ACCESS Newswire Inc.

Welcome to Access Newswire's fourth quarter and year-ended 2025 earnings conference call. My name is Charlie Terenzio and I lead product and our PR optimizer team here at Access Newswire. I joined in 2019 from the newswire.com business where I've led the PR optimizer team along with marketing, brand, and product strategy. And I'm fortunate that many of the talented people I worked alongside then are still building with us today. Their passion and commitment have been a driving force behind everything we've accomplished. From day one, the Access Newswire team welcomed us as partners, and bringing our teams together has made us a stronger, more innovative company. This past year has been transformational, from our rebrand to the product advancements we've brought to market, and I can tell you we're just getting started. Our focus is clear. Give the world's largest brands the tools they need to lead in public relations storytelling and investor relations communications. And we're building that future right now. But before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made in this conference call concerning future revenues, results from operations, financial position, markets, economic conditions, product releases, partnerships, and any other statements that may be construed as predictions of future performance or events are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. We will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures, which are provided for informational purposes and should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, GAAP results. With that said, I'll turn the call over to our founder Ryan Bell-Byrne and our Chief Financial Officer, Steve Nur.

Thank you, Charlie. Not only has it been a pleasure getting to know you since the Newswire acquisition, but having you a part of the team and the product leadership capacity has ignited so many things that we wanted to do here for years. For those of you that do not know, along with our development team, Charlie is leading the transformation of our subscription product innovation, putting us in an amazing place not only to compete for wallet share, but also have a seat at the table and a first-to-market innovation. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today to review Access Newswire's fourth quarter and full year 2025 results. Steve and I are grateful for your continued engagement and support as we close out what has been a truly transformational year for this company. Our fourth quarter results cap off a year defined by strategic focus, operational improvement, and meaningful progress in building a subscription-first business. We deliver consistent year-over-year revenue, meaningful expansion and profitability, and continued operational discipline. all while investing in the platform innovations that position us for an exciting 2026. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.8 million, up approximately $100,000 sequentially and essentially flat year over year. Adjusted EBITDA increased slightly to $881,000 from $871,000, representing a 15% of revenue. Gross margin continued to be strong at 77%, up from 75% in the same quarter of last year. Before I hand it to Steve, I wanted to highlight a few metrics that demonstrate the continued health of our business. Total active customers grew to 12,802, up from 12,445 in Q3, and up 4% year over year. Average reoccurring revenue per subscription customer also increased year over year from 10,844 to 12,534. That's up 16% year over year. Reflecting continued upsell success and platform adoption, Looking at the prior quarter, we still saw an 8% increase in ARR sequentially. Steve will now discuss the fourth quarter and year-end in 2025 for you. Then I'd like to come back and discuss what we've been up to in Q4 and what we've been doing here in Q1 about our product enhancements and what is in store for our customers into 2026. Steve, I'll hand it over to you, sir.

Thank you, Brian, and good morning, everyone. As Brian mentioned, this has been a transformational year for us. and Q4 was another quarter of generating solid operating margins and cash flow. I will now discuss some of the details which led to these results. Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $5.8 million, a decrease of $27,000 compared to the same period of 2024, making revenue for the full year of 2025 $22.6 million, a decrease of $438,000, or 2% from $23.1 million in 2024. Core press release revenue is up approximately 2% from the same quarter of the prior year and 1% for the full year of 2025 compared to 2024. The increase for the quarter is due to higher volume. However, volume was slightly lower on a full year basis compared to the prior year. The increase in press release volume was more than offset by decreases in pro plan revenue, webcasting, and IR website revenue. Overall revenue from subscriptions increased to 53% during the quarter compared to 45% during the same quarter of the prior year. Gross margin percentages improved during the fourth quarter and full year of 2025, increasing to 77% for both periods, compared to 75% and 76% for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024, respectively. The increase in gross margin percentage is primarily due to lower headcount due to increased efficiency within our operational teams and systems, partially offset by increased distribution costs as we continue to expand our distribution footprint. Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2025 increased $107,000, or 2%, to $4.5 million, and gross margin for the full year decreased $126,000, or 1%, to $17.3 million, primarily due to the decline in revenue for the year. Moving down the income statement to operating loss, we posted an operating loss of $761,000 for the fourth quarter of 2025 and $1.9 million for the full year of 2025. compared to operating losses of $14.3 million and $16.3 million during the same periods of 2024. The primary reason for the decrease in operating loss is related to an impairment loss of $14.15 million recorded during the fourth quarter of 2024, related to reducing the estimated useful life of the Newswire trade name as a result of our rebranding during the first quarter of 2025. Removing impairment losses, total operating expenses increased $446,000, or 10%, around the fourth quarter of 2025 as compared to the same quarter of the prior year. This increase is primarily the result of a one-time cost associated with the settlement of a contract of approximately $336,000 and an increase in advertising and trade show expenses as we launched PressRelease.com and focused on our new branding. For the full year of 2025, total operating expenses decreased $674,000, or 3%, as compared to 2024, primarily due to a decrease in headcount in our sales and marketing teams earlier in the year, as well as lower product and development consulting expenses. Operating expenses for the full year of 2024 also included a benefit to stock compensation expense of $340,000 related to the resignation of an executive officer. During the fourth quarter of 2025, we recorded an impairment charge of $250,000 related to our right of use asset and leasehold improvements due to a sublease we executed in December. The execution of the sublease will save us approximately $80,000 per quarter. As previously noted, in Q4 of 2024, we recorded an impairment charge of $14.15 million associated with the Newswire trade name. On a GAAP basis, we reported a loss from continuing operations of $509,000 or 13 cents per diluted share during the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to a net loss of $11 million or $2.85 per diluted share during the fourth quarter of 2024. For the full year of 2025, net loss from continuing operations was $1.6 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $13.3 million, or $3.47 per diluted share in 2024. Again, the decrease in loss from continuing operations was primarily a result of the impairment charge recorded during the fourth quarter of 2024. There was no activity for discontinued operations during the fourth quarter of 2025, other than adjusting income tax expense related to the sale of the compliance business. During the fourth quarter of 2024, we recorded income from the compliance business of $750,000 net of taxes, which was approximately $0.19 per diluted share. For the full year of 2025, net income from discontinued operations was almost $6 million or $1.51 per diluted share, compared to $2.5 million or $0.65 per diluted share for 2024. Looking to some non-GAAP metrics, Q4 2025 EBITDA was $251,000 or 4% of revenue compared to $770,000 or 13% of revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024. Full year 2025 EBITDA was $1.3 million or 6% of revenue compared to $840,000 or 4% of revenue for 2024. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $881,000 or 15% of revenue for the fourth quarter of 2025. compared to $871,000, also 15% of revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024. And for the full year of 2025, adjusted EBITDA increased to $3.2 million, or 14% of revenue, compared to $1.8 million, or 8% of revenue in 2024. Non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $675,000, or 17 cents per diluted share, compared to $819,000, or 21 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2024. For the full year of 2025, non-GAAP net income increased to $2.2 million, or $0.57 per diluted share, compared to $720,000, or $0.19 per diluted share during the full year of 2024. Turning our attention to the cash flow statement and balance sheet, we ended the quarter with $3 million of cash on hand. Adjusted free cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $467,000, compared to $413,000 for the fourth quarter of 2024. For the full year of 2025, adjusted free cash flow was $1.3 million compared to $2.8 million during 2024. The year-to-date amount for 2025 includes over $2.2 million paid in taxes, primarily related to the sale of the compliance business, compared to only $342,000 paid during the prior year. Our deferred revenue balance, which is revenue we generally expect to recognize over the subsequent year, increased $522,000, or 11%, to $5.3 million as of December 31, 2025, compared to $4.7 million as of December 31, 2024. I will now turn it back over to Brian, who will provide some updates on the business, customers, and subscriptions, and some new product development we have planned for 2026. Brian?