BuzzFeed, Inc. Completes Strategic and Organizational Changes Following a Transformative 2024

Company Strengthens Balance Sheet, Grows High-Margin Revenue Streams, and Expands AI-Driven Innovation

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2025-- 

BuzzFeed, Inc.'s ("BuzzFeed" or the "Company") (Nasdaq: BZFD) fourth quarter and full year (ended December 31, 2024) financial results were in line with its outlook shared in December, demonstrating progress in stabilizing operations and positioning the business for long-term growth. Following a strategic transformation in 2024, BuzzFeed is optimistic about the year ahead and is committed to bettering operational efficiency and improving monetization across the Company's owned and operated sites and apps.

"BuzzFeed has always been at the forefront of digital media, evolving with industry shifts and embracing new technologies," said Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed Founder & CEO. "2024 was a transformational year as we strengthened our fundamentals, streamlined operations, and scaled our high-margin revenue streams. By leveraging AI to optimize our tech and advertising, enhance audience engagement, and explore R&D for BF Island, we have positioned BuzzFeed for long-term success in the AI era."

As part of this strategy, BuzzFeed recently announced the development of BF Island, a new social platform designed to reimagine how people create, share, and engage with content. This ambitious long-term investment aligns with the Company's vision of fostering creativity and fun while building a more direct relationship with audiences. The Company plans to begin private beta testing BF Island with users in Q2.

"We've significantly reduced our debt and strengthened our balance sheet, putting us in a much stronger financial position heading into 2025," said Matt Omer, BuzzFeed CFO. "With a leaner, more focused operation, we're prioritizing high-margin, tech-enabled revenue streams like programmatic advertising, affiliate commerce, and AI-driven innovation. These moves give us the flexibility to invest in long-term growth while driving sustainable profitability."

2024 Full Year Financial and Operational Highlights for Continuing Operations(1)

   -- BuzzFeed delivered Full Year 2024 revenues of $189.9 million, declining 
      18% compared to 2023. 
 
          -- -- Advertising revenue declined 17% year-over-year to $94.4 
             million, reflecting an intentional shift away from lower-margin, 
             direct-sold advertising. 
 
                 -- Programmatic advertising remained relatively flat 
                    year-over-year at $64.9 million. 
 
          -- Content revenue declined 49% year-over-year to $33.9 million, 
             primarily due to a decrease in direct-sold deals and fewer studio 
             projects. 
 
          -- Commerce and other revenues grew 23% year-over-year to $61.7 
             million, driven by strong affiliate commerce performance. 
 
                 -- Affiliate commerce increased 26% year-over-year to $59.6 
                    million. 
 
   -- Net loss from continuing operations improved to $34.0 million, compared 
      to a net loss from continuing operations of $55.7 million in 2023, a 
      result of successful cost savings and operational efficiencies. 
 
   -- Adjusted EBITDA2 improved by $17.1 million year-over-year, achieving 
      positive Adjusted EBITDA of $5.5 million for the full year 2024. 
 
   -- In 2024, audience Time Spent3 with our content totaled 297.9 million 
      hours, reflecting a 3% decline year-over-year, though we continue to 
      outpace the competition. 
 
   -- BuzzFeed ended the period with cash and cash equivalents of approximately 
      $38.6 million, an increase of $3.0 million compared to 2023. 

Fourth Quarter 2024 Financial and Operational Highlights for Continuing Operations

   -- BuzzFeed delivered Q4 revenues of $56.2 million, declining 20% compared 
      to the fourth quarter of 2023, in line with the Company's outlook shared 
      in December. 
 
          -- Advertising revenue declined 19% year-over-year to $25.4 million, 
             reflecting a deemphasis of direct sold advertising and into 
             higher-margin programmatic advertising. 
 
                 -- Programmatic advertising remained relatively flat 
                    year-over-year at $18.0 million. 
 
          -- Content revenue declined 59% year-over-year to $9.5 million, 
             driven by a reduction in direct-sold content deals and studio 
             revenue. 
 
          -- Commerce and other revenues increased 39% year-over-year to $21.3 
             million, supported by strong affiliate performance. 
 
                 -- Affiliate commerce grew 39% year-over-year to $20.8 
                    million. 
 
   -- Net loss from continuing operations was $3.8 million, compared to net 
      income from continuing operations of $4.4 million in the fourth quarter 
      of 2023. 
 
   -- Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2024 was $10.9 million, compared to Adjusted 
      EBITDA of $13.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. 
 
   -- Time Spent improved approximately 10% year-over-year to 79.3 million 
      hours, and BuzzFeed continues to outpace the competition. 

Business and Content Highlights

   -- In Q4, audiences spent more time consuming BuzzFeed content -- both 
      overall and among its core demographic of Millennial and Gen Z -- than 
      that of any other digital media company in its competitive set,4 
      reinforcing the Company's strong tech optimization and engagement 
      strategies. 
 
   -- The Company achieved significant year-over-year growth in affiliate 
      commerce revenue from both July's Amazon Prime Day and October's Prime 
      Big Deal Day, demonstrating strong momentum as we continue to expand 
      high-margin affiliate commerce. 
 
          -- Further, the Company drove more than $500 million in attributable 
             transactions in 2024 for our commerce partners. 
 
   -- In Q4 2024, the percentage of loyal users across BuzzFeed.com's web and 
      app (those who return more than once within a 7-day period) reached 
      approximately 48%, the highest level in the last 2 years. 

Full Year 2025 Financial Outlook

The following financial outlook is on a continuing operations basis and includes our planned investment in BF Island for the year ahead.

   -- We expect overall revenues in the range of $195 million to $210 million, 
      or 3-10% higher than 2024. 
 
   -- We expect Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $10 million to $20 million, an 
      improvement of approximately $10 million year-over-year at the midpoint. 

These statements are forward-looking and actual results may differ materially as a result of many factors. Refer to "Forward-Looking Statements" below for information on factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.

Refer to "Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for a description of how Adjusted EBITDA is calculated. While Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure, we have not provided guidance for the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure -- net (loss) income from continuing operations -- due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting and quantifying certain amounts that are necessary to forecast such a measure. Accordingly, a reconciliation of non-GAAP guidance for Adjusted EBITDA to the corresponding GAAP measure is not available.

Quarterly Conference Call

BuzzFeed's management team will hold a conference call to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2024 results today, March 13, at 5PM ET. The call will be available via webcast at investors.buzzfeed.com under the heading News and Events, and parties interested in participating must register in advance at the same location. Upon registration, all telephone participants will receive a confirmation email detailing how to join the conference call, including the dial-in number along with a unique PIN that can be used to access the call. While it is not required, it is recommended you join 5 minutes prior to the event start time. A replay of the call will be made available at the same URL.

We have used, and intend to continue to use, the Investor Relations section of our website at investors.buzzfeed.com as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Definitions

BuzzFeed reports revenues across three primary business lines: Advertising, Content and Commerce and other. The definition of "Time Spent" is also set forth below.

   -- Advertising revenues are primarily generated from advertisers, both 
      programmatically and directly, for ads distributed against our editorial 
      and news content, including display, pre-roll and mid-roll video 
      products. We distribute these ad products across our owned and operated 
      sites as well as third-party platforms, primarily YouTube and Apple News. 
 
   -- Content revenues are primarily generated from clients for custom assets, 
      including both long-form and short-form content, from branded quizzes to 
      Instagram takeovers to sponsored content. Studio generally includes 
      revenue from films, content licensing, TV projects, and other projects 
      inspired by BuzzFeed IP. 
 
   -- Commerce and other revenues consist primarily of affiliate commissions 
      earned on transactions initiated from our editorial shopping content. 
      Revenues from our product licensing businesses are also included here. 
 
   -- Time Spent captures the time audiences spend engaging with our content 
      across our owned and operated sites, as well as YouTube and Apple News, 
      as measured by Comscore. This metric excludes time spent with our content 
      on platforms for which we have minimal advertising capabilities that 
      contribute to our Advertising revenues, including Instagram, TikTok, 
      Facebook, Snapchat, and X (formerly Twitter). There are inherent 

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March 13, 2025 16:05 ET (20:05 GMT)