Taboola Reports Strong Q4 Net Income and Adj. EBITDA; Profits Beat High End of Guidance for Q4 and FY 2023; 2024 Guidance Calls for Record Year With Substantial Growth Across All Key Metrics

NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Taboola (Nasdaq: TBLA), a market leading technology company powering recommendations for the open web, today announced its results for the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

“We had a strong end to 2023, with Q4 2023 revenue up 13%, ex-TAC Gross Profit up 6% versus the prior year, and Adjusted EBITDA of $50.1M significantly exceeding the top end of our guidance range. 2024 is a step function growth year for us: ex-TAC is expected to grow 25% vs 2023, Adj. EBITDA of $200M+ is over 2x 2023, Free Cash Flow of $100M+ is almost 2x 2023 - all driven by Yahoo ramping with $100M+ in Q1 2024, our investment in AI panning out with yields growing in 2024, another iconic consumer company selecting Taboola as a new official advertising partner, and our growth engines (eCommerce, Taboola News and Bidder) all having a lot of momentum. More than anything, I’m super proud of our Taboolars’ dedication and ability to stay high performing through the most difficult of circumstances. We have ended 2023 with the wind at our backs and 2024 is shaping up to be a record year for Taboola,” said Adam Singolda, CEO of Taboola.

Q4 2023 Highlights

• Q4 2023 Revenues of $419.8M, Gross profit of $138.3M, ex-TAC Gross Profit of $168.5M, Net income of $3.7M, Non-GAAP Net Income of $31.4M and Adjusted EBITDA of $50.1M (beat high end of guidance range of $26M - $33M).
• Revenue Highlights
  • Revenue growth driven by new publisher partners added to the Taboola network.
  • Publisher wins that were new and from competitors included A360 Media, Postmedia, Diario, Deutsche Welle, Times Internet, Nine Entertainment and Bunshun Online.
  • Renewed relationships with many well-known publishers including NBC News, McClatchy, Editora Globo, R7, Prisa, Alayans Media, and Ynet.
    
• Notable product launches and advancements
  • Maximize Conversions, our first offering in our AI-bidding technology suite, reached over 50 percent of advertiser spend with great brands using it including Hyundai, ERGO, Leica Camera, Sonova, Peugeot, and Opel.
  • Taboola Generative AI Admaker released, which allows advertisers to edit existing creative automatically - 25% of new creatives generated use Generative AI tools.

FY 2023 Highlights

• 2023 Revenues of $1,439.7M, Gross profit of $425.6M, ex-TAC Gross Profit of $535.8M, Net loss of $82.0M, Non-GAAP Net Income of $32.6M and Adjusted EBITDA of $98.7M.
• FY 2023 Net cash provided by operating activities of $84.4M and Free Cash Flow of $52.2M.
• FY 2023 eCommerce grew double-digits and exceeded expectations, accounting for ~20% of ex-TAC in 2023.
• FY 2023 Taboola News, distributing content to Android OEMs exceeded 2023 expectations, and grew revenue to over $100M in 2023. Together with Header Bidding (excluding Microsoft), accounted for ~10% of ex-TAC.

FY 2024 Guidance Summary

• Initiating 2024 top line guidance that expects significant growth versus prior year; revenue and ex-TAC Gross profit midpoints expected to grow ~33% and ~25%, respectively.
• Reiterating 2024 Adjusted EBITDA $200M+; Free Cash Flow $100M+.

For more commentary on the quarter, please refer to Taboola’s Q4 and Full Year 2023 Shareholder Letter and Investor Presentation, both of which are posted on Taboola’s website today at https://investors.taboola.com.

Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results Summary

First Quarter and Full Year 2024 Guidance

For the First Quarter and Full Year 2024, the Company currently expects:

Although we provide guidance for Adjusted EBITDA and Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss), we are not able to provide guidance for projected net income (loss), the most directly comparable GAAP measure. Certain elements of net income (loss), including share-based compensation expenses and warrant valuations, are not predictable due to the high variability and difficulty of making accurate forecasts. As a result, it is impractical for us to provide guidance on net income (loss) or to reconcile our Adjusted EBITDA and Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) guidance without unreasonable efforts. Consequently, no disclosure of projected net income (loss) is included. For the same reasons, we are unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information.

Webcast Details

Taboola's senior management team will discuss the Company's earnings on a call that will take place on February 28, 2024, at 8:30 AM ET. The call can be accessed via webcast at https://investors.taboola.com. To access the call by phone, please go to this link to register https://register.vevent.com/register/BI393f7d9c14614552954ce19d1ff0c2df and you will be provided with dial in details. The webcast will be available for replay for one year, through the close of business on February 28, 2024.

*About Non-GAAP Financial Information

This press release includes ex-TAC Gross Profit, Adjusted EBITDA, Ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to ex-TAC Gross Profit, Free Cash Flow, Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss), which are non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are not measures of financial performance in accordance with GAAP and may exclude items that are significant in understanding and assessing the Company’s financial results. Therefore, these measures should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to revenues, gross profit, net income (loss), cash flows from operations or other measures of profitability, liquidity or performance under GAAP. You should be aware that the Company’s presentation of these measures may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures used by other companies.

The Company believes non-GAAP financial measures provide useful supplemental information to management and investors regarding future financial and business trends relating to the Company. The Company believes that the use of these measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating operating results and trends and in comparing the Company’s financial measures with other similar companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. Non-GAAP financial measures are subject to inherent limitations because they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which items are excluded or included in calculating them, which may vary from period to period. Please refer to the appendix at the end of this press release for reconciliations to the most directly comparable measures in accordance with GAAP.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events including future financial or operating performance of Taboola.com Ltd. (the “Company”). In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”, “should”, “expect”, “guidance”, “intend”, “will”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “predict”, “target”, “potential” or “continue”, or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company and its management, are inherently uncertain. Uncertainties and risk factors that could affect the Company’s future performance and cause results to differ from the forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: the Company’s ability to grow and manage growth profitably, maintain relationships with customers and retain its management and key employees; changes in applicable laws or regulations; the Company’s estimates of expenses and profitability and underlying assumptions with respect to accounting presentations and purchase price and other adjustments; the extent to which we will voluntarily prepay additional long-term debt or buyback any of our Ordinary shares pursuant to authority granted by the Company’s Board of Directors, which may depend upon market and economic conditions, other business opportunities and priorities and, with respect to the buyback of our Ordinary shares, the availability of sufficient continuing authority being approved and re-approved as necessary by the Tel Aviv District Court Economic Department to permit share buybacks (and our continued use of a net issuance mechanism to satisfy tax withholding obligations related to equity-based compensation on behalf of our directors, officers and other employees) or other factors; the new $100 million buyback authorization referenced in this press release replaces our former share buyback plan which was largely exhausted; the Company’s ability to transition to and fully launch the native advertising service for Yahoo on the currently anticipated schedule; the ability to generate or achieve the increase in Adjusted EBITDA and Free Cash Flow in 2024 or our expected revenue run-rate once Yahoo integration is live, in each case to the levels assumed in this press release or at all; ability to attract new digital properties and advertisers; ability to meet minimum guarantee requirements in contracts with digital properties; intense competition in the digital advertising space, including with competitors who have significantly more resources; ability to grow and scale the Company’s ad and content platform through new relationships with advertisers and digital properties; ability to secure high quality content from digital properties; ability to maintain relationships with current advertiser and digital property partners; ability to prioritize investments to improve profitability and free cash flow; ability to make continued investments in the Company’s AI-powered technology platform; the need to attract, train and retain highly-skilled technical workforce; changes in the regulation of, or market practice with respect to, “third party cookies” and its impact on digital advertising; continued engagement by users who interact with the Company’s platform on various digital properties; reliance on a limited number of partners for a significant portion of the Company’s revenue; changes in laws and regulations related to privacy, data protection, advertising regulation, competition and other areas related to digital advertising; ability to enforce, protect and maintain intellectual property rights; risks related to the fact that we are incorporated in Israel and governed by Israeli law; the potential impacts of the war in Israel to the Company’s operations; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 under Part 1, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and in the Company’s subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Nothing in this press release should be regarded as a representation by any person that the forward-looking statements set forth herein will be achieved or that any of the contemplated results of such forward-looking statements will be achieved. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they were made. The Company undertakes no duty to update these forward-looking statements except as may be required by law.

About Taboola
Taboola is a market leading technology powering recommendations for the open web.

The Company’s platform, powered by artificial intelligence, is used by digital properties, including websites, devices and mobile apps, to drive monetization and user engagement. Taboola has long-term partnerships with some of the top digital properties in the world, including CNBC, BBC, NBC News, Business Insider, The Independent and El Mundo.

Approximately 17,000 advertisers use Taboola to reach nearly 600 million daily active users in a brand-safe environment. Following the acquisition of Connexity in 2021, Taboola is a leader in powering e-commerce recommendations, driving more than 1 million monthly transactions each month. Leading brands, including Walmart, Macy’s, Wayfair, Skechers and eBay are among key customers.

Learn more at www.taboola.com and follow @taboola on X.

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The following table provides a reconciliation of revenues to ex-TAC Gross Profit.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA.

We calculate Ratio of net income (loss) to gross profit as net income (loss) divided by gross profit. We calculate Ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to ex-TAC Gross Profit, a non-GAAP measure, as Adjusted EBITDA divided by ex-TAC Gross Profit. We believe that the Ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to ex-TAC Gross Profit is useful because TAC is what we must pay digital properties to obtain the right to place advertising on their websites, and we believe focusing on ex-TAC Gross Profit better reflects the profitability of our business. The following table reconciles Ratio of net income (loss) to gross profit and Ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to ex-TAC Gross Profit for the period shown.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Non-GAAP Net Income.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow.

The following table provides a reconciliation of projected gross profit to ex-TAC Gross Profit.

Although we provide a projection for Free Cash Flow, we are not able to provide a projection for net cash provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure. Certain elements of net cash provided by operating activities, including taxes and timing of collections and payments, are not predictable therefore projecting an accurate forecast is difficult. As a result, it is impractical for us to provide projections on net cash provided by operating activities or to reconcile our Free Cash Flow projections without unreasonable efforts. Consequently, no disclosure of projected net cash provided by operating activities is included. For the same reasons, we are unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information.