v3.25.3
Organization, Description of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2025
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Basis of Presentation
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and are unaudited. Certain information and disclosures normally included in consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted. Accordingly, these condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 7, 2025 ("2024 Form 10-K").
On February 3, 2025, Outbrain completed the previously announced Acquisition. As such, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company include the results of operations for Legacy Teads from February 3, 2025 through September 30, 2025. As a result of the Acquisition, the financial information presented as of and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 is not directly comparable to our financial information presented for the corresponding prior year periods.
Use of Estimates
Use of Estimates
The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and related disclosures as of the date of the condensed consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Estimates and judgments are based on historical information and on various other assumptions that the Company believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Estimates and assumptions made in the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include, but are not limited to, the allowance for credit losses, sales allowance, software development costs eligible for capitalization, valuation of deferred tax assets, the useful lives of property and equipment, the useful lives and fair value of intangible assets, valuation of goodwill, the fair value of stock-based awards, and the recognition and measurement of income tax uncertainties and other contingencies. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates.
Reclassifications
Reclassifications
Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior periods’ financial information in order to conform to the current period’s presentation. These reclassifications primarily included the reclassification of publisher obligations of $57.4 million to accounts payable, as part of accounting policy alignment between legacy Outbrain and Teads. This obligation was previously recorded within accrued and other current liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2024. This reclassification had no impact on the Company’s current or total liabilities, or any other financial statement line items.
Revenue Recognition
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenues when it transfers control of promised services directly to its customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those services. The Company recognizes revenue pursuant to the five-step framework contained in ASC 606: (i) identify the contract with a client; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract, including whether they are distinct in the context of the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price, including the constraint on variable consideration; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue as the Company satisfies the performance obligations.
The Company generates revenue primarily from advertisers (and/or through the media agencies that represent such advertisers) through user engagement with the ads placed on media partners’ web pages and mobile applications. The Company’s platform delivers ads to end-users that appear as links to articles and videos on media owners’ and CTV partners’ sites.
The Company’s customers include brands, performance marketers and other advertisers, which are collectively referred to as its advertisers, each of which contract for use of its services primarily through insertion orders or through self-service tools, allowing advertisers to establish budgets for their advertising campaigns. Advertising campaigns are primarily billed on a monthly basis. The Company’s payment terms generally range from 30 to 60 days.
Advertising campaigns are priced using various models, including CPC, CPM or other actions, such as a CPV based on a number of completed video views. Accordingly, revenues are recognized when an action associated with an advertisement occurs, whether that be an ad is clicked on, displayed or viewed by the end user.
Variable consideration, including allowances, discounts, refunds, credits, incentives, or other price concessions, is estimated and recorded at the time that related revenue is recognized. Advance payments from advertisers for future services represent contract liabilities and are recorded as deferred revenue in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
The determination of whether revenue should be reported on a gross or a net basis involves judgment. In general, the Company acts as a principal on behalf of its advertisers and revenue is recognized gross of any costs that it remits to the media partners. In these cases, the Company determined that it controls the advertising inventory before it is transferred to its advertisers. The Company’s control is evidenced by its ability to monetize the advertising inventory before it is transferred to its advertisers. For those revenue arrangements where the customer controls the advertising inventory and retains the inventory risk, the Company is the agent and recognizes revenue on a net basis. The Company recognizes revenue net of applicable sales taxes.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of Revenue
Traffic Acquisition Costs. Traffic acquisition costs consist of amounts the Company owes to media partners for the purchase of or use of inventory. The Company incurs costs with its media partners, which may be publishers or third-party intermediaries, in the period in which certain actions, such as click-throughs, impressions or views, occur. Such costs due to media partners are based on the media partners’ contractual revenue share, a CPM model or guaranteed rates of payment based on certain media partner conditions. In some circumstances, the Company incurs costs based on a guaranteed minimum payment, which may be based on either impressions, page views or a fixed amount if the partner reaches certain performance targets, in exchange for guaranteed placement on specified portions of the media owners’ online properties. Traffic acquisition costs also include amounts payable to media partners whose supply is purchased programmatically.
In some instances, the Company may make upfront payments to media owners in connection with long-term contracts. The Company capitalizes these advance payments under these agreements if specific capitalization criteria have been met. The capitalization criteria includes the existence of future economic benefits to the Company, the existence of legally enforceable recoverability language (e.g., early termination clauses), management’s ability and intent to enforce the recoverability language and the ability to generate future earnings from the agreement in excess of amounts deferred. Capitalized amounts are amortized as traffic acquisition costs over the shorter of the period of contractual recoverability or the corresponding period of economic benefit. Amounts not yet paid are accrued systematically based on the Company’s estimate of user engagement.
Other Cost of Revenue. Other cost of revenue includes costs related to the management of data centers, hosting fees, data connectivity costs, research and insight costs, and depreciation and amortization. Cost of revenue also includes the amortization of capitalized software that is developed or obtained for internal use associated with the Company’s revenue-generating technologies. Additionally, other cost of revenue includes amortization of intangible assets related to developed technology acquired by the Company and used in its revenue-generating efforts.
Certain Risks and Concentrations
Certain Risks and Concentrations
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, investments in marketable securities, and accounts receivable. The Company’s cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and investments in marketable securities are generally invested in high-credit quality financial instruments with both banks and financial institutions to reduce the amount of exposure to any single financial institution.
The Company generally does not require collateral to secure accounts receivable, with the exception of certain customers with higher potential credit risk who are required to prepay for their campaigns.
Segment Information
Segment Information
The Company has one operating and reporting segment. The Company’s chief operating decision maker is its Chief Executive Officer who makes resource allocation decisions and assesses performance based on financial information presented on a consolidated basis.
New Accounting Pronouncements And Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
New Accounting Pronouncements
Under the JOBS Act, the Company meets the definition of an emerging growth company (“EGC”) and can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. The Company has elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the Company is no longer an EGC or until the Company affirmatively and irrevocably opts out of the extended transition period. Based on the anticipated total gross revenue of the Company, the Company expects that it will cease to be an EGC as of December 31, 2025.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-06, “Intangibles – Goodwill and Other – Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Internal-Use Software” (“ASU 2025-06”). ASU 2025-06 removes all references to software project development stages, and requires capitalization to begin when management has authorized and committed to funding the project, and it is probable that the project will be completed and the software will be used to perform the function intended. ASU 2025-06 is effective for our annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, and for interim periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption permitted. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of ASU 2025-06 on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In July 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-05, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses for Accounts Receivable and Contract Assets” (“ASU 2025-05”). ASU 2025-05 provides a practical expedient, which simplifies the calculation for estimating credit losses on current accounts receivable and contract assets by assuming that current conditions as of the balance sheet date do not change for the remaining life of the asset. ASU 2025-05 is effective for annual
reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2025, and interim reporting periods within those annual reporting periods, with early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of ASU 2025-05 on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, “Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures” (“ASU 2023-09”). ASU 2023-09 is focused on increased visibility into specific income tax components, requiring disclosures of specific categories and a greater disaggregation of information by jurisdiction within the effective tax rate reconciliation and income taxes paid disclosures. ASU 2023-09 is effective beginning with the Company’s annual reporting period for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of ASU 2023-09 on its tax-related disclosures.
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, “Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures” (“ASU 2024-03”). ASU 2024-03 requires disclosures about certain costs and expenses, including but not limited to, purchases of inventory; employee compensation; depreciation; intangible asset amortization; and selling expenses. The ASU is required to be applied prospectively and is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2027. The Company is in the process of evaluating the impact of ASU 2024-03 on its audited consolidated financial statements.
Fair Value Measurement
The Company utilizes valuation techniques that maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs to the extent possible. The Company’s financial instruments include restricted time deposits, severance pay fund deposits and foreign currency forward contracts. The Company determines the fair value of its financial instruments based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability in the principal or most advantageous market. When considering market participant assumptions in fair value measurements, the Company uses the fair value hierarchy described below to distinguish between observable and unobservable inputs:
Level I — Valuations based on quoted prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities at the measurement date;
Level II — Valuations based on quoted prices in active markets for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in inactive markets, or other inputs that are observable or can be principally corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the related assets or liabilities; and
Level III — Valuations based on unobservable inputs that are significant to the measurement of the fair value of the assets or liabilities that are supported by little or no market data.
Derivative Financial Instruments Pursuant to the new master netting agreement entered into in February 2025, the Company may set off the amounts payable in the same currency. However, the Company records the fair values of the assets and liabilities relating to its undesignated foreign currency forward contracts on a gross basis in its condensed consolidated balance sheets and no amounts have been offset. The Company was required to post $0.3 million of cash collateral as of September 30, 2025. By entering into foreign currency forward contracts, the Company is exposed to a potential credit risk that the counterparty to its contracts will fail to meet its contractual obligations. If a counterparty fails to perform, the Company’s maximum credit risk exposure would be the positive fair value of the foreign currency forward contracts, or any asset balance, which represents the amount the counterparty owes to the Company. In order to mitigate the counterparty risk, the Company performs an evaluation of its counterparty credit worthiness, and its forward contracts have a term of no more than 18 months.
Share-Based Payment Arrangement
Service-based RSUs
The fair value of service-based RSUs granted to the Company’s eligible employees and non-employee directors is based on the fair value of the Common Stock on the date of grant. Compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the service period. During the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the Company granted 6,866,910 service-based RSUs with a weighted average grant date fair value of $2.58 per share.
Performance Stock Units
The Company grants PSU awards to its senior executives and other key employees, some of which are subject to vesting conditions based on the Company’s financial or operational metrics and others of which are subject to market-based vesting conditions based on achievement of absolute and relative total shareholder return ("TSR") metrics.
PSUs - Financial & Operational Vesting Conditions
The fair value of PSUs with financial and operational performance conditions is based on the fair value of the Common Stock on the date of grant. PSUs vest subject to employees’ continuing employment and the Company’s achievement of specified performance goals over the specified performance period (typically three years). Expense related to these PSUs is recognized ratably during the performance period, based on the probability of attaining the specified performance targets. The potential number of shares that may be earned is determined based on achievement of the performance targets up to a maximum of 150% of the number of PSUs granted. During the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the Company granted 721,424 of these PSUs to its executives with a weighted average fair value of $2.57 per share.
PSUs - Market-Based Vesting Conditions
The Company also grants market-based PSUs, which are based on TSR performance, to its senior executives and other key employees. The absolute TSR awards are subject to achievement of specified stock price hurdles of the Common Stock for 20 days out of a 30-trading day window during the 3-year performance period, as well as continued employment through the quarterly service dates over the 3-year period. The number of shares that are eligible to vest range from 0% to 100% of the number of PSUs granted based on achievement of the specified stock price hurdles, with half of our CEO’s 2024 PSU award subject to vesting based on two additional above-target stock price hurdles.
In June 2025, the Company also granted relative TSR awards with vesting dependent on the Company’s TSR relative to the market performance of the designated peer group. The performance achievement for the relative TSR awards is measured based on the actual performance against the relative TSR goals measured over the period beginning with the date of grant through the
end of each calendar year in the 3-year performance period, subject to employee’s continuing employment through the annual settlement dates of the vested awards. The number of shares that are eligible to vest range from 0% to 150% of the relative TSR awards granted, depending on the Company’s relative TSR ranking based on pre-established goals, subject to interpolation between applicable performance levels.
The Company uses a Monte Carlo simulation, which uses subjective assumptions and simulates multiple stock price paths of the Common Stock to determine the fair value of market-based PSUs on the date of grant. Compensation expense is recognized using an accelerated attribution method over the greater of the derived service periods and explicit quarterly service periods. Compensation expense, net of forfeitures, is recorded regardless of whether the market condition will be ultimately satisfied.