Cardlytics (NASDAQ:CDLX) Releases Earnings Results

Cardlytics (NASDAQ:CDLX) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.12, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $34.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $37.20 million. Cardlytics had a negative return on equity of 656.95% and a negative net margin of 46.03%.

Here are the key takeaways from Cardlytics’ conference call:

• Q1 adjusted EBITDA turned positive at $0.2M (vs -$4.1M a year ago) and adjusted contribution margin hit a record 60.6%, driven by a 38% reduction in adjusted operating expenses and cloud optimizations.
• Billings and revenue remain materially below prior year — billings were $58.1M (-37% y/y) and revenue $34.3M (-39% y/y) — with ACPU down ~21% and MQUs at 197M after the Bank of America departure.
• Management reports supply has stabilized and product momentum, including onboarding new FI portfolios later this year, the neobank Double Days promo that drove ~250k new activators, and three live partners on the Cardlytics Rewards Platform (CRP).
• International strength and forward guidance — U.K. revenue grew >21% y/y, advertisers are consolidating spend with Cardlytics, and Q2 guidance targets sequential growth (~9–10%) across billings, revenue and adjusted contribution with improved adjusted EBITDA visibility.

Cardlytics Stock Down 18.1%

NASDAQ:CDLX traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $0.64. 3,913,768 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 890,013. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $0.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.13. The firm has a market cap of $35.24 million, a PE ratio of -0.36 and a beta of 0.67. Cardlytics has a 12 month low of $0.57 and a 12 month high of $3.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDLX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Cardlytics in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Evercore set a $1.00 target price on shares of Cardlytics in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Lake Street Capital set a $1.00 price target on shares of Cardlytics in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cardlytics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Cardlytics in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cardlytics has a consensus rating of “Sell” and a consensus price target of $1.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Amit Gupta sold 69,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.19, for a total transaction of $83,101.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 987,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,174,990.53. This trade represents a 6.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Nicholas Hollmeyer Lynton sold 40,296 shares of Cardlytics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $0.99, for a total value of $39,893.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 167,856 shares in the company, valued at $166,177.44. This trade represents a 19.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 324,111 shares of company stock worth $330,154 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cardlytics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CDLX. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Cardlytics by 143.5% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 85,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 50,663 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Cardlytics during the second quarter valued at $59,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in Cardlytics by 263.0% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 162,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 117,687 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in Cardlytics in the 3rd quarter valued at $272,000. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Cardlytics by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 458,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,113,000 after purchasing an additional 242,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.10% of the company’s stock.

Cardlytics Company Profile

Cardlytics, Inc operates a purchase intelligence and marketing platform that connects advertisers with consumers through bank and credit card transaction data. The company partners with financial institutions to analyze anonymized purchase information, enabling brands to deliver highly targeted offers and rewards directly to customers’ online and mobile banking channels. By leveraging real-time insights into consumer spending habits, Cardlytics helps marketers optimize campaign performance and measure return on ad spend more accurately than traditional digital advertising methods.

At the core of Cardlytics’ offering is its proprietary purchase intelligence engine, which aggregates and anonymizes transaction data from partner banks and credit unions.