管理層發言
Hello, and welcome to Groupon's First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. On the call today are Chief Executive Officer Dusan Senkypl and Chief Financial Officer Rana Kashyap. The company has posted earnings material, including earnings commentary, on the company's Investor Relations website at investor.groupon.com. Today's conference call is being recorded. Before we begin, Groupon would like to remind listeners that the following discussion and responses to your questions reflect management's views as of today, May 8, 2026, only, and will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the company's forward-looking statements. Groupon undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events. Additional information about risks and other factors that could potentially impact the company's financial results is included in its earnings press release and in its filings with the SEC, including its quarterly report on Form 10-Q. We encourage investors to use Groupon's Investor Relations website at investor.groupon.com as a way of easily finding information about the company. Groupon promptly makes available on this website the reports that the company files or furnishes with the SEC, corporate governance information and select press releases and social media postings. On the call today, the company will also discuss the following non-GAAP financial measures, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. In Groupon's press release and its filings with the SEC, each of which is posted on its Investor Relations website, you will find additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including reconciliations of these measures to the most comparable measures under U.S. GAAP. And with that, I'd like to turn it over to Dusan to make a few opening remarks before we jump into Q&A.
Hello, and thanks for joining us for our first quarter 2026 earnings call. It's great to be with all of you today. Yesterday, after the market closed, we released our earnings and posted our shareholder letter on our Investor Relations website. Today, I will make opening remarks and then open up the call for your questions. For more details on our quarterly performance, I encourage you to read our full shareholder letter, press release and 10-Q. Let me start with the headline. Q1 fell short of our expectations. Global billings of $383 million declined 1% year-over-year, slightly below our guidance. Revenue of $117 million was flat year-over-year and within our guidance range. Adjusted EBITDA was $12.8 million, slightly below our guidance range. I want to be clear on one item: adjusted EBITDA of $12.8 million includes approximately $2 million of severance reflected in SG&A in the quarter related to the roughly 5% head count reduction we executed in Q1. The pressures in the quarter concentrated in 3 areas: continued softness in our managed and organic channels, which we flagged on the Q4 call; a deceleration in North America local, where SMB merchant acquisition slowed and enterprise turned negative for the first time in 5 quarters; and our first soft quarter in health, beauty and wellness after 4 consecutive quarters of growth. Severe winter weather in January and February added a near-term headwind. Things to Do continue to grow across both North America and international and partly offset these pressures. April performance has improved, driven by North America local reaccelerating. Managed channels are recovering with email returning to positive year-over-year growth. SEO trajectory turned positive in mid-April. These are early indicators, but they validate the work we have been doing on our customer data platform and on AI-driven content, and they give us confidence in the back half. Importantly, none of the Q1 results yet reflect the operating impact of Project Foundry, which I will speak to next. Turning to Project Foundry. Foundry is the most consequential operating decision this management team has made since arriving at Groupon 3 years ago. We are rebuilding Groupon as an AI-native company. Foundry is not a product launch. It's a redesign of how the company works. We are embedding AI agents into the core of every function, giving business and product owners direct access to the data, tools and creative leverage they need to act in hours rather than weeks and removing the analytical and engineering layers that previously sat between an idea and its execution. The operating shift is already visible. We are piloting AI voice agents that conduct outbound outreach to small- and medium-sized merchants. Our objective is for the majority of new merchant meetings to be set by AI voice agents by the end of 2026. Our marketing teams are operating an AI-driven stack across SEM and SEO that continuously evaluates campaign performance, generates creative variants and runs experiments at a pace not previously possible. Our product teams are starting from AI-built demos rather than written specifications and in some workflows, shipping consumer-facing functionality without traditional engineering involvement. Groupon IQ, our AI deal creation platform, is in production. AI-generated review summaries are live across the marketplace. By the end of Q2, we expect every leader at Groupon to be using AI agents in their daily work. As we rebuild around AI-native execution, we are also restructuring the operating model. We reduced total head count by approximately 5% in Q1. We are evaluating additional restructuring actions in Q2 that we expect will further reduce global head count by approximately an additional 15%, along with other significant cost reduction and automation actions. These plans have not been finalized or approved by the Board, and we will share details on timing, expected costs and anticipated savings once approved. The proposal is straightforward: to enable Groupon to operate at the speed required to win in an AI-native world. Outside of Foundry, we made meaningful progress on our other strategic bets. Our customer-facing platform rebuild is in the final stretch after a multiyear journey. The new iOS app is fully deployed across North America. The new Android app launched in North America at the end of Q1 to new users. The new international web platform is live in all markets. These platform upgrades were delivered without material disruption to our financial results, which is itself a meaningful accomplishment given the scope of the work. Our customer data platform is now live in all major markets, and we are using it to drive a fundamentally different approach to managed channels, anchored on customer lifetime value rather than individual transactions. And in SEO and AI search, we are positioning Groupon to continue to drive performance in an organic search landscape restructured by AI-driven search experiences. On capital allocation, we executed against the buyback authorization. Since our last earnings release on March 10, we repurchased 2.8 million shares for $29.7 million at a weighted average price of $10.58, representing approximately 7% of shares outstanding. As of May 7, approximately $215 million remains available under that program. Going forward, we will continue to be opportunistic, taking into account our cash generation, our investment priorities, market conditions and the trading price of our shares. Our first capital priority remains investing in the organic growth opportunities in front of us. We continue to hold our minority stake in SumUp and any liquidity event there would give us additional capital to deploy. On guidance, we are affirming our full year. We continue to expect billing growth of 3% to 5%, revenue of $513 million to $523 million, adjusted EBITDA of $70 million to $75 million and free cash flow of at least $60 million. For Q2, we are guiding billings flat to up 2%, revenue of $126 million to $128 million and adjusted EBITDA of $13 million to $15 million. While April's improvement gives us a positive start to the quarter, we have set Q2 guidance in the same range as Q1 to factor in a difficult comparison later in the quarter related to several large enterprise campaigns that have different performance expectations this year. We expect the second half to deliver improved results from our strategic bets, better execution in North America for local and additional marketing support. Stepping back, the long-term opportunity for Groupon remains compelling. The market for online local experiences is significantly underpenetrated relative to categories like hotels and airfare. We believe AI-driven discovery and agentic transactions will accelerate that penetration and Groupon sits at the intersection of consumer intent and local supply, a natural bridge between the AI economy and the millions of local merchants who power Main Street. We remain committed to our long-term ambition for accelerated growth. Our refreshed mission anchors all of this. We get people offline through quality local experiences at great value. The best things in life happen offline, and as the world becomes increasingly digitized, demand will grow for analog, in-person experiences and for the digital pathways consumers use to identify, discover and book those experiences. That is the company we are building. I want to thank our team. This transformation is not easy and their dedication, intensity and execution under pressure have made this progress possible. With that, let's open the call for questions.
分析師問答
Our first question comes from Bobby Brooks from Northland Capital.
I just wanted to unpack a little bit more some of the factors that caused some of the headwinds in the small business merchant base in North America local. Is that mostly stemming from the severe weather in the first two months? Curious to hear there.
So severe weather was definitely a part of that. Also — and Bobby, thank you for the question — the SEO and managed channel headwinds, which we were talking about on the last call, also contributed to the headwinds. And the third element was related to enterprise, where the AI inventory is very important. At the same time, we have plenty of bold actions right now for local, and we are very optimistic going forward. AI will significantly unlock an opportunity for us to acquire more merchants without being restricted by the size of our core sales team because we plan and are already piloting meeting setups for them with AI, which significantly increases performance and capacity. And we have many other tools which we are deploying right now.
Curious on that outbound AI outbound with the merchants, I was just curious: are you seeing good win rates, meaning merchants getting those calls and setting up that first meeting? Because I also kind of see when I get an AI call, I usually ignore it or hear it's AI and hang up. Have you kind of figured it out where it doesn't seem like AI and those merchants are booking the first meeting?
There is definitely a small group of people, but it's a minority who don't want to talk to AI yet. I believe personally that this group will be getting smaller and smaller as pretty much every big company and every bank is deploying AI. The quality when we are using frontier models and frontier solutions is such that I am personally not able to recognize whether the call is coming from AI or from a human. At the same time, what it opens to us is unlimited capacity at required times because right now, with a limited number of salespeople, they are trying to find out when to call whom. Based on AI, suddenly, we have no limitations in terms of how many calls we can make and when. So we can be doing the calls at times that fit merchants better. For example, if owners of small businesses don't have many customers around noon, we can call them around noon, calling many at the same time. We can accommodate based on where you are — East Coast versus West Coast. Currently, the majority of our sales workforce is in Chicago, Illinois, so we are not really calling in the evening. All this opens up, and it's more than paying off versus the initial resistance from people who don't want to talk to AI.
Okay. That's great color. Continuing on the AI initiatives, with a clear focus on being an AI-native company, and I think last quarter you mentioned how all business unit leaders had to propose how they're going to integrate AI into the workflow. You said today you expect all folks to be using agents later this year. Could you give a deeper update on what some of those initiatives are, maybe some of the more exciting initiatives you heard proposed by those business leaders? And is it fair to think the head count reductions are directly related to using AI for this work, so now you can pull back head count in some areas?
First, the motivation for the change and being AI-first is not primarily to save cost or have fewer people. For me, the main motivation is to accelerate how the company operates. I don't think companies that do not operate in this mode will survive. Because I've been investing heavily in AI for the last two years, and many people at Groupon and in other companies are doing the same, I see how AI-native teams completely change the paradigm of how quickly they move because they are not waiting on others to prepare reports or data. Imagine having an additional five or six AI people working for you 24/7: you can ask them whatever you want. The pace that comes with it is really amazing. We are changing, and it's not only us; it's many organizations on the AI frontier. The way corporations work no longer makes sense to have teams of five or six people with heavy communication overhead and meetings. It's more like one or two people — we call them speedboats — who take decisions immediately, move super fast, and ship products in days or weeks. I expect more of this at Groupon. When you look at how we were working on SEO less than three months ago, without AI we would not have been able to accelerate as significantly. I see the same happening on SEM and mobile. Over the last three to five months, progress has significantly accelerated. We would not have achieved this without AI. This is happening across all projects. We don't want to have any project at Groupon that is not AI-first because the outcomes, speed and results from these projects are significantly superior to the old way of working.
Our next question comes from Sean McGowan from ROTH Capital Partners.
I want to follow up on Bobby's question a little bit. You were already doing a pretty good job with SG&A spending and a lot of cuts. I know you just said it's not about cost primarily, but how much lower could G&A spending get with some of these initiatives?
Sean, thank you for the question. As we stated in our commentary, the approximately 15% further restructuring is not approved by the Board, and we are not talking about specific actions yet. At the same time, we mentioned that we are looking closely at the additional 15%, along with other significant cost reduction and automation actions, because we see a paradigm change in how to operate the company. I will not give you specific numbers now. Savings are not the primary motivation because this is probably the first time in Groupon's history when we are talking about these reductions while we are growing, not because we have a major problem in the business. The motivation is to speed up and change the operating mode of the company. I see it as an opportunity, and there will definitely be lower cost related to these changes, but it gives us opportunities to invest to grow in other areas. Sorry, I can't give any numbers right now.
I understand. There's sensitivity around that. I appreciate that. Shifting gears, it seems like consistently as you talk about international billings ex-Giftcloud, that the underlying business excluding Giftcloud has been pretty strong. Is there any reason we should not expect that ex-Giftcloud business to stay as strong as it's been, or are there factors that will make that comparison tougher?
I see a difference between international and North America: in the past, Groupon did much less cutting to the sales force in international and focused cuts mainly outside the sales teams. Sales teams in international are slightly stronger in terms of experience and head count. Because they serve individual countries, they can be more focused. You can think about it that we have country-level teams that run similarly to how we run Chicago in North America, where we see better results versus the rest of the country. The team is doing a great job, so I'm optimistic about international. Right now, we have headwinds in the Emirates because of the complex situation with the war and politics there. But otherwise, I see opportunity for us in all markets.
Okay. I have two quick questions for Rana, if I can. First, what's up with the taxes? What's the odd activity in taxes in the quarter? And second, why would you not add back that severance if that's, in fact, something that's boosting the G&A spending? Why would you not add that back for adjusted EBITDA?
Yes. Thanks, Sean. I'll take the second question first, and then I'll go to the first question. We have a pretty established policy on how we define adjusted EBITDA, consistent with guidance from our regulators. These severance actions were undertaken as part of ongoing activities. They were not part of a restructuring action that was Board-approved in Q1. We wanted to let investors know that we did have material severance expenses, so we made sure it was disclosed in our commentary around SG&A. That's why we included that note in the letter. Regarding tax, there are always movements quarter-to-quarter related to how we are planning the business and potential changes we are making. I'm happy to go into a little more detail with you offline, but there's nothing structurally changed with our business at this point. We do expect to see some benefits on the cash tax side related to some of the legislation that was passed last year, so from a cash tax standpoint we expect this year to be more efficient. But structurally, nothing very different is happening from a tax perspective absent changes in the regulatory environment.
No, it just seems like you actually didn't miss. Even though the way most investors would look at it, you didn't come in below. But anyway, I get it's a matter of policy; your adjusted EBITDA is actually better than it looks.
And that's correct. Our role here is to be as transparent as we can be. We want to make sure you understand the puts and takes of the quarter, and that's why we included the note in the letter. I'm glad you picked up on that. In terms of tax, as I mentioned, there are movements related to planning and potential changes. I'm happy to go into more detail offline, but there's nothing structural that has changed. We do expect some cash tax benefits from legislation passed last year, which should make cash taxes more efficient this year.
We'll now pose written questions to the leadership team. Our first question is for Dusan. How are you personally using AI day-to-day? And what's changed for you in the last 6 months?
Thank you for the question. I see major changes happening almost every month. If I look back at how I was using AI six months ago, I was experimenting with code and having agents do small engineering tasks to build tools to make my life easier. I used AI as a chat partner for projects and brainstorming. Then about six to eight weeks ago, I switched into an agentic mode. I built an AI chief of staff solution where all my projects live; it's built on a Claude Code Anthropic solution. It runs on the data I need for my work. It sees the content I share, reads tasks we are working on, and is a primary way I work. I spend time on meetings with people, and I do everything else through my AI. I see a significant boost in productivity. I'm sharing this toolkit within Groupon and with peers; some have taken it and improved it significantly, making it much more advanced than mine. Even with current models, if I provide enough context the AI gives answers that are the same or better than I could produce, but in minutes or hours versus many hours. So I can work on ten times more projects, have visibility into more things, and it changed how leadership and managers work. Previously, you prepared two-pagers or one-pagers; now you provide raw data, throw it into AI, and AI can do research, find best-in-class examples, and show five to ten different versions for solutions. For me, it's a complete game changer. I feel I don't have to wait anymore, and the landscape will be even more capable in a few months.
A follow-up question on that. What's your conviction on where AI and local commerce goes over the next 18 to 24 months? And where does Groupon need to be to get there?
I want to position Groupon as a company that significantly helps small businesses because running and operating a small business is hard everywhere, and small business owners don't have time to educate themselves on AI. Groupon is investing and will continue to invest in the toolkit so we can provide a platform to help small businesses operate more effectively: how to get more clients and how to run their business better. We sit on a lot of merchant data. We will build solutions that use that data to help merchants run their businesses better. On the consumer side, searching and browsing are changing. I want Groupon to be a platform any AI agent can use — connected to anything popular and best-in-class — consolidating links, traffic, and deals from small merchants who on their own cannot do this. Put together, we will provide the power and benefits of AI to small businesses; today AI benefits are mostly limited to larger organizations with more resources compared to small businesses. We want to change that.
Another follow-up on that. What's the right way for investors to track whether the AI-native operating model is actually working beyond the headline P&L?
Our approach at Groupon is different from some other companies. If we want to be AI-native in the products we build for merchants and partners, we need to be AI-first internally as well. That's why there is a high focus on ensuring everyone is running AI: it changes mindset and speed. When you can deliver something in hours, you stop accepting slow ways of working. This translates into products that are AI-first and can be shipped quickly. If I were an external investor, I would look at how Groupon is being discovered and used by AI platforms — whether when you search you can find Groupon deals in places like OpenAI or in Google — and track our progress there. In the future, discovery will move toward agentic commerce, and we have projects to build a platform that is an open connector for new standards that emerge.
And one final written question. What has surprised you most about AI inside the company since you launched Project Foundry?
The biggest surprise for me has been the quality of AI voice agents. I was testing this last year and speaking to other people who are using it. During a recent trip with my team to San Francisco, we visited ElevenLabs and other frontier companies and saw unbelievable progress. This is a major unlock for how we will talk to small merchants and unlock capacity. When an AI call is done right, you simply cannot recognize whether you're talking to a human or an AI agent. This changed in the last five months because earlier in the year that was not true. That has been the biggest surprise.
We have a follow-up from Bobby Brooks from Northland Capital.
Just on SumUp, there's been some news that they may be moving toward an IPO. I know you made it clear you'd use a liquidity window opportunistically. That cash would be a nice sum for you. Any thoughts on what that cash would be used for? The balance sheet is really strong, and many growth initiatives are low capital requirements. How are you thinking about potential uses for that cash windfall if it were to occur?
Do you want me to take that, Dusan? Yes. Thanks, Bobby. We continue to believe SumUp is an incredibly valuable asset. We own a small minority stake, and they are developing well. Their performance is strong and they have the scale, business model and management to be a successful public company, but timing is uncertain. We remain a passive shareholder and supportive of their actions and direction. This is a non-core investment for us; we don't plan to hold it long-term. If opportunities arise to monetize that investment, we will look to do so opportunistically. If that asset turns to cash, we will allocate it consistent with our capital allocation policy: opportunistic share buybacks, investing in our business where needed, considering market conditions and our stock price. We've been following SumUp for three years; they have improved a lot, but timing is hard to predict. The important thing is that the business is doing well and has a great position in its market, and we are rooting for them.
I appreciate that color, Rana. Not looking for a crystal ball. It's good to hear how you might use the cash. One last topic: on marketing channels, some digital marketplaces I've covered have leaned into advertising on Meta and other platforms and away from Google. Could you provide color on what marketing funnels and channels are working best for you and which ones you might be leaning away from?
I don't think there are channels we're leaning away from entirely. Groupon should maintain presence and spend as much as possible with disciplined ROI on every channel. But you are right that Meta offers a disproportionately larger opportunity compared to Google, where we believe we've already penetrated most surfaces suitable for Groupon. In Meta, especially with video content, we have more opportunities. Meta recently released better connectivity for AI, so our team is already working with AI to generate ads and manage campaigns end-to-end. We're also experimenting heavily with AI-driven generation of videos from local content. Current AI allows us to take a few pictures and create compelling videos, which opens opportunities to advertise on Meta and also on TikTok more.
Very interesting. One follow-up on AI content: how does it work in terms of the merchant relationship? If a merchant signs up to use your service or platform, do they inherently give you the ability to create content for them through AI? I would guess some business owners are protective around that. How does that dynamic work?
We are significantly improving quality of content with AI. I haven't heard any complaints about it; in many cases merchants react positively. In several cases, merchants said, 'wow, this is unbelievable' when we took mediocre photos from their website and improved them with AI. I see it as a positive for merchants because it's in their interest to be represented well. The quality of media we can provide to small businesses thanks to AI is now comparable to professional outputs bigger companies use.
There are no other questions. So this concludes our call for today. Thank you, everyone, for joining. For additional information, please go to investor.groupon.com.