MNTN (NYSE:MNTN) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results that management said reflected continued adoption of “performance TV” by small and mid-sized businesses, alongside expanding profitability metrics and a larger customer base. Executives also highlighted ongoing product initiatives centered on automation and artificial intelligence, including tools designed to shorten the time it takes advertisers to get campaigns live on connected TV (CTV).
Fourth-quarter and full-year results
CFO Chris Innes said the company delivered “strong fourth quarter results exceeding our prior revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance” and “closed out a very strong 2025.” Fourth-quarter revenue was $87.1 million, up 36% year-over-year after adjusting for the divestiture of Maximum Effort on April 1, 2025. Full-year revenue was $290.1 million, and when adjusting for the divestiture, revenue growth was 36%.
MNTN posted fourth-quarter GAAP net income of $34.5 million, or $0.47 per share. For the full year, the company reported a net loss of $6.4 million, or a GAAP loss per share of $0.13, which Innes said was “primarily due to a one-time charge of $23 million” related to the company’s initial public offering and the settlement of convertible notes in the first half of the year.
Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter was $28.1 million, up from $20.7 million in Q4 2024, with adjusted EBITDA margin increasing to 32.3% from 29.6%. Full-year adjusted EBITDA was $68.0 million, up from $38.8 million in fiscal 2024, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 23.4% from 17.2%.
Customer growth and go-to-market investment
Innes said the company ended Q4 with 3,632 active PTV customers measured over the trailing 12 months, representing 63% year-over-year growth. He noted the company has “made inroads moving down market into the SMB market opportunity,” and added that the pace of new customer onboarding is “predominantly a function of how firmly we step on the accelerator to move down market.”
Management also pointed to customer retention and expansion trends. Innes described the company’s expansion rate—measuring spend from existing customers compared with a year earlier—as “well north of 115%.”
Operating expenses totaled $50.9 million in the fourth quarter and $200.0 million for the full year. Innes said the company added headcount in sales and marketing during Q4, and those expenses were incorporated into fiscal 2026 guidance.
In response to analyst questions about the hiring, Innes said the company hired 53 people largely in November and expects them to become productive “at the end of Q1 into Q2.” He broke down the hires as follows:
- 34 roles “quoted on demos,” aimed at filling the top of the funnel for both mid-sized and small businesses
- 15 roles (10 salespeople and five customer success) that carry a sales quota and are intended to drive additional revenue from existing customers
- Four support roles
Innes also said that, despite the Q4 hiring, the company was “flat in headcount in sales and marketing from the end of 2024 to the end of 2025,” attributing the dynamic to efficiency gains and then a decision to invest to drive revenue growth.
Strategy: “performance TV” and differentiation
CEO Mark Douglas framed MNTN as a “true pure play connected TV company” focused on performance outcomes rather than brand advertising metrics such as reach and frequency. He said the company’s customers are emerging e-commerce companies and category leaders that use ads to drive “incremental revenue by reaching specific consumers.” Douglas emphasized that MNTN does not operate in the open web or retail media, and positions its offering as performance marketing applied to streaming television.
Douglas said MNTN campaigns generated over $18 billion in revenue for customers in 2025. He also argued that the company’s platform is built for ease of use, with self-service campaign creation, management, and optimization designed for small and mid-sized businesses, and supported by automation across targeting and optimization.
On competition, Douglas said the company respects competitors but believes its differentiation comes from a platform designed around performance outcomes, backed by data and models built over time. He said MNTN’s performance relies on “a history of data,” evolving from machine learning to AI models, and reiterated that “half of MNTN is engineers” to support the underlying technology.
AI initiatives: creative and media planning
Douglas highlighted AI as “an ever-expanding role” in automation and customer outcomes, pointing to MNTN Match for AI consumer targeting and QuickFrame AI for creative development. He said more than 95% of MNTN customers launched their first TV commercial on the platform and that creative production has been a key barrier for new-to-TV advertisers.
On the Q&A, Douglas said QuickFrame AI had 5,000 people on the product within the first month of release, describing it as a way to help customers “get live a lot faster” by reducing time and cost associated with developing TV commercials. He added that the product has been released for less than three months and is being improved through rapid iteration, including version updates within 60 days. Douglas also said MNTN is using the tools internally for its own advertising.
Looking ahead, Douglas said the company is working on AI media planning technology to improve where ads are placed, alongside other AI initiatives aimed at driving performance and increasing visibility and controls for customers. He also noted the company is integrated with multiple generative AI models for video and audio and uses orchestration to select different models based on scene requirements and use cases.
Measurement, inventory, and new ad units
Douglas discussed MNTN’s approach to attribution via Verified Visits, describing cross-device measurement in an environment where viewers typically cannot click a TV ad. He said the company connects viewing on a TV to actions on phones, tablets, and computers using an identity graph and multiple data integration partnerships. Douglas added that MNTN also sends data to “approximately 11 other attribution platforms,” and referenced customer use of tools such as mixed modeling, multi-touch attribution, and Google Analytics to assess performance across channels.
On inventory access and partnerships, Douglas said the company is “very bullish” on an expanded partnership with Magnite, citing Pause Ads, live sports, and other premium content. He also clarified that while MNTN has direct deals with networks on items such as availability and pricing, inventory still arrives through programmatic auctions run by supply-side platforms (SSPs) such as Magnite; in his words, MNTN is buying “from the network,” while Magnite functions as a “technology partner.”
Regarding Pause Ads, Douglas said the ad unit was introduced in Q4 and continues into Q1, but that it is still early to judge performance because volume is not yet high enough to form a full conclusion. He said customers are excited by the format and the company expects increased demand as the streaming TV industry continues to innovate with new ad units.
2026 outlook and long-term margin targets
For Q1 2026, Innes said MNTN expects revenue of $71.3 million to $73.3 million, representing 22.3% year-over-year growth at the midpoint when normalizing for the Maximum Effort divestiture. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $13 million to $14 million, which Innes said reflects continued leverage as the business scales alongside disciplined investment and added sales resources.
For full-year 2026, the company guided to revenue of $345 million to $355 million, representing 22.9% year-over-year growth at the midpoint when normalizing for the divestiture. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $94.6 million to $99.6 million.
Innes said MNTN ended the quarter with $210 million in cash and cash equivalents and no borrowings outstanding, with 73.9 million shares outstanding. In response to a question on long-term profitability, he reiterated management’s targets of 75% to 80% gross margin and 35% to 40% adjusted EBITDA margin.
About MNTN (NYSE:MNTN)
MNTN is a software platform specializing in connected television (CTV) advertising, offering marketers the tools to plan, launch and measure streaming TV campaigns. Its platform enables brands to reach audiences across major OTT and CTV channels, helping advertisers target viewers based on demographic, behavioral and contextual data.
The company’s core product suite includes campaign management, real-time bidding and performance analytics. MNTN integrates with leading streaming services and ad exchanges, allowing clients to execute programmatic buys, track view-through conversions and optimize media spend through automated reporting dashboards.
Founded by experienced digital advertising professionals, MNTN is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and primarily serves brands and agencies across the United States and Canada.
