Gaia, Inc.

Good afternoon. Welcome to Gaia's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Joining us today from Gaia are Yerker Raisavi, Chairman, Kirsten Medvedevich, CEO, and Ed Preston, CFO. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question and answer session. Before we begin, Gaia's management team would like to remind everyone that management's prepared remarks contain forward-looking statements, and management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions, including, but not limited to, statements of expectations, future events, or future financial performance. These statements do not guarantee future performance, and therefore, a new reliance should not be placed upon them. Although we believe these expectations are reasonable, GAIA management undertakes no obligation to revise any statements to reflect changes that occur after this call. Actual events or results could differ materially. These statements are based on current expectations of the company's management and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including those identified in the risk factor section of GAIA's latest annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC. All non-GAAP financial measures referenced in today's call are reconcilable in the company's earnings press release to the most directly comparable GAAP measure. This call also contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the time and date of this broadcast, May 4, 2026. Finally, I'd like to remind everyone that the conference call is being webcast and a recording of this will be available on will be made available for replay on Gaia's investment relations website at ir.gaia.com. At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Gaia's chairman, Yurko Raisavi.

Please go ahead. Good afternoon, everyone. This first quarter marked the beginning of our deliberate refocus back to a direct member base and a pricing discipline. In March, the 15th percent price increase was implemented in about 80% of our regions for monthly members. For our annual members, the increase will be effective as a subscription renewal. During the first quarter, we delivered $1.5 million of operating and $1.1 million of free cash flow. Now, Kristen will tell you about her plan to improve both our retention and ARPU at least 20% between the fourth quarter of last year and fourth quarter of this year. Kirsten.

Thank you, Jurka. This quarter reflects an important step in Gaia's evolution as we continue to execute on a strategy centered on strengthening the quality, durability, and profitability of our membership base. After three quarters in the CEO role, I have a clear view of where Gaia's greatest opportunity lies, and I am confident the strongest path forward is to prioritize our direct relationship with members where we can deliver the full Gaia experience, deepen engagement, and capture the greatest lifetime value from our content, technology, and brand. Over the past several years, there was a meaningful focus on driving subscriber growth from third-party platforms supported by increased marketing spend and lower CPAs in those channels. While that supported top-line growth, Those members generated lower ARPU, experience higher churn, and do not have access to the core features that we believe will define Gaia's future. In addition, because those relationships sit with the platforms rather than with Gaia, we do not know who those subscribers are and have no ability to engage them directly. That is why we are prioritizing growth in direct membership, where we can deliver the full Gaia experience and drive stronger long-term economics. As a reflection of that focus, for the fourth quarter of 2026, compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, Gaia is targeting an approximate 20% reduction in churn and a 20% to 25% increase in ARPU. As a result, we are making deliberate changes to how we grow. Specifically, one, reducing our reliance on lower value third-party member acquisition, Two, taking a very disciplined approach to discounting and promotions. And three, rebuilding our direct marketing capabilities with new leadership and partners, including our recently appointed CMO, Tracy Benson, who has decades of experience scaling iconic consumer brands and high-growth companies. We also recently onboarded new agency partners across paid media and brand. These actions are intentional, and they come with a trade-off. We expect near-term pressure on revenue growth as we make this transition while still expecting growth versus last year. We are doing this because we believe these changes will materially improve the long-term economics of the business. Today our average member lifetime value exceeds $500 before reflecting the impact of our recent price increase. This is six times our current CPA of $85. We believe this is the metric that matters. Growing a high-value direct member base requires a more deliberate approach, one built on brand strength, marketing efficiency, retention, and member experience. And we are giving the organization the time and focus needed to execute that transition. Now, what gives us confidence is the strength of our existing direct member base. I've mentioned this before. Approximately 70% of our direct members have been with Gaia for more than one year. and about 40% have been with us for more than three years. This level of loyalty reinforces our belief that the direct model supports a more enduring and a more valuable business over time. This is also reflected in the broader recognition of our platform. Gaia was recently ranked the number two mindfulness and wellness app by Newsweek, which we believe speaks to the strength of our content, brand, and member experience. At the same time, we continue to invest in the core elements that define the Gaia experience, content, AI, personalization, and community. We continue to strengthen our content slate with programming that is closely aligned with the Gaia brand and the interests of our audience. Recent releases include the Monroe Institute Experience, the fourth season of Missing Links with Greg Braden, and we recently launched a new monthly live format that enables members to engage directly with their favorite Gaia hosts in real time. Additionally, Q1 has shown meaningful product improvements across our core engagement driving initiatives. These improvements are rolled out slowly and deliberately to make sure these changes are supportive to our goals. On the AI side, we have improved our model meaningfully, reducing our costs and improving the quality of responses. We are also launching AI-powered Tarot and astrology features, giving members more reasons to engage with Gaia on a daily basis. All these improvements help reinforce our direct member experience. Turning to Ignaton, we're excited that Yurka will be interviewed by Dave Asprey at the Biohacking Conference on May 28th. We believe this is an important opportunity for Yurka to discuss the Ignaton technology and broaden awareness of the brand. Now, to support our top-of-funnel Gaia marketing efforts, we have partnered with Amagi with the launch of fast channels, allowing us to introduce Gaia to new audiences through curated content experiences. We view this as a brand-building and discovery channel that ultimately drives users back to our direct platform for access to a bigger offering. Now, as we said last quarter, our goal remains to reach breakeven in the fourth quarter of this year and profitable for the year 2027. We believe that the actions we are taking today are strengthening the foundation of the business in support of that objective. Now, stepping back, we see Gaia as the intersection of several long-term shifts. More people are seeking content that supports growth, meaning, and transformation than And at the same time, they expect more personalized, interactive, and connected community experiences. We believe Gaia is uniquely positioned at that intersection. Gaia has always been for people who see the world differently, people asking deeper questions and seeking greater meaning. Our role is to help them find their why and support them on their journey. When we look ahead, we see a clear opportunity to build a stronger company one defined not just by growth, but by quality, engagement, and durability. The choices we are making today reflect that focus, and we believe they will drive more meaningful long-term value for both our members and our shareholders. Now over to Ned for the financial details.