By Adriano Marchese

Shares of Arena Group Holdings slid after the company reported a decline in revenue and margins from a year earlier that it attributed to weaker referral traffic and the impact of technical tests.

The stock declined 24% to $2.01 in midday trading Tuesday, extending its decline to 50% for the year.

After the close on Monday, the digital media and publishing company said first-quarter revenue fell to $20.4 million from $31.8 million a year earlier.

Gross margins slid to 34.8% from 49.4%.

The contracted margins and lower revenue led to a net loss for the quarter of $2.7 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with a profit of $4 million, or 8 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Arena said the results were due to a drop in referral traffic and the effects of technical experiments it ran during the quarter meant to improve long-term audience growth.

"We deliberately chose this quarter to push testing at the center of audience and monetization," Chief Executive Paul Edmondson said. "We have confidence that the intelligence we've built this quarter will drive meaningful yield growth this year."

Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 12, 2026 12:27 ET (16:27 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.