast going on Netflix just made a lot of sense. We worked with her agent to get that show up there. And really, the benefit is discovery. And we are running commercials in there, right? So when I go to Macy's, I say, all right, well, Stassi is not only going to have it in her video audio world, but she's also going to have that in the Netflix distribution as well.

So you're going to see premium rates because of that and growth of the shows, right? So it's great. It's just another big company. You've got the YouTube, you've got the Amazons, the Spotifys, the XM Sirius is just jumping in full throttle in podcast. And now you see Netflix, you see -- you got Disney is doing some stuff too now. I think these distribution channels are going to be just additive to podcasting just growing as a medium and a distribution channel for advertisers. So you'll start to see that. You're seeing it in her show in terms of revenue and getting premium rates. So we'll continue that relationship and continue to charge forward with some other shows getting on there and some of the other platforms I just mentioned.

Barry Sine

So just to follow up on that. If you could remind us what your demographics look like? I have a sense of what Netflix look like. And then it sounded as if that's the only podcast you have on Netflix. What about adding other podcasts to Netflix?

Kit Gray

Yes, we're in talks on that. They wanted to roll out with kind of a phase. They've got a bunch on there, and we'll continue to talk to them about adding more. So we'll see how that goes over the next 6 months. We picked up one of the shows with Billy Corgan. And if you guys know Billy from his days with The Smashing Pumpkins, take a look at his video on YouTube and how amazing.

It's a really cool set and he's a very cool, interesting guy that has amazing interviews, and it just fits. So I think you're going to see more and more of that type of stuff over the next 6 to 12 months. As far as our demographics, when I created the company, I really wanted to be agnostic on that. I wanted to be able to really fill out any RFP an advertiser would have with a group of shows that hit any demo.

So yes. We -- I think probably most of our consumption comes in the female 25-44 range, true crimes, the Stassis, the Kaitlyns, the LadyGangs, the Pop Apologists, those guys for sure are a big part of what we're doing. But you still -- you're seeing growth in the older demographics. And you'll see the people like Adam Carolla, Jordan Harbinger, Brendan Schaub really round out the male 25-54 demo and in some cases, even higher, right?

I mean we're all getting older. Adam is still chugging along and doing great with his podcast and just building that and having new distribution channels as he's on XM Sirius with Megyn Kelly's network and you're going to see an older demographic there as Adam gets older and his audience gets older, but we're still getting a lot of advertisers in and a lot of consumption, and that's great. We can kind of fill out that demographic when we go to RFPs as well.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Leo Carpio with Joseph Gunnar.

Leo Carpio

A couple of quick questions on the quarter. In terms of the M&A opportunities, are you -- are there still any platforms available for you to pick up here at this stage or more you're focused on the organic growth, monetizing IP creation and developing talent at this point?

Kit Gray

Yes. Leo, good to hear from you. I -- to answer your question, we're doing it all, right? It's -- the main part of the business is either acquiring existing shows with an audience, growing them, monetizing them, doing more with them. That's a big part of what we do. We're launching our own shows with our own IP and growing them and monetizing them is a big part of what we're doing and talking about these different distribution channels. That's a big part of our business.

But when we look at M&A, yes, I mean, I was on the call yesterday with Steve, and we've got other things that we're talking about constantly. Those are interesting. There's more and more companies with great opportunities and great ideas, whether that's representing podcasts, expanding the paywall world or technology, that's going to be an important thing over the next year. I think there's going to be a lot of acquisition deals out there.

I know that a lot of different companies are being approached by some of the bigger groups and then a bunch of the smaller companies are talking to other small companies that complement each other quite well. And I think you're going to see acquisitions not only with PodcastOne, but I think you're going to see acquisitions throughout the industry over the next 6 to 12 months for sure.

Leo Carpio

Okay. And a quick housekeeping question. Can you remind us how your -- seasonality in your revenue in terms of how it progresses through the calendar year in terms of which quarters are strong versus which are a little softer?

Kit Gray

Yes. Obviously, we had a really good quarter last quarter, best, I think, ever that we've ever done, which is tremendous. Summertime usually a little bit slow, slower because people are on the beach, people are enjoying families and stuff like that. But as school gets back into the gear and people get back to work over the next 30 days, you're going to start to see more consumption of podcast as calendar year Q4 rolls up, that's always our biggest quarter. So that's where -- that's typically how it works.

Operator

There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back to Kit Gray for closing remarks.

Kit Gray

All right. Well, thank you, everyone, for your time today. I really appreciate it. We are extremely happy with where the year ended, where the quarter is and where the team is headed moving forward. Super excited about some of the projects that we got the chance to talk about a little bit this morning. Please keep an eye on us as you move forward and keep watching us. We're launching some great projects and some great shows. I hope you guys get to enjoy them.

But looking forward to you guys and looking forward to another great year at PodcastOne. Thank you very much for all your support, all our shareholder support and of course, the team at PodcastOne and LiveOne. Thank you very much.

Operator

This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.