Arena Group Posts Third Consecutive Profitable Quarter in Q1 2025 with $4.0 Million in Net Income
Expansion of Brand-Building Activities and Competitive Publishing Model Fuel Positive Results Across Media Brands
Management Posts Video Reviewing Quarterly Performance and Strategic Initiatives
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2025--
The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. (NYSE American: AREN) ("Arena"), a technology platform and media company home to hundreds of media brands, including TheStreet, Parade, Men's Journal, Athlon Sports, Surfer, Powder and more today announced financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2025 ("Q1 2025").
Financial Highlights for Q1 2025:
-- Quarterly revenue was $31.8 million compared to $28.9 million for Q1
2024.
-- Net income was $4.0 million, or $0.08 per diluted share for Q1 2025,
compared to a net loss of $103 million, including a $91 million loss from
discontinued operations, or $3.91 per diluted share in Q1 2024.
-- Income from continuing operations was $4.0 million in Q1 2025 compared to
a loss from continuing operations of $12.7 million in Q1 2024, nearly a
$17 million swing.
-- Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2025 was $9.7 million compared to negative
Adjusted EBITDA of $848 thousand for Q1 2024.
Financial Guidance for Q2 2025:
-- Expected revenue of approximately $40-$45 million. -- Income from continuing operations of approximately $9 - $11 million.
"In Q1 2025, we expanded our brand-building activities and competitive publishing model originally pioneered with Athlon Sports to more of our brands, and the results have exceeded expectations," said Paul Edmondson, CEO of The Arena Group. "Our entrepreneurial publishers have brought extraordinary energy and commitment to each brand. By aligning incentives with audience engagement, we've unlocked significant growth in our users, distribution and revenue. This performance reaffirms the power of our model."
"Our goal is to leverage this new approach across our entire platform -- driving traffic, higher CPMs, and increased revenue, while maintaining expense discipline to sustain profitability," Edmondson added. "With these results, we believe we are well-positioned to maintain profitability throughout 2025."
Operational highlights:
-- Athlon Sports: Audience traffic continues to grow significantly, with traffic increasing over 500% in Q1 2025 vs. Q1 2024. Our commitment to building a diversified revenue stream for Athlon continues to pay off with syndication and commerce revenue growing 730% year-over-year vs Q1 2024. -- Men's Journal's traffic increased 282% over the previous month to 33.1 million page views in March 2025, the first month of competitive publishing. -- TheStreet: The financial brand reached record traffic levels in March 2025, delivering 80 million page views, up 100% vs March 2024. -- Parade: Digital traffic of Parade and Parade Pets also remained strong with more than 76 million monthly page views in Q1 2025 (up 2% vs Q4 2024).
Arena recently acquired the travel brand, TravelHost. This iconic publication was founded in the mid-1960s and was the first in-room hotel magazine. It now provides travelers with local insights in 30+ markets. Arena intends to fully update and modernize the site and the brand's offerings.
Video Message:
Paul Edmondson, The Arena Group's CEO, has posted a video reviewing Arena's quarterly results and business strategy. The video addresses questions previously submitted by investors and other interested parties. It has been shared across Arena's social media channels and is available HERE.
About The Arena Group
The Arena Group (NYSE American: AREN) is an innovative technology platform and media company with a proven cutting-edge playbook that transforms media brands. Our unified technology platform empowers creators and publishers with tools to publish and monetize their content, while also leveraging quality journalism of anchor brands like TheStreet, Parade, Men's Journal, Athlon Sports, Surfer, Powder and more to build their businesses. The company aggregates content across a diverse portfolio of brands, reaching over 100 million users monthly. Visit us at thearenagroup.net and discover how we are revolutionizing the world of digital media.
THE ARENA GROUP HOLDINGS, INC., AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
As of
-------------------------------------------------
March 31, 2025
(unaudited) December 31, 2024
-------------------------- ---------------------
($ in thousands, except share data)
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 2,902 $ 4,362
Accounts receivables, net 31,561 31,115
Prepayments and other
current assets 4,682 4,757
--- ----------------- --------------
Total current assets 39,145 40,234
Property and equipment,
net 107 148
Operating lease
right-of-use assets 2,260 2,340
Platform development, net 8,471 8,115
Acquired and other
intangible assets, net 21,940 22,789
Other long term assets 147 151
Goodwill 42,575 42,575
--- ----------------- --------------
Total assets 114,645 116,352
=== ================= ==============
Liabilities, mezzanine
equity and stockholders'
deficiency
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable 3,615 4,844
Accrued expenses and
other 10,802 10,990
Unearned revenue 5,230 6,349
Subscription refund
liability 662 430
Operating lease
liability, current
portion 97 254
Liquidating damages
payable 3,305 3,230
Current liabilities from
discontinued operations 96,056 96,159
--- ----------------- --------------
Total current liabilities 119,767 122,256
Unearned revenue, net of
current portion 193 403
Operating lease
liability, net of
current portion 2,182 1,964
Deferred tax liabilities 833 802
Simplify loan 7,151 10,651
Debt 110,467 110,436
--- ----------------- --------------
Total liabilities 240,593 246,512
--- ----------------- --------------
Mezzanine equity:
Series G redeemable and
convertible preferred
stock, $0.01 par value,
$1,000 per share
liquidation value and
1,800 shares designated;
aggregate liquidation
value: $168; Series G
shares issued and
outstanding: 168; common
shares issuable upon
conversion: 8,582 at
December 31, 2024 and
December 31, 2023 168 168
--- ----------------- --------------
Total mezzanine equity 168 168
--- ----------------- --------------
Stockholders' deficiency:
Common stock, $0.01 par
value, authorized
1,000,000,000 shares;
issued and outstanding:
47,556,267 and
23,836,706 shares at
December 31, 2024 and
December 31, 2023,
respectively 475 475
Additional paid-in
capital 348,752 348,560
Accumulated deficit (475,343) (479,363)
--- ----------------- --------------
Total stockholders'
deficiency (126,116) (130,328)
--- ----------------- --------------
Total liabilities,
mezzanine equity and
stockholders' deficiency $ 114,645 $ 116,352
=== ================= ==============
THE ARENA GROUP HOLDINGS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
Three Months Ended March 31,
-------------------------------------------
2025 2024
--------------- --------------
($ in thousands, except share data)
Revenue $ 31,815 $ 28,941
Cost of revenue (includes
amortization of platform
development and developed
technology for 2024 and 2023
of $5,988 and $8,782,
respectively) 16,146 20,008
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