Release – Direct Digital Holdings to Report First Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

April 20, 2023 9:00am EDTDownload as PDF

HOUSTON, April 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRCT) (“Direct Digital Holdings” or the “Company”), a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC (“Colossus SSP”), Huddled Masses LLC (“Huddled Masses”) and Orange142, LLC (“Orange142”), today announced that the Company will report financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 ended March 31, 2023 on Thursday, May 11, 2023 after the U.S. stock market closes. Management will host a conference call and webcast on the same day at 5:00 PM ET to discuss the results.

The live webcast and replay can be accessed at https://ir.directdigitalholdings.com/.

About Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions manage over 100,000 clients monthly, generating over 100 billion impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels. Direct Digital Holdings is the ninth black-owned company to go public in the U.S and was named a top minority-owned business by The Houston Business Journal.

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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released April 20, 2023

Release – Direct Digital Holdings Announces Upward Revision of Previously Published FY 2022 Earnings Press Release

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

April 17, 2023 5:19pm EDT

Revision Reflects an Increase of Revenue at the Company’s Colossus SSP Subsidiary for FY 2022

Results in Full-Year Revenue of $89.4 Million, or EPS of $0.33

HOUSTON, April 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRCT) (“Direct Digital Holdings” or the “Company”), a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC (“Colossus SSP”), Huddled Masses LLC (“Huddled Masses”) and Orange142, LLC (“Orange142”), today announced an upward revision of the preliminary financial results originally published in its March 23, 2023 press release.

These financial results, which are reflected in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC today, resulted in an increase in revenues of $1.3 million over the previously published preliminary results, which increased net income to $4.2 million and increased EPS to $0.33 per share for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2022.

The updated amounts have no effect upon the cash flows for the affected periods, and will not affect forward revenue guidance for 2023 of $118 million to $122 million as issued on March 23, 2023.

About Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions manage approximately 90,000 clients monthly, generating over 100 billion impressions per month across display, video, CTV, in-app and other media channels. Direct Digital Holdings is the ninth black-owned company to go public in the U.S and was named a top minority-owned business by The Houston Business Journal.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and which are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties.

As used below, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Company. We use words such as “could,” “would,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “expect,” “likely,” “believe,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project” and other similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, but not all forward-looking statements include these words. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements.

All of our forward-looking statements involve estimates and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience and our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, many factors could affect our actual operating and financial performance and cause our performance to differ materially from the performance expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: our dependence on the overall demand for advertising, which could be influenced by economic downturns; any slow-down or unanticipated development in the market for programmatic advertising campaigns; the effects of health epidemics; operational and performance issues with our platform, whether real or perceived, including a failure to respond to technological changes or to upgrade our technology systems; any significant inadvertent disclosure or breach of confidential and/or personal information we hold, or of the security of our or our customers’, suppliers’ or other partners’ computer systems; any unavailability or non-performance of the non-proprietary technology, software, products and services that we use; unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry, particularly concerns regarding data privacy and security relating to our industry’s technology and practices, and any perceived failure to comply with laws and industry self-regulation; restrictions on the use of third-party “cookies,” mobile device IDs or other tracking technologies, which could diminish our platform’s effectiveness; any inability to compete in our intensely competitive market; any significant fluctuations caused by our high customer concentration; our limited operating history, which could result in our past results not being indicative of future operating performance; any violation of legal and regulatory requirements or any misconduct by our employees, subcontractors, agents or business partners; any strain on our resources, diversion of our management’s attention or impact on our ability to attract and retain qualified board members as a result of being a public company; our dependence, as a holding company, of receiving distributions from Direct Digital Holdings, LLC to pay our taxes, expenses and dividends; and other factors and assumptions discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” and other sections of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that we make from time to time. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of these assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual operating and financial performance may vary in material respects from the performance projected in these forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances, and we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released April 17, 2023

Release – Direct Digital Holdings to Present at the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023 on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 & 1×1 Meetings on Thursday, April 27, 2023

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

April 17, 2023 9:00am EDT

HOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / April 17, 2023 / Direct Digital Holdings, Inc (Nasdaq:DRCT) (“Direct Digital Holdings” or the “Company”) , a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC (“Colossus SSP”), Huddled Masses LLC (“Huddled Masses”) and Orange142, LLC (“Orange142”), today announced that it will be presenting at the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023 on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at 2:30PM (Local Time – PST). President & Co-Founder of Direct Digital Holdings, Keith Smith, and Chief Financial Officer of Direct Digital Holdings, Susan Echard, will be hosting the presentation and answering questions at the conclusion. The Company will also be hosting 1×1 meetings on Thursday, April 27, 2023.

To access the live presentation, please use the following information:

Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023

Date: Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Time: 5:30 PM Eastern Time (2:30 PM Pacific Time)

Direct Digital Holdings continues to demonstrate robust financial performance, significant operational expansion and continued gains in market share as it capitalizes on strong macroeconomics tailwinds in digital advertising and media. The Company continues to implement strategic growth initiatives to position the Company to continue to deliver high-quality, technology-led digital advertising solutions to its expanding customer network. Direct Digital Holdings is the ninth black-owned company to go public in the U.S. and is pioneering the AdTech space as a leader in programmatic advertising leveraging its technology and strategy to focus on reaching consumers and publishers in mid-sized and multicultural markets. The Company recently released a whitepaper conducted by Horowitz research that garnered key insights into the importance on effectively engaging with diverse communities and media properties.

If you would like to book 1×1 investor meetings with Direct Digital Holdings, and to attend the Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023, please make sure you are registered here: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/signup

1×1 meetings will be scheduled and conducted in person at the conference venue in LAS VEGAS.

The Planet MicroCap Showcase: VEGAS 2023 website is available here: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/

News Compliments of Accesswire

About Direct Digital Holdings

Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions manage approximately 90,000 clients monthly, generating over 100 billion impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels. Direct Digital Holdings is the ninth black-owned company to go public in the U.S and was named a top minority-owned business by The Houston Business Journal.

About Planet MicroCap

Planet MicroCap is a global multimedia financial news, publishing and events company focused on news dissemination, providing information, data and analytics for the MicroCap investing community. We have cultivated an active and engaged audience of folks that are interested in learning about and to stay ahead of the curve in the MicroCap space.

If you would like to attend the Planet MicroCap Showcase, please register here: https://planetmicrocapshowcase.com/signup

Contact:

Name: Brett Milotte, ICR for Direct Digital Holdings
Email: Brett.Milotte@icrinc.com

SOURCE: Direct Digital Holdings via SNN Network



View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/749444/Direct-Digital-Holdings-to-Present-at-the-Planet-MicroCap-Showcase-VEGAS-2023-on-Wednesday-April-26-2023-1×1-Meetings-on-Thursday-April-27-2023

Released April 17, 2023

Twitter is Now Seated with eTORO, Which is a Breakthrough Expansion for Both

Image Credit: Web Summit (Flickr)

Elon Musk Announces New Financial Functionality on Twitter

Starting today, Twitter will provide tweeters the ability to buy and sell stocks and crypto on its platform via eTORO. Twitter owner, Elon Musk has been indicating he intends to turn the popular micro-blogging platform into a “super app.” Today’s move shows substantial headway in allowing financial transactions to be conducted on the social media platform. Other company goals since Musk’s purchase of the company include ride hailing, and attracting video influencers that may be disenchanted with YouTube restrictions on speech.  

What Will the Twitter eTORO Partnership Provide?

Founded in 2007, eTORO has become one of the largest social investment networks and trading platforms. According to its website, it is “built on social collaboration and investor education: a community where users can connect, share, and learn.”

Twitter will partner with the platform to allow users (known as tweeters and Twitterers) to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies as part of a deal with the social investing company.

This partnership will provide access to view charts and trade stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other investment assets from eToro via its mobile platform. Together this significantly expands real-time trading data available to users who already have access on Twitter to real-time data, however this arrangement adds all the bells and whistles a modern trading app can provide.

Twitter will be expanding its use of cashtags as well. Twitter added pricing data for $Cashtags (company ticker preceded by “$”) in December 2022. Since January, there have been more than 420 million searches using Cashtags – the number of searches averages 4.7 million a day.

eToro CEO Yoni Assia told CNBC the deal will help better connect the two brands, adding that in recent years its users have increasingly turned to Twitter to “educate themselves about the markets.”

Assia said there is a great deal of “very high quality” content available in real-time and that the partnership with Twitter will help eToro expand to reach new audiences tapping this as a source of information.

Update on Elon

After Musk’s purchase of Twitter, many advertisers stepped back and watched to see how far the company would go to allow less moderated interaction. On Wednesday (April 12) Musk said that “almost all” advertisers had returned to the app. However, Stellantis and Volkswagen, two large competitors with Musk run Tesla, said they do not yet plan to resume advertising.

Musk told a Morgan Stanley conference last month he wants Twitter to become “the biggest financial institution in the world.” This begs those that follow Musk to ask, “Why stop there, why not include Mars?”

What Else

Be sure to follow Channelchek on Twitter (@channelchek) to stay up to date on market insights, news, videos, and of course, top-tier investment analyst research on small and microcap opportunities.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

Sources

https://www.etoro.com/en-us/about/

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/13/twitter-to-let-users-access-stocks-crypto-via-etoro-in-finance-push.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.apple.UIKit.activity.PostToTwitter

https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/04/13/twitter-will-let-users-buy-stocks-and-crypto-as-elon-musk-pushes-for-everything-app/?sh=332662a26882

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2023-03-07/elon-musk-speaks-at-morgan-stanley-conference

Release – QuoteMedia Announces 16% Revenue Growth for 2022

Research News and Market Data on QMCI

PHOENIX, March 31, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — QuoteMedia, Inc. (OTCQB: QMCI), a leading provider of market data and financial applications, announced financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

QuoteMedia provides banks, brokerage firms, private equity firms, financial planners and sophisticated investors with a more economical, higher quality alternative source of stock market data and related research information. We compete with several larger legacy organizations and a modest community of other smaller companies. QuoteMedia provides comprehensive market data services, including streaming data feeds, on-demand request-based data (XML/JSON), web content solutions (financial content for website integration) and applications such as Quotestream Professional desktop and mobile.

Highlights for fiscal 2022 include the following:

  • Annual revenue increased to $17,527,605 in 2022 from $15,174,372 in 2021, an increase of $2,353,233 (16%).
  • Net income for 2022 was $444,470 compared to $212,372 in 2021, an improvement in profitability of $232,098.
  • Adjusted EBITDA for 2022 was $2,727,411 compared to $1,649,679 in 2021, an improvement of $1,077,732.

“This was another very successful year for QuoteMedia,” said Robert J. Thompson, Chairman of the Board. “We continued our strong growth across virtually every success metric, including revenue growth, profitability and market share; and we expect to continue on this trajectory through the coming year.

“2022 marked the signing and launch of major multi-year agreements with two of Canada’s largest banking institutions, as well as large-scale agreements with several other multi-national financial firms. We also have many new and exciting opportunities for 2023, as we are currently in negotiations with several large firms. As a result, we expect our revenue growth in fiscal 2023 to match or exceed the annual revenue growth we achieved in 2022; and we expect to significantly improve upon our net income figure as well.

“2022 was also significant because, as a result of the efforts and investments we made to improve our infrastructure, security, and business continuity management, we achieved our SOC2 Type II certification. SOC2 accreditation provides independent assurance that Quotemedia maintains a high level of information security, data integrity and business resiliency. This certification allows QuoteMedia to make even greater gains, as SOC2 accreditation is increasingly becoming an absolute requirement for those providing services to large financial institutions, and we are already experiencing the benefits.

“Our growth in revenue and market share has been fueled by our development of exciting new data applications and products, as well as the expansion of our global market coverage, and this will definitely continue throughout 2023 and beyond. We are looking forward to continued success in the years to come.”

QuoteMedia will host a conference call Monday, April 3, 2023 at 2:00 PM Eastern Time to discuss the 2022 financial results and provide a business update.

Conference Call Details:

Date: April 3, 2023

Time: 2:00 PM Eastern

Dial-in number: 800-245-3047

Conference ID: QUOTEMEDIA

An audio rebroadcast of the call will be available later at: www.quotemedia.com

About QuoteMedia

QuoteMedia is a leading software developer and cloud-based syndicator of financial market information and streaming financial data solutions to media, corporations, online brokerages, and financial services companies. The Company licenses interactive stock research tools such as streaming real-time quotes, market research, news, charting, option chains, filings, corporate financials, insider reports, market indices, portfolio management systems, and data feeds. QuoteMedia provides industry leading market data solutions and financial services for companies such as the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, TMX Group (TSX Stock Exchange), Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), London Stock Exchange Group, FIS, U.S. Bank, Bank of Montreal (BMO), Broadridge Financial Systems, JPMorgan Chase, Scotiabank, CI Financial, Canaccord Genuity Corp., Hilltop Securities, Avantax, Stockhouse, Zacks Investment Research, General Electric, Boeing, Bombardier, Telus International, Business Wire, PR Newswire, The Goldman Sachs Group, Regal Securities, ChoiceTrade, Cetera Financial Group, Dynamic Trend, Inc., Credential Qtrade Securities, CNW Group, iA Private Wealth, Ally Invest, Inc., Suncor, Leede Jones Gable, Firstrade Securities, Charles Schwab, First Financial, Equisolve, Stock-Trak, Mergent, Cision and others. Quotestream®, QMod™ and Quotestream Connect™ are trademarks of QuoteMedia. For more information, please visit www.quotemedia.com .

Statements about QuoteMedia’s future expectations, including future revenue, earnings, and transactions, as well as all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. QuoteMedia intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbors created thereby. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that are identified from time to time in the Company’s SEC reports and filings and are subject to change at any time. QuoteMedia’s actual results and other corporate developments could differ materially from that which has been anticipated in such statements.

Below are the specific forward-looking statements included in this press release:

  • We also have many new and exciting opportunities for 2023, as we are currently in negotiations with several large firms. As a result, we expect our revenue growth in fiscal 2023 to match or exceed the annual revenue growth we achieved in 2022; and we expect to significantly improve upon our net income figure as well.

QuoteMedia Investor Relations

Brendan Hopkins
Email: investors@quotemedia.com
Call: (407) 645-5295

Note 1 on Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We believe that Adjusted EBITDA, as a non-GAAP pro forma financial measure, provides meaningful information to investors in terms of enhancing their understanding of our operating performance and results, as it allows investors to more easily compare our financial performance on a consistent basis compared to the prior year periods. This non-GAAP financial measure also corresponds with the way we expect investment analysts to evaluate and compare our results. Any non-GAAP pro forma financial measures should be considered only as supplements to, and not as substitutes for or in isolation from, or superior to, our other measures of financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP, such as net income attributable to QuoteMedia, Inc.

We define and calculate Adjusted EBITDA as net income attributable to QuoteMedia, Inc., plus: 1) depreciation and amortization, 2) stock compensation expense, 3) interest expense, 4) foreign exchange loss (or minus a foreign exchange gain), and 5) income tax expense. We disclose Adjusted EBITDA because we believe it is a useful metric by which to compare the performance of our business from period to period. We understand that measures similar to Adjusted EBITDA are broadly used by analysts, rating agencies, investors and financial institutions in assessing our performance. Accordingly, we believe that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors. The table below provides a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income attributable to QuoteMedia, Inc., the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

QuoteMedia, Inc. Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation to Net Income

Year ended December 31,20222021
Net income$444,470$212,372
Depreciation and amortization2,121,1351,640,245
Stock-based compensation115,62531,876
Interest expense2,8182,641
Foreign exchange loss (gain)40,307(107,382)
Income tax expense3,0563,184
PPP loan forgiveness(133,257)
Adjusted EBITDA$2,727,411$1,649,679

News Provided by GlobeNewswire via QuoteMedia

A Reason for Investors to Look at the New Dynamics of Broadcast Media

Image Credit: Cottonbro Studio (Pexels)

Selling Air Time is Getting Easier for Broadcast Radio

Is broadcast radio losing its power? It doesn’t appear to be, and the medium may be of interest to investors that prefer to shy away from short-lived investment trends and instead look to more easily understood opportunities. According to the industry publication Ad Age, the industry is nearing an intersection where “18- to 49-year-olds are spending more time listening to radio than watching linear TV.” At least one large company has reworked its advertising budget to save money with the expectation of reaching more people. Is this a trend hat will grow?

Re-investing in Radio

Soap opera’s got their start nearly 100 years ago as Proctor and Gamble, manufacturer of soap and candles, created the addictive entertainment to position its product ads in front of the typical soap decision maker of the time. As TV became a fixture in households in the 1950s, P&G adapted and brought the shows and the advertising to television. Last year P&G increased its spending on traditional broadcast radio by 43%. Despite all the new advertising options available, and the ability to refine targeting, P&G has a method to their madness, and it’s worth understanding.

Why the Reversal?

Last year, in the face of rising costs, the marketing giant came under margin pressure. In an attempt to minimize price hikes and maintain old margins, they cut ad spending by 10%, with a new budget of $2.2 billion.

The CEO Jon Moeller had told P&G brand marketers to focus on how many people they reach and how often, rather than how targeted or how much they spend. Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard became focused on the effectiveness of radio, connected TV, and streaming free ad-supported TV (FAST).

Belt Tightening

Just as inflation has caused many households to be more frugal, perhaps use less expensive brands, and eat more at home, companies like P&G are finding they are taking a similar approach. And if it helps keep prices down, they can more easily retain customers and attract new ones.  

Here is some data on the extreme cost of reaching a broadcast TV audience. In the business, CPM (cost per mile) is a paid ad method where there is a certain rate for every 1000 impressions an ad receives. The CPM to reach TV audiences is as high as $35 to $65. For comparison, YouTube video CPMs range from $20 to $25, and linear TV is in the $10 to $15 range.

But radio can be bought in the $5-$6 CPM range. The targeting may not be as precise as broadcast TV or other media, but the amount spent for every 1000 impressions is a fraction of the alternatives.

Places Investors Might Explore

Other large advertisers are stepping up their radio efforts as well. Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson have started to spend more. According ad intelligence provider Vivvix. Pfizer became a top-five radio advertiser last year. They did this by more than doubling spending.

If you haven’t been following media companies, there is some acclimating to terminology, seasons, and how they profit. Two key places for information is the media report that Noble Capital Markets published late January of this year. The report which is available at this link was prepared by top analysts and discusses the recent state of radio, TV, digital media, and publishing.

A video produced just weeks before the published report by members of the same team can be helpful in providing you with insight as to one media company’s strengths over another. The video, featuring Michael Kupinski, Director of Research at Noble Capital Markets, is a half-hour full of insights. At this link.

Do you wish to hear directly from management of broadcast media companies impacted by new trends?

There are two companies that will be conducting three roadshows in Florida over the next two weeks. If you can attend, you’ll have the opportunity to hear directly from management what the future expectations are, and you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions of your own. The company names, locations and dates are available at this link, along with other scheduled roadshows.

Take Away

The most talked about stocks on the chat boards aren’t the only actionable opportunities astute investors can select from. As with all investing, growing your knowledge base can help one expand their watch-list.

P&G’s ad spend adjustment comes at a time when standard AM/FM radio has caught to and is neck and neck with linear TV (for people 18-49 in the U.S.). Radio audiences may not be growing, but they are not declining as broadcast TV audiences have – they are fairly consistent, and ad costs are a great value at a time when companies are dealing with their own increasing costs. This is getting the attention of large advertisers, and it perhaps should get the attention of investors.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

Release – QuoteMedia Achieves SOC 2 Type II Certification

Research News and Market Data on QMCI

PHOENIX, March 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — QuoteMedia, Inc. (OTCQB: QMCI), a leading provider of market data and financial applications, today announced that it has achieved SOC 2 Type II accreditation.

The SOC 2 Type II accreditation is a rigorous certification that requires companies to demonstrate their ability to securely manage customer data and protect against unauthorized access. The accreditation is awarded to companies that have implemented a comprehensive set of controls and processes to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of their services.

“We are thrilled to have achieved SOC 2 Type II accreditation, which is a testament to our commitment to providing the highest levels of security and reliability to our customers,” said Dave Shworan, CEO of QuoteMedia Ltd. “As a leading provider of financial market data and solutions, we understand the critical importance of safeguarding our customers’ data, and we take this responsibility very seriously.”

To achieve SOC 2 Type II accreditation, QuoteMedia underwent a demanding audit by an independent third-party auditor. The audit assessed the company’s controls and processes related to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. QuoteMedia’s implementation of robust controls and processes is evidence of its dedication to maintaining a secure and reliable environment for customer data.

About QuoteMedia

QuoteMedia is a leading software developer and cloud-based syndicator of financial market information and streaming financial data solutions to media, corporations, online brokerages, and financial services companies. The Company licenses interactive stock research tools such as streaming real-time quotes, market research, news, charting, option chains, filings, corporate financials, insider reports, market indices, portfolio management systems, and data feeds. QuoteMedia provides industry leading market data solutions and financial services for companies such as the Nasdaq Stock Exchange, TMX Group (TSX Stock Exchange), Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), London Stock Exchange Group, FIS, U.S. Bank, Bank of Montreal (BMO), Broadridge Financial Systems, JPMorgan Chase, Scotiabank, CI Financial, Canaccord Genuity Corp., Hilltop Securities, Avantax, Stockhouse, Zacks Investment Research, General Electric, Boeing, Bombardier, Telus International, Business Wire, PR Newswire, The Goldman Sachs Group, Regal Securities, ChoiceTrade, Cetera Financial Group, Dynamic Trend, Inc., Credential Qtrade Securities, CNW Group, iA Private Wealth, Ally Invest, Inc., Suncor, Leede Jones Gable, Firstrade Securities, Charles Schwab, First Financial, Equisolve, Stock-Trak, Mergent, Cision and others. Quotestream®, QMod™ and Quotestream Connect™ are trademarks of QuoteMedia. For more information, please visit www.quotemedia.com.

QuoteMedia Investor Relations
Brendan Hopkins
Email: investors@quotemedia.com
Call: (407) 645-5295

Real Risks to TikTok Users

Image: Congressional Hearings with Byte Dance (TikTok) CEO, C-SPAN (YouTube)

Should the US Ban TikTok? Can It? A Cybersecurity Expert Explains the Risks the App Poses

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, 2023, amid a chorus of calls from members of Congress for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned video social media app and reports that the Biden administration is pushing for the company’s sale.

The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, has banned TikTok on work-provided phones. This type of ban can be effective for protecting data related to government work.

But a full ban of the app is another matter, which raises a number of questions: What data privacy risk does TikTok pose? What could the Chinese government do with data collected by the app? Is its content recommendation algorithm dangerous? And is it even possible to ban an app?

This article was republished with permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of, Doug Jacobson, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University.

Vacuuming Up Data

As a cybersecurity researcher, I’ve noted that every few years a new mobile app that becomes popular raises issues of security, privacy and data access.

Apps collect data for several reasons. Sometimes the data is used to improve the app for users. However, most apps collect data that the companies use in part to fund their operations. This revenue typically comes from targeting users with ads based on the data they collect. The questions this use of data raises are: Does the app need all this data? What does it do with the data? And how does it protect the data from others?

So what makes TikTok different from the likes of Pokemon-GO, Facebook or even your phone itself? TikTok’s privacy policy, which few people read, is a good place to start. Overall, the company is not particularly transparent about its practices. The document is too long to list here all the data it collects, which should be a warning.

There are a few items of interest in TikTok’s privacy policy besides the information you give them when you create an account – name, age, username, password, language, email, phone number, social media account information and profile image – that are concerning. This information includes location data, data from your clipboard, contact information, website tracking, plus all data you post and messages you send through the app. The company claims that current versions of the app do not collect GPS information from U.S. users. There has been speculation that TikTok is collecting other information, but that is hard to prove.

If most apps collect data, why is the U.S. government worried about TikTok? First, they worry about the Chinese government accessing data from its 150 million users in the U.S. There is also a concern about the algorithms used by TikTok to show content.

Data in the Chinese Government’s Hands

If the data does end up in the hands of the Chinese government, the question is how could it use the data to its benefit. The government could share it with other companies in China to help them profit, which is no different than U.S. companies sharing marketing data. The Chinese government is known for playing the long game, and data is power, so if it is collecting data, it could take years to learn how it benefits China.

One potential threat is the Chinese government using the data to spy on people, particularly people who have access to valuable information. The Justice Department is investigating TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, for using the app to monitor U.S. journalists. The Chinese government has an extensive history of hacking U.S. government agencies and corporations, and much of that hacking has been facilitated by social engineering – the practice of using data about people to trick them into revealing more information.

The second issue that the U.S. government has raised is algorithm bias or algorithm manipulation. TikTok and most social media apps have algorithms designed to learn a user’s interests and then try to adjust the content so the user will continue to use the app. TikTok has not shared its algorithm, so it’s not clear how the app chooses a user’s content.

The algorithm could be biased in a way that influences a population to believe certain things. There are numerous allegations that TiKTok’s algorithm is biased and can reinforce negative thoughts among younger users, and be used to affect public opinion. It could be that the algorithm’s manipulative behavior is unintentional, but there is concern that the Chinese government has been using or could use the algorithm to influence people.

Can the Government Ban an App?

If the federal government comes to the conclusion that TikTok should be banned, is it even possible to ban it for all of its 150 million existing users? Any such ban would likely start with blocking the distribution of the app through Apple’s and Google’s app stores. This might keep many users off the platform, but there are other ways to download and install apps for people who are determined to use them.

A more drastic method would be to force Apple and Google to change their phones to prevent TikTok from running. While I’m not a lawyer, I think this effort would fail due to legal challenges, which include First Amendment concerns. The bottom line is that an absolute ban will be tough to enforce.

There are also questions about how effective a ban would be even if it were possible. By some estimates, the Chinese government has already collected personal information on at least 80% of the U.S. population via various means. So a ban might limit the damage going forward to some degree, but the Chinese government has already collected a significant amount of data. The Chinese government also has access – along with anyone else with money – to the large market for personal data, which fuels calls for stronger data privacy rules.

Are You at Risk?

So as an average user, should you worry? Again, it is unclear what data ByteDance is collecting and if it can harm an individual. I believe the most significant risks are to people in power, whether it is political power or within a company. Their data and information could be used to gain access to other data or potentially compromise the organizations they are associated with.

The aspect of TikTok I find most concerning is the algorithm that decides what videos users see and how it can affect vulnerable groups, particularly young people. Independent of a ban, families should have conversions about TikTok and other social media platforms and how they can be detrimental to mental health. These conversations should focus on how to determine if the app is leading you down an unhealthy path.

Release – Direct Digital Holdings Reports Fourth Quarter & Full-Year 2022 Financial Results

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

March 23, 2023 9:00am EDT

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Full-Year 2022 Revenue Up 131% Year-Over-Year to $88.0 Million

Fourth Quarter 2022 Revenue Up 128% to $29.4 Million

HOUSTON, March 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRCT) (“Direct Digital Holdings” or the “Company”), a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC (“Colossus SSP”), Huddled Masses LLC (“Huddled Masses”) and Orange142, LLC (“Orange142”), today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

Mark Walker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased to report that 2022, our first year as a public company, saw robust financial performance, significant operational expansion and continued gains in market share for Direct Digital Holdings. Both our quarterly and full-year results capitalized on brands and businesses moving dollars away from less efficient traditional advertising outlets towards digital media. We are expecting strong double-digit percentage revenue growth in FY 2023 across both our sell- and buy-side business segments as we further drive customer adoption of our digital advertising solutions.”

Keith Smith, President, added, “Our fourth quarter and full-year 2022 performance, particularly during a difficult macroeconomic environment, is a testament to our market-leading approach working with middle market and multicultural audiences. Looking ahead, we are excited to continue scaling across these fast-growing and underrepresented communities from a position of financial strength, which we expect will give us a significant competitive advantage for sustainable, long-term growth.”

Fourth Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights:

  • Revenue was $29.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of $16.5 million, or 128% over the $12.9 million in the same period of 2021.
    • Sell-side advertising segment revenue grew to $22.3 million and contributed $15.6 million of the increase, or 231% growth over the $6.7 million of sell-side revenue in the same period of 2021.
    • Buy-side advertising segment revenue grew to $7.1 million and contributed $0.9 million of the increase, or 15% growth over the $6.2 million of buy-side revenue in the same period of 2021.
  • Operating income was $1.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to $1.3 million in the same period of 2021. 
  • Net income was $0.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a net loss of $2.1 million in the same period of 2021.
  • Adjusted EBITDA(1) was $1.8 million in the fourth quarter 2022, compared to $1.8 million in the same period of 2021.

Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Highlights:

  • Revenue in fiscal year 2022 was $88.0 million, an increase of $49.9 million, or 131%, over the $38.1 million in fiscal year 2021.
    • Sell-side advertising segment ended the year at $58.7 million in revenue and contributed $46.7 million of the increase, or 389% growth over the $12.0 million of sell-side revenue in fiscal year 2021.
    • Buy-side advertising segment ended the year at $29.3 million in revenue and contributed $3.2 million of the increase, or 12% growth over the $26.1 million of buy-side revenue in fiscal year 2021.
  • Operating income increased $2.3 million, or 52%, to $6.7 million for 2022 compared to operating income of $4.4 million for 2021.
  • Operating income for the buy-side and sell-side advertising segments combined totaled $14.0 million, an increase of $7.1 million, or 102%, compared to $6.9 million for 2021.
  • Net income for 2022 was $2.9 million, compared to a net loss of $1.5 million in 2021.
  • Adjusted EBITDA(1) for 2022 was $8.8 million, compared to $6.4 million for 2021.
  • Cash and accounts receivable balances as of December 31, 2022 were $29.1 million compared to $12.6 million as of December 31, 2021.

As previously disclosed, on January 9, 2023, the Company entered into a Loan and Security Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank which provides for a revolving credit facility (the “Credit Facility”). As the Company had not yet drawn any amounts under the Credit Facility, the Company issued a notice of termination of the Loan and Security Agreement and is in the process of terminating the Credit Facility. The Company has received a consent to terminate the Credit Facility and a waiver of the terms relating to the Credit Facility under its Term Loan and Security Agreement, dated as of December 3, 2021, with Lafayette Square Loan Servicing, LLC.

Based on our expectations of cash flows from operations and the available cash held, we believe that we will have sufficient cash resources to finance our operations and service any debt obligations until at least the end of fiscal year 2023.

Business Highlights

  • For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2022, Direct Digital Holdings processed approximately 132 billion monthly impressions through its sell-side advertising segment, an increase of 81% over the same period of 2021, with over 833 billion bid requests for the quarter.
  • In addition, the Company’s sell-side advertising platforms received over 17 billion bid responses in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of over 25% over the same period in 2021, through 170,000 buyers for the quarter, which equates to a 109% increase over the same period in 2021.
  • The Company’s buy-side advertising segment served approximately 218 customers in the fourth quarter of 2022, an increase of 7% compared to the same period of 2021.

Financial Outlook

Assuming the U.S. economy does not experience any major economic conditions that deteriorate or otherwise significantly reduce advertiser demand, we estimate the following: 

  • For fiscal year 2023, we expect revenue to be in the range of $118 million to $122 million, or 36% year-over-year growth at the mid-point.

“As we enter into our second year as a public company, we remain disciplined in our strategic organic growth initiatives, continue to focus on increasing EBITDA and aim to provide maximum value for our shareholders,” commented Susan Echard, Chief Financial Officer.

Conference Call and Webcast Details

Direct Digital will host a conference call on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the Company’s fourth quarter and full-year financial results. The live webcast and replay can be accessed at https://ir.directdigitalholdings.com/. Please access the website at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those who cannot access the webcast, a replay will be available at https://ir.directdigitalholdings.com/ for a period of twelve months.

Footnote

(1) “Adjusted EBITDA” is a non-GAAP financial measure. The section titled “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below describes our usage of non-GAAP financial measures and provides reconciliations between historical GAAP and non-GAAP information contained in this press release.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and which are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties.

As used below, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Company. We use words such as “could,” “would,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “expect,” “likely,” “believe,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project” and other similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, but not all forward-looking statements include these words. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements.

All of our forward-looking statements involve estimates and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience and our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, many factors could affect our actual operating and financial performance and cause our performance to differ materially from the performance expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: our dependence on the overall demand for advertising, which could be influenced by economic downturns; any slow-down or unanticipated development in the market for programmatic advertising campaigns; the effects of health epidemics; operational and performance issues with our platform, whether real or perceived, including a failure to respond to technological changes or to upgrade our technology systems; any significant inadvertent disclosure or breach of confidential and/or personal information we hold, or of the security of our or our customers’, suppliers’ or other partners’ computer systems; any unavailability or non-performance of the non-proprietary technology, software, products and services that we use; unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry, particularly concerns regarding data privacy and security relating to our industry’s technology and practices, and any perceived failure to comply with laws and industry self-regulation; restrictions on the use of third-party “cookies,” mobile device IDs or other tracking technologies, which could diminish our platform’s effectiveness; any inability to compete in our intensely competitive market; any significant fluctuations caused by our high customer concentration; our limited operating history, which could result in our past results not being indicative of future operating performance; any violation of legal and regulatory requirements or any misconduct by our employees, subcontractors, agents or business partners; any strain on our resources, diversion of our management’s attention or impact on our ability to attract and retain qualified board members as a result of being a public company; our dependence, as a holding company, of receiving distributions from Direct Digital Holdings, LLC to pay our taxes, expenses and dividends; and other factors and assumptions discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” and other sections of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that we make from time to time. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of these assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual operating and financial performance may vary in material respects from the performance projected in these forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in this Current Report on Form 8-K to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances, and we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

About Direct Digital Holdings

Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses, and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions manage approximately 90,000 clients monthly, generating over 100 billion impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app and other media channels. Direct Digital Holdings is the ninth black-owned company to go public in the U.S and was named a top minority-owned business by The Houston Business Journal. 

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In addition to our results determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), including, in particular operating income, net cash provided by operating activities, and net income, we believe that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), as adjusted for stock compensation expense, forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program loans, gain from revaluation and settlement of seller notes and earnout liability, loss on early extinguishment of debt, and loss on early redemption of non-participating preferred units (“Adjusted EBITDA”), a non-GAAP financial measure, is useful in evaluating our operating performance. The most directly comparable GAAP measure to Adjusted EBITDA is net income (loss).

In addition to operating income and net income, we use Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of operational efficiency. We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure is useful to investors for period-to-period comparisons of our business and in understanding and evaluating our operating results for the following reasons:

  • Adjusted EBITDA is widely used by investors and securities analysts to measure a company’s operating performance without regard to items such as depreciation and amortization, interest expense, provision for income taxes, and certain one-time items such as acquisition transaction costs and gains from settlements or loan forgiveness that can vary substantially from company to company depending upon their financing, capital structures and the method by which assets were acquired;
  • Our management uses Adjusted EBITDA in conjunction with GAAP financial measures for planning purposes, including the preparation of our annual operating budget, as a measure of operating performance and the effectiveness of our business strategies and in communications with our board of directors concerning our financial performance; and
  • Adjusted EBITDA provides consistency and comparability with our past financial performance, facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, and also facilitates comparisons with other peer companies, many of which use similar non-GAAP financial measures to supplement their GAAP results.

Our use of this non-GAAP financial measure has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our financial results as reported under GAAP. The following table presents a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss) for each of the periods presented:

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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released March 23, 2023

Release – Direct Digital Holdings Expands Executive Team

Research News and Market Data on DRCT

March 20, 2023 9:00am EDT

Global Marketing Expert Calvin Scharff of Pixalate Joins as Group’s Vice President of Marketing

Information Systems Specialist Michael Ivancic, formerly of EMX, Named Head of Product

HOUSTON, March 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Direct Digital Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRCT) (“Direct Digital Holdings” or the “Company”), a leading advertising and marketing technology platform operating through its companies Colossus Media, LLC (“Colossus SSP”), Huddled Masses LLC (“Huddled Masses”) and Orange142, LLC (“Orange142”), today announced that two digital media executives will be joining the Company in key roles. Calvin Scharff, who most recently served as Vice President of Global Marketing at Pixalate, is joining as the Company’s first Vice President of Marketing. In tandem, Michael Ivancic, who was previously Product Director of the Exchange at EMX by Big Village, is coming on board in a newly created position, as Direct Digital Holdings’ Head of Product.

“As Direct Digital Holdings and our operating companies continue on a growth trajectory, it is critical to attract top talent into the fold to drive our business further ahead,” said Mark D. Walker, CEO and Co-Founder of Direct Digital Holdings.

While at Pixalate, Calvin Scharff led the release of an industry-first Publisher Trust Index indexing 80 million+ websites, 8 million+ mobile apps, and 60,000+ CTV apps, driving trust and openness to the programmatic ecosystem. He was also responsible for building closed-loop marketing systems that relied on data and insights to successfully improve ROI. Before that, he was Vice President of Product Marketing at OpenX.

In his new post, Scharff will be overseeing the development and implementation of digital marketing and digital lead generation strategies in support of the corporate and business development objectives of Direct Digital Holdings and its subsidiaries. He will be reporting to the Company’s Chief Growth Officer, Maria Vilchez Lowrey.

“With Direct Digital Holdings serving both the buy- and sell-sides of the programmatic ecosystem, our marketing needs to address a multitude of stakeholders,” said Vilchez Lowrey. “Calvin’s track record in leading successful marketing efforts across the digital media landscape will be invaluable as we maximize multichannel marketing efforts to drive customer acquisition and retention.”

At EMX by Big Village, Michael Ivancic owned and developed the product roadmap and strategy for the advertising exchange, programmatic integrations (both supply- and demand-side), Prebid header-bidding adapter, identity solutions, first-party and third-party targeting and internal tooling. Prior, he served as Engineering Manager at Synacor, Inc. and earlier in his career, he held product and development positions at Adiant and Seevast, Inc.

As Head of Product at Direct Digital Holdings, Ivancic will be responsible for creating and implementing product strategy for buy-side and supply-side initiatives. He will report to Anu Pillai, Chief Technology Officer for the Company.

“Michael has a strong background in overseeing a management portfolio of products and a deep understanding of the evolving role that data and audience play in the programmatic market,” said Pillai. “He is going to be a tremendous asset as we drive productization within our various companies to successfully meet the needs of both the buy- and sell-side.”

About Direct Digital Holdings
Direct Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: DRCT), owner of operating companies Colossus SSP, Huddled Masses and Orange 142, brings state-of-the-art sell- and buy-side advertising platforms together under one umbrella company. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell-side platform, Colossus SSP, offers advertisers of all sizes extensive reach within general market and multicultural media properties. The company’s subsidiaries Huddled Masses and Orange142 deliver significant ROI for middle market advertisers by providing data-optimized programmatic solutions at scale for businesses in sectors that range from energy to healthcare to travel to financial services. Direct Digital Holdings’ sell- and buy-side solutions manage approximately 90,000 clients monthly, generating over 100 billion impressions per month across display, CTV, in-app, and other media channels. Direct Digital Holdings is the ninth Black-owned company to go public in the U.S and was named a top minority-owned business by The Houston Business Journal.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and which are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties.

As used below, “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Direct Digital Holdings. We use words such as “could,” “would,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “expect,” “likely,” “believe,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project” and other similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, but not all forward-looking statements include these words. All statements contained in this release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements.

All of our forward-looking statements involve estimates and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of our industry experience and our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, many factors could affect our actual operating and financial performance and cause our performance to differ materially from the performance expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: our dependence on the overall demand for advertising, which could be influenced by economic downturns; any slow-down or unanticipated development in the market for programmatic advertising campaigns; the effects of health epidemics, such as the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic; operational and performance issues with our platform, whether real or perceived, including a failure to respond to technological changes or to upgrade our technology systems; any significant inadvertent disclosure or breach of confidential and/or personal information we hold, or of the security of our or our customers’, suppliers’ or other partners’ computer systems; any unavailability or non-performance of the non-proprietary technology, software, products and services that we use; unfavorable publicity and negative public perception about our industry, particularly concerns regarding data privacy and security relating to our industry’s technology and practices, and any perceived failure to comply with laws and industry self-regulation; restrictions on the use of third-party “cookies,” mobile device IDs or other tracking technologies, which could diminish our platform’s effectiveness; any inability to compete in our intensely competitive market; any significant fluctuations caused by our high customer concentration; any violation of legal and regulatory requirements or any misconduct by our employees, subcontractors, agents or business partners; any strain on our resources, diversion of our management’s attention or impact on our ability to attract and retain qualified board members as a result of being a public company; our dependence, as a holding company, of receiving distributions from Direct Digital Holdings, LLC to pay our taxes, expenses and dividends; and other factors and assumptions discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” and other sections of our filings with the SEC that we make from time to time. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should any of these assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual operating and financial performance may vary in material respects from the performance projected in these forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained in this release to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances, and we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

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SOURCE Direct Digital Holdings

Released March 20, 2023

Release – Harte Hanks Grows Annual Revenue, Increases Profitability and Ends 2022 with Strengthened Balance Sheet

Research News and Market Data on HHS

Company Expects Continued Revenue and EBITDA Growth in 2023

CHELMSFORD, MA / ACCESSWIRE / March 7, 2023 / Harte Hanks, Inc. (NASDAQ:HHS), a leading global customer experience company focused on bringing companies closer to customers for 100 years, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year period ended December 31, 2022. The results include one month of contribution from the acquisition of InsideOut Solutions in 2022, with no contribution in 2021. In addition, the results reflect the impact of the repurchase of all the Company’s outstanding Series A Convertible Preferred Shares (the “Preferred Shares”) from Wipro, LLC, the sole holder of the Preferred Shares, for a cash payment of $9.9 million, equal to the liquidation value, and 100,000 shares of Harte Hanks common stock.

Harte Hanks CEO, Brian Linscott, commented: “This was an important year for Harte Hanks, with results that reflect the successful culmination of our restructuring and the emergence of sustainable, profitable growth based on a differentiated offering and solid relationships with our top-tier customers. Our improved financial results have enabled us to materially strengthen our balance sheet. We have streamlined our capital structure by eliminating our debt and redeeming our preferred shares, thereby eliminating the dilutive effect of preferred shares going forward. Simultaneously, our pension liability was reduced by nearly $15 million, positioning us to commence the process to transfer one of our qualified pensions to a third party.”

“We have proven our operating leverage and earnings power with continued growth. Our 6% full-year revenue growth translated to a near doubling of operating income and a 75% increase in EBITDA,” concluded Linscott. “Demand for our solutions continues to grow, offsetting headwinds from the culmination of pandemic-related projects. We anticipate continued revenue and EBITDA growth for the full year of 2023, even though our first quarter results will include modest revenue growth and lower EBITDA on a year-over-year basis as result of an abnormally strong comparison period in 2022 driven by revenue mix.”

Fourth Quarter Financial Highlights

  • Revenues increased by 5.4% to $54.8 million, compared to $52.0 million in the same period in the prior year. Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2022 included approximately $1 million in revenue from InsideOut Solutions, acquired on December 1, 2022, with no contribution in the prior-year.
  • Fulfillment & Logistics Services grew 34.4%, offsetting decreases of 6.8% in Marketing Services and 12.9% in Customer Care. Customer Care decreases were largely related to the completion of pandemic-related projects.
  • Operating income of $3.4 million, compared to operating income of $2.9 million in the same period in the prior year, an increase of 19.8%.
  • Net income of $21.8 million, inclusive of a one-time $19.8 million tax benefit due to release of valuation allowance due to the expectation of sustained profitability, and $1.4 million in other expenses mainly related to pension expense and foreign currency loss. This compared to net income of $1.8 million in the same period in the prior year, which included income tax expense of $271,000.
  • Diluted EPS was $2.70 for the fourth quarter of 2022 vs. $0.20 for the same period in the prior year. The tax benefit accounted for approximately $2.62 of the current-period earnings per share.
  • EBITDA was $4.4 million compared to $3.5 million in the same period in the prior year.[1]

[1] EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. See “Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below. EBITDA is also the Company’s measure of segment profitability.

Full-Year Financial Highlights

  • Revenues increased by 6.0% to $206.3 million, compared to $194.6 million in the prior year.
  • Fulfillment & Logistics Services grew 35.6%, offsetting declines in Marketing Services of 6.1% and Customer Care of 10.0%.
  • Operating income of $15.1 million, compared to operating income of $7.6 million last year, an increase of 97.8%.
  • Net income of $36.8 million, compared to net income of $15.0 million, last year. The 2022 results included a $19.8 million tax benefit due to release of valuation allowance due to the expectation of sustained profitability, while the 2021 results included a one-time gain of $10.0 million related to the extinguishment of the Company’s PPP loan.
  • Earnings per diluted share of $4.75 compared to $1.76 per diluted share last year.
  • EBITDA 1was $17.8 million compared to $10.2 million last year.1

Segment Highlights

  • Customer Care, $16.7 million in revenue, 30% of total – Revenue decreased by 12.9%, or $2.5 million, from the prior year quarter, and year-over-year EBITDA increased by 24.4% to $3.2 million from $2.6 million. Decrease in revenue was driven by sunsetting of pandemic-related projects, but continuous improvement in retention and reduction in labor costs drove the EBITDA increase. New business wins for the quarter included:
    • A community-based health plan company selected Harte Hanks to support its members with plan related customer support. The company selected Harte Hanks to provide extended support hours for its members while maintaining its CMS 5-star rating. Harte Hanks has consistently delivered high CMS ratings for its clients through its rigorous training and certification process for employees and systems.
    • A global beverage company expanded services with Harte Hanks by extending its Customer Care solution to additional markets. The expansion allows our client to benefit from our lower cost facilities in the Philippines, while improving its customer experience with faster and easier access for support.
  • Fulfillment & Logistics Services, $24.5 million in revenue, 45% of total – Revenue increased by 34.4%, or $6.3 million, compared to the prior year quarter; and year-over-year EBITDA improved 5.9% to $2.3 million from $2.1 million. New business wins for the quarter included:
    • A growing international investment firm with approximately $30 billion of assets under management selected Harte Hanks to provide digital print and premium item fulfillment services to its brokers. Our financial services sector experience and streamlined onboarding to support a rapid pivot from a competitor were key differentiators in the selection process.
    • A leading branding company selected Harte Hanks Fulfillment to manage the production, kitting, and distribution of 250,000 makeup kits for a Fortune 200 retail partner. This partnership continues to lead to new value-added product fulfillment opportunities, unlocked by our investment in flexible, automated production lines.
  • Marketing Services, $13.6 million in revenue, 25% of total – Revenue decreased by 6.8% compared to the prior year quarterand year-over-year EBITDA decreased 18.4% to $2.1 million from $2.6 million. Decrease in revenue was driven by a reduction of Direct Mail work for clients. New business wins for the quarter included:
    • A leading premium brand retailer of Kitchen, Bath and Outdoor products selected Harte Hanks to design and execute a series of lead generation programs. Harte Hanks was chosen based on our extensive experience in retail strategy and ability to deliver a full suite of creative, data, analytics and campaign execution.
    • A leading global technology manufacturer expanded our successful B2B demand generation program into South America by utilizing Harte Hanks Audience Finder product to identify buyers with intent.

Consolidated Fourth Quarter 2022 Results

Fourth quarter revenues were $54.8 million, up 5.4% from $52.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The Company’s Fulfillment & Logistics Services segment grew, more than offsetting declines in Marketing Services and Customer Care.

Fourth quarter operating income was $3.4 million, compared to operating income of $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. The improvement resulted from the elimination of restructuring expense and higher revenues.

Net income for the quarter was $21.8 million inclusive of $19.8 million tax benefit and $1.4 million in expenses related to pension and currency loss on intercompany receivables, compared to net income of $1.8 million in the fourth quarter last year. The Company recorded an income tax benefit of $19.8 million, or approximately $2.62 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to an expense of $271,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The tax benefit in the fourth quarter of 2022 was mainly related to the release of the majority of valuation allowances due to the improved profitability of the company. Income attributable to common stockholders for the fourth quarter was $20.4 million, or $2.81 per basic and $2.70 per diluted share (based on 7.6 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding), compared to net income attributable to common shareholders of $1.4 million, or $0.20 per basic and diluted share (based on 7.3 million weighted average diluted shares outstanding) during the prior year fourth quarter. Income attributable to common stockholders was reduced by a $1.4 million one-time loss on redemption of Preferred Stock.

Full-Year 2022 Results

Revenues for 2022 were $206.3 million, up 6.0% from $194.6 million last year. Operating income was $15.1 million, compared to operating income of $7.6 million last year. Net income for the year was $36.8 million (inclusive of a $19.8 million tax benefit due to release of valuation allowance due to the expectation of sustained profitability), compared to net income of $15.0 million (inclusive of a $10.0 million gain related to the forgiveness of the Company’s PPP loan), last year. Income attributable to common stockholders for the year was $35.4 million, or $4.98 per basic share and $4.75 per fully diluted share, compared to net income attributable to common shareholders of $12.6 million, or $1.85 per basic share and $1.76 per fully diluted share.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

Harte Hanks ended the year with $10.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash, compared to $15.1 million at December 31, 2021. At December 31, 2022, the Company had nothing drawn on its line of credit, and $37.8 million in outstanding long-term pension liability. On December 31, 2021, the Company had no short-term debt, $5 million in long-term debt and $52.5 million in outstanding long-term pension liability.

During 2022, Harte Hanks has decreased outstanding debt by $5 million and redeemed its preferred shares for $9.9 million.

The company anticipates receiving a Federal income tax refund related to a net operating loss (NOL) carryback claim of $5.3 million which will further enhance liquidity.

Conference Call Information

The Company will host a conference call and live webcast to discuss these results on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. EST. Interested parties may access the webcast at https://investors.hartehanks.com/events or may access the conference call by dialing (877) 545-0523 in the United States or (973) 528-0016 from outside the U.S. and using access code 471821.

A replay of the call can also be accessed via phone through March 21, 2023 by dialing (877) 481-4010 from the U.S., or (919) 882-2331 from outside the U.S. The conference call replay passcode is 47696.

About Harte Hanks:

Harte Hanks (NASDAQ:HHS) is a leading global customer experience company whose mission is to partner with clients to provide them with CX strategy, data-driven analytics and actionable insights combined with seamless program execution to better understand, attract and engage their customers.

Using its unparalleled resources and award-winning talent in the areas of Customer Care, Fulfillment and Logistics, and Marketing Services, Harte Hanks has a proven track record of driving results for some of the world’s premier brands, including Bank of America, GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever, Pfizer, HBOMax, Volvo, Ford, FedEx, Midea, Sony and IBM among others. Headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, Harte Hanks has over 2,500 employees in offices across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

For more information, visit hartehanks.com

As used herein, “Harte Hanks” or “the Company” refers to Harte Hanks, Inc. and/or its applicable operating subsidiaries, as the context may require. Harte Hanks’ logo and name are trademarks of Harte Hanks.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Our press release and related earnings conference call contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws. All such statements are qualified by this cautionary note, provided pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements other than historical facts are forward-looking and may be identified by words such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “estimates,” “seeks,” “could,” “intends,” or words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on current information, expectations and estimates and involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to vary materially from what is expressed in or indicated by the forward-looking statements. In that event, our business, financial condition, results of operations or liquidity could be materially adversely affected and investors in our securities could lose part or all of their investments. These risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors include: (a) local, national and international economic and business conditions, including (i) the outbreak of diseases, such as the COVID-19 coronavirus, which has curtailed travel to and from certain countries and geographic regions, created supply chain disruption and shortages, disrupted business operations and reduced consumer spending, (ii) market conditions that may adversely impact marketing expenditures, (iii) the impact of the Russia/Ukraine conflict on the global economy and our business, including impacts from related sanctions and export controls and (iv) the impact of economic environments and competitive pressures on the financial condition, marketing expenditures and activities of our clients and prospects; (b) the demand for our products and services by clients and prospective clients, including (i) the willingness of existing clients to maintain or increase their spending on products and services that are or remain profitable for us, and (ii) our ability to predict changes in client needs and preferences; (c) economic and other business factors that impact the industry verticals we serve, including competition and consolidation of current and prospective clients, vendors and partners in these verticals; (d) our ability to manage and timely adjust our facilities, capacity, workforce and cost structure to effectively serve our clients; (e) our ability to improve our processes and to provide new products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner though development, license, partnership or acquisition; (f) our ability to protect our facilities against security breaches and other interruptions and to protect sensitive personal information of our clients and their customers; (g) our ability to respond to increasing concern, regulation and legal action over consumer privacy issues, including changing requirements for collection, processing and use of information; (h) the impact of privacy and other regulations, including restrictions on unsolicited marketing communications and other consumer protection laws; (i) fluctuations in fuel prices, paper prices, postal rates and postal delivery schedules; (j) the number of shares, if any, that we may repurchase in connection with our repurchase program; (k) unanticipated developments regarding litigation or other contingent liabilities; (l) our ability to complete anticipated divestitures and reorganizations, including cost-saving initiatives; (m) our ability to realize the expected tax refunds; and (n) other factors discussed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 which was filed on March 21, 2022. The forward-looking statements in this press release and our related earnings conference call are made only as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, even if new information becomes available or other events occur in the future.

Supplemental Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

The Company reports its financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). However, the Company may use certain non-GAAP measures of financial performance in order to provide investors with a better understanding of operating results and underlying trends to assess the Company’s performance and liquidity in this press release and our related earnings conference call. We have presented herein a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure.

The Company presents the non-GAAP financial measure “Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)” as a measure useful to both management and investors in their analysis of the Company’s financial results because it facilitates a period-to-period comparison of Operating Revenue and Operating Income (Loss) by excluding restructuring expense, impairment expense and stock-based compensation. The most directly comparable measure for this non-GAAP financial measure is Operating Income (Loss).

The Company presents the non-GAAP financial measure “EBITDA” as a supplemental measure of operating performance in order to provide an improved understanding of underlying performance trends. The Company defines “Adjusted EBITDA” as earnings before interest expense net, income tax expense (benefit) and depreciation expense. The most directly comparable measure for EBITDA is Net Income (Loss). We believe EBITDA is an important performance metric because it facilitates the analysis of our results, exclusive of certain non-cash items, including items which do not directly correlate to our business operations; however, we urge investors to review the reconciliation of non-GAAP EBITDA to the comparable GAAP Net Income (Loss), which is included in this press release, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate the Company’s financial performance.

The use of non-GAAP measures do not serve as a substitute and should not be construed as a substitute for GAAP performance but should provide supplemental information concerning our performance that our investors and we find useful. The Company evaluates its operating performance based on several measures, including this non-GAAP financial measures. The Company believes that the presentation of this non-GAAP financial measures in this press release and earnings conference call presentations are useful supplemental financial measures of operating performance for investors because they facilitate investors’ ability to evaluate the operational strength of the Company’s business. However, there are limitations to the use of this non-GAAP measures, including that they may not be calculated the same by other companies in our industry limiting their use as a tool to compare results. Any supplemental non-GAAP financial measures referred to herein are not calculated in accordance with GAAP and they should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for the most comparable GAAP financial measures.

EBITDA is the Company’s measure of segment profitability.

Investor Relations Contact:

Rob Fink or Tom Baumann
646.809.4048 / 646.349.6641
FNK IR
HHS@fnkir.com

Source: Harte Hanks, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/742474/Harte-Hanks-Grows-Annual-Revenue-Increases-Profitability-and-Ends-2022-with-Strengthened-Balance-Sheet

Release – Entravision Schedules Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Release And Conference Call

Research News and Market Data on EVC

03/07/2023

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Entravision (NYSE: EVC), a leading global advertising solutions, media and technology company, announced that it will release its fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results after market close on Thursday, March 9, 2023. The Company will host a conference call that day at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the fourth quarter and full year 2022 results.

To access the conference call, please dial (844) 836-8739 (U.S.) or (412) 317-5440 (International) ten minutes prior to the start time. The call will also be available via live webcast on the investor relations portion of the Company’s website located at www.entravision.com.

If you cannot listen to the conference call at its scheduled time, there will be a replay available through Thursday, March 23, 2023 which can be accessed by dialing (844) 512-2921 (U.S.) or (412) 317-6671 (International) and entering the passcode 10176187. The webcast will also be archived on the Company’s website.

About Entravision

Entravision is a leading global advertising, media and ad-tech solutions company connecting brands to consumers by representing top platforms and publishers. Our dynamic portfolio includes digital, television and audio offerings. Digital, our largest revenue segment, is comprised of four business units: our digital sales representation business; Smadex, our programmatic ad purchasing platform; our branding and mobile performance solutions business; and our digital audio business. Through our digital sales representation business, we connect global media companies such as Meta, Twitter, TikTok and Spotify with advertisers in primarily emerging growth markets worldwide. Smadex is our mobile-first demand side platform, enabling advertisers to execute performance campaigns using machine learning. We also offer a branding and mobile performance solutions business, which provides managed services to advertisers looking to connect with global consumers, primarily on mobile devices, and our digital audio business provides digital audio advertising solutions for advertisers in the Americas. In addition to digital, Entravision has 49 television stations and is the largest affiliate group of the Univision and UniMás television networks. Entravision also manages 45 primarily Spanish-language radio stations that feature nationally recognized, Emmy award-winning talent. Shares of Entravision Class A Common Stock trade on the NYSE under ticker: EVC. Learn more about our offerings at entravision.com or connect with us on LinkedIn and Facebook.

For more information, please contact:

Christopher T. Young
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Entravision
310-447-3870

Kimberly Esterkin
Addo Investor Relations
310-829-5400
evc@addo.com

Source: Entravision

Big Tech Trying to Act More Like Nimble Smaller Companies

Image Credit: Book Catalog (Flickr)

Why Meta’s Embrace of a ‘Flat’ Management Structure May Not Lead to the Innovation and Efficiency Mark Zuckerberg Seeks

Big Tech, under pressure from dwindling profits and falling stock prices, is seeking some of that old startup magic.

Meta, the parent of Facebook, recently became the latest of the industry’s dominant players to lay off thousands of employees, particularly middle managers, in an effort to return to a flatter, more nimble organization – a structure more typical when a company is very young or very small.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg joins Elon Musk and other business leaders in betting that eliminating layers of management will boost profits. But is flatter better? Will getting rid of managers improve organizational efficiency and the bottom line?

This article was republished with permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts ofAmber Stephenson, Associate Professor of Management and Director of Healthcare Management Programs, Clarkson University.

As someone who has studied and taught organization theory as well as leadership and organizational behavior for nearly a decade, I think it’s not that simple.

Resilient Bureaucracies

Since the 1800s, management scholars have sought to understand how organizational structure influences productivity. Most early scholars focused on bureaucratic models that promised managerial authority, rational decision-making and efficiency, impartiality and fairness toward employees.

These centralized bureaucratic structures still reign supreme today. Most of us have likely worked in such organizations, with a boss at the top and clearly defined layers of management below. Rigid, written rules and policies dictate how work is done.

Research shows that some hierarchy correlates with commercial success – even in startups – because adding just one level of management helps prevent directionless exploration of ideas and damaging conflicts among staff. Bureaucracies, in their pure form, are viewed as the most efficient way to organize complex companies; they are reliable and predictable.

While adept at solving routine problems, such as coordinating work and executing plans, hierarchies do less well adapting to rapid changes, such as increased competition, shifting consumer tastes or new government regulations.

Bureaucratic hierarchies can stifle the development of employees and limit entrepreneurial initiative. They are slow and inept at tackling complex problems beyond the routine.

Moreover, they are thought to be very costly. Management scholars Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini estimated in 2016 that waste, rigidity and resistance to change in bureaucratic structures cost the U.S. economy US$3 trillion in lost output a year. That is the equivalent of about 17% of all goods and services produced by the U.S. economy at the time of the study.

Even with the mounting criticisms, bureaucratic structures have shown resilience over time. “The formal managerial hierarchy in modern organizations is as persistent as are calls for its replacement,” Harvard scholars Michael Lee and Amy Edmondson wrote in 2017.

Fascinatingly Flat

Flat structures, on the other hand, aim to decentralize authority by reducing or eliminating hierarchy. The structure is harnessed to flexibility and agility rather than efficiency, which is why flat organizations adapt better to dynamic and changing environments.

Flat structures vary. Online retailer Zappos, for example, adopted one of the most extreme versions of the flat structure – known as holacracy – when it eliminated all managers in 2014. Computer game company Valve has a president but no formal managerial structure, leaving employees free to work on projects they choose.

Other companies, such as Gore Tex maker W. L. Gore & Associates and film-streaming service Netflix, have instituted structures that empower employees with wide-reaching autonomy but still allow for some degree of management.

In general, flat structures rely on constant communication, decentralized decision-making and the self-motivation of employees. As a result, flat structures are associated with innovation, creativity, speed, resilience and improved employee morale.

The promises of going flat are understandably enticing, but flat organizations are tricky to get right.

The list of companies succeeding with flat structures is noticeably short. Besides the companies mentioned above, the list typically includes social media marketing organization Buffer, online publisher Medium and tomato processing and packing company Morning Star Tomatoes.

Other organizations that attempted flatter structures have encountered conflicts between staff, ambiguity around job roles and the emergence of unofficial hierarchies – which undermines the whole point of going flat. They eventually reverted back to hierarchical structures.

“While people may lament the proliferation of red tape,” management scholars Pedro Monteiro and Paul Adler explain, “in the next breath, many complain that ‘there ought to be a rule.’”

Even Zappos, often cited as the case study for flat organizations, has slowly added back managers in recent years.

Right Tool

In many ways, flat organizations require even stronger management than hierarchical ones.

When managers are removed, the span of control for those remaining increases. Corporate leaders must delegate – and track – tasks across greater numbers of employees and constantly communicate with workers.

Careful planning is needed to determine how work is organized, information shared, conflicts resolved and employees compensated, hired and reviewed. It is not surprising that as companies grow, the complexity of bigger organizations poses barriers to flat models.

In the end, organizational structure is a tool. History shows that business and economic conditions determine which type of structure works for an organization at any given time.

All organizations navigate the trade-off between stability and flexibility. While a hospital system facing extensive regulations and patient safety protocols may require a stable and consistent hierarchy, an online game developer in a competitive environment may need an organizational structure that’s more nimble so it can adapt to changes quickly.

Business and economic conditions are changing for Big Tech, as digital advertising declines, new competitors surface and emerging technologies demand risky investments. Meta’s corporate flattening is one response.

As Zuckerberg noted when explaining recent changes, “Our management theme for 2023 is the ‘Year of Efficiency,’ and we’re focused on becoming a stronger and more nimble organization.”

But context matters. So does planning. All the evidence I’ve seen indicates that embracing flatness by cutting middle management will not, by itself, do much to make a company more efficient.