Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.16 EPS

Criteo (NASDAQ:CRTO) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The information services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.16, FiscalAI reports. Criteo had a return on equity of 17.15% and a net margin of 7.52%.The business had revenue of $424.64 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $248.21 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here are the key takeaways from Criteo’s conference call:

• Criteo is pushing into agentic AI1,000 brands live; early traction shows AI-platform traffic converts ~1.5x and could open a new high-intent discovery channel and incremental budgets.
• Q1 revenue was $425M and Contribution ex-TAC $250M (media spend topped $1 billion), but Contribution ex-TAC was down 9% FX-adjusted (down low-single-digits guide for 2026) and the company pushed its return-to-growth to Q4, with Q2 guide significantly softer.
• Retail media showed strong underlying performance—Contribution ex-TAC up 24% excluding two client scope cuts—but a €75M headwind from those scope reductions is weighing on near-term results even as the business gains auction-based display adoption and renewals.
• The newly launched Criteo GO self-service platform (two-thirds of small-client U.S. campaigns now on Go) plus cross-channel and discovery capabilities aim to expand SMB addressable market and increase spend per client over time.

Criteo Stock Down 21.2%

Shares of NASDAQ CRTO traded down $4.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $15.86. The company had a trading volume of 1,350,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 203,249. The stock has a market capitalization of $790.78 million, a P/E ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.34. Criteo has a 1-year low of $15.57 and a 1-year high of $30.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $18.41 and its 200-day moving average is $19.52.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CRTO. Susquehanna set a $18.00 price target on Criteo in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $43.00 price target on Criteo in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley set a $33.00 price target on Criteo in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut Criteo from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Criteo from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.94.

Insider Activity at Criteo

In related news, Director Der Kooi Frederik Van acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.81 per share, with a total value of $89,050.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 26,600 shares in the company, valued at $473,746. This represents a 23.15% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Criteo

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Criteo by 147.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 28,334 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $679,000 after acquiring an additional 16,897 shares during the period. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Criteo during the third quarter worth $576,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Criteo during the fourth quarter worth $553,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,832 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 5,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Criteo by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 25,024 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 8,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.27% of the company’s stock.

Key Criteo News

Here are the key news stories impacting Criteo this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Criteo reported Q1 results that topped expectations: $0.73 EPS vs. $0.57 consensus and revenue of $424.6M vs. $248.2M estimate, showing an upside surprise that reflects better-than-expected performance this quarter. MarketBeat: Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Criteo repurchased $31M of shares in Q1 and reported Activated Media Spend surpassed $1B for the first time — both are shareholder-friendly developments that can support the stock over time. Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Criteo is testing/launching AI‑driven campaign pilots with dentsu, indicating ongoing product and go‑to‑market initiatives that could support future growth but are not immediate earnings drivers. CBNews: AI pilot
• Neutral Sentiment: A related announcement describes an orchestrated campaign via the MCP protocol with dentsu, underscoring partnership momentum in Europe. Viuz: MCP campaign
• Negative Sentiment: Criteo issued Q2 revenue guidance of roughly $260–$264M versus a $287.4M consensus, a material top‑line miss that signals weaker near‑term demand and drove investor concern.
• Negative Sentiment: Wells Fargo downgraded CRTO from Overweight to Equal Weight, which can prompt selling pressure from investors who follow that shop’s ratings. Finviz: Downgrade note

About Criteo

Criteo is a global technology company specializing in digital performance advertising and commerce media solutions. The company provides a range of AI-driven ad products designed to help brands, retailers, and agencies deliver personalized promotional messages to consumers across web, mobile, and connected TV environments. By leveraging large-scale data analytics and machine learning algorithms, Criteo’s platform optimizes the timing, placement, and creative of ads to drive engagement and conversions.

At the core of Criteo’s offering is its dynamic retargeting solution, which enables advertisers to automatically generate and display personalized product recommendations based on user behavior.