Little Rock ad tech company Inuvo posts 70% rise in Cyber Monday revenue

Inuvo, a publicly traded advertising technology company in Little Rock, reported $470,000 in revenue generated from impressions and clicks to its ad products during Cyber Monday (Nov. 27).

The unaudited figure reflects a 70% increase over the same 24-hour period in 2016, according to the company.

Daily revenue averages during the four-day period from Black Friday through Cyber Monday were the highest in company history.

CFO Wally Ruiz said one reason the company’s ad products did well on Cyber Monday was because the shopping holiday was strong overall, with $6.6 billion in sales reported by Adobe.

“That certainly helped. The tide raises all boats,” Ruiz said.

Strong revenue also can be tied to Inuvo’s purchase of the company NetSeer in February, which resulted in a substantial increase in the amount of consumer data to which Inuvo has access.

“We have been integrating their technology into our products and services, and it delivers to advertisers and merchants very targeted audiences. We’re seeing some of the benefit of that on Cyber Monday,” he said.

A good portion of Inuvo’s revenue comes from contracts with merchants to display ads across the internet. The company gets paid by the advertiser based on the number of impressions or on consumer engagement, often with a cost per thousand clicks.

Inuvo was able to provide unaudited data shortly after the conclusion of Cyber Monday because it software keeps track of every single click and impression, Ruiz said.

In a press release, CEO Richard Howe said the company’s performance that day was in keeping with his expectations. He also pointed to Inuvo’s work in artificial intelligence as a key driver of its positive financial results.

“Our fourth quarter is usually our strongest quarter and this year appears to be no different. We are seeing strong demand across the board from advertisers. Advertising associated with our AI technology, the IntentKey, has been an important factor in our growth this year,” he said.

Revenue for the third quarter totaled $20.3 million, marking a year-over-year improvement of 16.2%, according to the company.

Inuvo was priced at $0.94 on Nov. 30.

According to Inuvo, the monthly revenue of NetSeer has doubled since Inuvo acquired the business in February.

Financial highlights as reported by Inuvo include:

• Revenue increased 16.2% to $20.3 million as compared to $17.5 million for the same period the prior year.
• Operating expenses were improved by 9.8%, from $11.6 million to $12.8 million year-over-year.
• The concentration risk associated with two large partners was reduced by 27.6% year-over-year.
• Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) totaled $253,000 as compared to $420,000 last year.
• Net loss from continuing operations was $0.03 per share compared to $0.02 net loss per share last year.
• Non-cash operating expenses were $0.04 per share totaling $1.1 million in the quarter.
• Cash balance at September 30, 2017 was $2.9 million.
• 45,900 shares of common stock were repurchased at an average price of $0.97.