NYSE:EEX Emerald Q2 2025 Earnings Report $4.88 -0.11 (-2.10%) Closing price 08/14/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$4.89 +0.00 (+0.10%) As of 08/14/2025 04:20 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. ProfileEarnings HistoryForecast Emerald EPS ResultsActual EPS-$0.01Consensus EPS $0.01Beat/MissMissed by -$0.02One Year Ago EPS-$0.02Emerald Revenue ResultsActual Revenue$105.50 millionExpected Revenue$100.40 millionBeat/MissBeat by +$5.10 millionYoY Revenue GrowthN/AEmerald Announcement DetailsQuarterQ2 2025Date8/4/2025TimeBefore Market OpensConference Call DateMonday, August 4, 2025Conference Call Time8:30AM ETUpcoming EarningsEmerald's Q3 2025 earnings is scheduled for Thursday, October 30, 2025, with a conference call scheduled on Wednesday, October 29, 2025 at 8:30 AM ET. Check back for transcripts, audio, and key financial metrics as they become available.Conference Call ResourcesConference Call AudioConference Call TranscriptSlide DeckPress Release (8-K)Quarterly Report (10-Q)Earnings HistoryCompany ProfileSlide DeckFull Screen Slide DeckPowered by Emerald Q2 2025 Earnings Call TranscriptProvided by QuartrAugust 4, 2025 ShareLink copied to clipboard.Key Takeaways Positive Sentiment: Emerald delivered Q2 revenue of $105.5 million (vs. $86 million prior) and 59.5% adjusted EBITDA growth to $24.4 million (23.1% margin), reaffirming full-year guidance of $450–460 million in revenue and $120–125 million in adjusted EBITDA. Positive Sentiment: Strategic portfolio actions—exiting underperformers, realigning costs and acquiring This Is Beyond, InsurTech Insights and GRC World—drove approximately 5% pro forma organic growth in Q2 and strengthened high-growth verticals. Positive Sentiment: Strong early rebooking trends for 2026 and securing 99% of full-year international revenue targets, supported by nearly 100 global agents, underscore robust customer demand in key markets like Italy, Germany and Brazil. Negative Sentiment: Reported organic growth in Q3 is expected to be negative, driven by event mix and Las Vegas Convention Center construction impacting the largest show, although Q4 and full-year targets remain intact. Positive Sentiment: Emerald generated $13.8 million in free cash flow (adjusted +$17 million), maintains $266.4 million liquidity with net debt/EBITDA at 2.56×, repurchased $6.9 million in shares and declared a $0.15 dividend per share. AI Generated. May Contain Errors.Conference Call Audio Live Call not available Earnings Conference CallEmerald Q2 202500:00 / 00:00Speed:1x1.25x1.5x2xTranscript SectionsPresentationParticipantsPresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Thank you for standing by. My name is Carly, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Emerald Holdings Second Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Operator00:00:33Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Erica Bartsch, AVP EVP of Strategy and Communications at Emerald. Please go ahead. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:00:44Good morning, and welcome to the Emerald Holdings second quarter twenty twenty five earnings conference call. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this call will include certain statements that constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes remarks about future expectations, beliefs, estimates, plans and prospects. In particular, the company's statements about projected results for 2025 are forward looking statements. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such statements. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:01:25For a discussion of these risks, uncertainties and other factors, please refer to the company's SEC filings, including its most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10 ks and 10 Q as well as the company's earnings release, all of which can be found on the company's Investor Relations website. The company does not undertake any duty to update such forward looking statements. Additionally, during today's call, management will discuss non GAAP measures, which it believes can be useful in evaluating the company's performance. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with U. S. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:02:05GAAP. A reconciliation of these non GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP measures can be found in the company's earnings release, which is available on the company's Investor Relations website. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, and a replay of this call will be available on the company's Investor Relations website through 11:59 p. M. Eastern Time on 08/11/2025. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:02:27I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Herve Sedikki, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:02:34Thank you, Erica. Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today. I'll begin the call with an overview of our second quarter performance and a review of our strategic initiatives. I'll then turn things over to David Doft, our CFO, who will take us through our financials. The second quarter reflected strong disciplined execution across the portfolio with results in line with the expectations that we laid out earlier this year. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:03:01We delivered solid year over year growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA supported by the strength of our platform and the recent acquisitions. As we contemplated in our budgeting and guidance, reported organic growth was muted due to the event mix in the quarter. However, on a pro form a basis, assuming the recently completed acquisitions were part of the portfolio in the 2024, organic growth would have been approximately 5% this quarter. This is a more accurate reflection of the performance of our business as it's constituted on a go forward basis with the inclusion of these acquisitions. This offers a clearer view of the performance of the current Emerald platform and the positive underlying momentum across the portfolio. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:03:53Taken together, our results year to date reinforce Emerald's position as a scaled insights driven B2B platform and gives us confidence to reaffirm our full year outlook. The momentum we're seeing is a direct result of the deliberate actions that we've taken to reshape and strengthen our portfolio. Over the past eighteen months, we've exited underperforming assets that were not going to recover post COVID, realigned our cost structure and completed targeted acquisitions that strengthen our position in high growth verticals. As a result, Emerald has sharpened its focus and further strengthened its performance driven approach with a portfolio built for durability and growth across market cycles. This transformation is not only taking hold, but it's driving meaningful performance improvements across the business. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:04:48We're also seeing encouraging rebooking trends for the 2026, a clear signal of customer confidence in the breadth and value of our portfolio. Our solid rebook rates underscore the commercial strength of our events from qualified lead generation to business outcomes that support long term customer ROI. Exhibitors continue to reinvest because our events drive meaningful impact from enabling discovery, in person engagement and sales pipeline acceleration. Early rebooking activity highlights the resilience of our model and affirms that in person engagement remains a critical go to market channel across sectors with strong performance in both established and high growth segments. While we're pleased with our execution and continued progress, we remain closely focused on the broader macroeconomic environment, navigating these dynamics with operational discipline and strategic focus. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:05:51Certain end markets are continuing to face macro related pressures, tariffs in particular, but our diversified portfolio continues to perform well. This underscores the strength of our model and our intentional efforts to increase our exposure to categories that have resilient demand characteristics and relatively less exposure to economic ebbs and flows. Our strategic focus is also contributing to measured progress internationally. As a reminder, international exhibitors account for approximately 10% of total revenue with limited exposure to any single region. While moderately dragging overall growth, we're already we've already secured 99% of our full year international revenue target signaling sustained interest from global partners seeking access to The U. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:06:43S. Buyers and giving us confidence to deliver on our full year targets. We're seeing pockets of encouraging activity in markets like Italy, Germany and Brazil, which are helping to offset continued softness in regions like China and Canada. Much of this early progress reflects the foundation laid by our expanded global agent network, now nearly 100 agents across more than 50 countries, a long term investment we expect will yield more measurable results over time. Importantly, as more trade deals get signed and bring certainty to more industries, our belief is that this important customer segment should bounce back and continue to grow beginning next year. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:07:25In a landscape shaped by shifting trade policy, rapid technological change and rising uncertainty, the value of trusted high impact connection channels is only growing. That's why we remain confident in the resilience and relevance of live events. In person experiences consistently outperformed digital in brand recall and ROI, particularly in complex or high consideration environments. This advantage becomes even more pronounced during periods of uncertainty when businesses prioritize channels that drive measurable impact and build real trust. As Mark Cuban recently noted on his X Feed, the explosion of AI generated content is creating a vanilla effect, a growing skepticism of what's real versus what's synthetic. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:08:20In his words, this will drive people back to authenticity and heightened demand for face to face interactions that build credibility, connection and lasting value. We couldn't agree more. This conviction ultimately shapes how we operate and where we invest for long term value. Our approach remain laser focused on three core pillars of customer centricity, three sixty five day engagement and portfolio optimization. We've made great progress in our portfolio optimization efforts, where we're pursuing targeted acquisitions that diversify our offerings and expanding our presence in resilient sectors with attractive long term growth opportunities that have a demonstrated track record of delivering impactful in person B2B experiences. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:09:10Notably, our acquisitions of This Is Beyond and InsurTech Insights are already advancing our strategic priorities and contributing to growth. In June, InsurTech Insights held its U. S. Addition, drawing strong industry participation and reinforcing our position in a high growth vertical. Similarly, this is Beyond's flagship events, We Are Africa and LE Miami delivered exceptional experiences in Q2, convening a highly curated global community of luxury travel leaders. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:09:43Their focus on premium, purpose driven experiences aligns with evolving B2B customer expectations and further strengthens Emerald's position in the high growth global luxury travel market. These early performance indicators underscore the strength of our portfolio, optimization strategy and our disciplined approach to integration and value creation, leaving me energized for what's ahead. So in closing, our second quarter performance illustrates the strength and resilience of the Emerald platform. Our ability to deliver as planned, integrate value enhancing acquisitions and navigate external challenges reflects both the commitment of our team and the trust of our customers. We remain confident in our capacity to drive meaningful long term value for shareholders while continuing to deliver exceptional experiences for our customers. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:10:40And with that, I'll hand things over to David for a deeper look at our financials. David? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:10:46Thank you, Herve, and good morning. Turning to our results for the second quarter. Total revenue was $105,500,000 compared to $86,000,000 in the prior year quarter. Reported organic revenue, which excludes the impact of acquisitions, scheduling adjustments and discontinued events, was up 0.4% year over year, driven by growth in our connections business, offset by event mix in the quarter and softness in content. Specifically, we had three events that staged in Q2 twenty twenty five, but were held in a different quarter in 2024, and two events that occurred in Q2 twenty twenty four, but are scheduled for a different quarter in 2025. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:11:30As Herve noted, this does not tell the full story. We believe the most accurate view of our organic growth is on a pro form a basis, reflecting the portfolio as it actually exists today. Assuming the recently completed acquisitions were part of the portfolio in 2024, our second quarter organic growth would have been approximately plus 5% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $24,400,000 in the second quarter compared to $15,300,000 in the prior year period, an increase of 59.5%. The increase was primarily driven by higher operating income from our events and continued management of underlying costs. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:12:12This also equates to an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 23.1% for the quarter compared to 17.8% in Q2 twenty twenty four. LTM adjusted EBITDA, excluding insurance proceeds, is $123,100,000 Turning to expenses. On a reported basis, SG and A was $47,100,000 versus $39,500,000 in the prior year quarter. The year over year increase is largely due to incremental expenses from acquisitions in our Connections business and higher stock based compensation, offset by lower salary expenses in both the Content and Commerce businesses. We generated $13,800,000 in free cash flow in the second quarter as compared to July in the prior year period due to higher adjusted EBITDA in the quarter. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:13:05As was the case in the first quarter, underlying free cash flow in Q2 was stronger than reported, primarily due to the timing of recent acquisitions. Specifically, with the Business Beyond acquisition closing shortly before its major event, Most event related cash was collected prior to the transaction and flowed to Emerald through a purchase price adjustment rather than through standard receivables. As a result, those inflows are not reflected in reported free cash flow and cash from operations minus CapEx. This mirrors the dynamic we noted last quarter with InsurTech Insights, and it's important context when evaluating the free cash flow conversion and strength of our cash generation. Adjusting for these acquisition related timing effects, total free cash flow would have been $17,000,000 higher. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:13:57Also, our year to date free cash flow is similarly impacted by the acquisition of InsurTech Insights in the first quarter of this year to the tune of $3,500,000 and from $5,500,000 of fees related to our January 2025 refinancing of our debt that flows through the financials. In total, these items impacted reported year to date free cash flow by $26,000,000 Turning to the balance sheet. We had $156,400,000 in cash as of June 30 versus $276,800,000 as of March 31. This is after funding the This Is Beyond transaction, which closed in the quarter. Our total liquidity is $266,400,000 including full availability on our $110,000,000 credit facility. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:14:45As of June 30, our net debt to covenant EBITDA ratio is 2.56x, well within our sub-3x financial policy target. Our strong balance sheet and cash flow give us flexibility to invest in strategic growth and deliver long term value. As a business, we remain focused on disciplined capital deployment across M and A, organic growth, debt reduction and shareholder return. In the second quarter, we repurchased approximately 1,600,000.0 shares for $6,900,000 at an average price of $4.24 per share under our buyback program, underscoring management and the Board's conviction in Emerald's long term value. At quarter end, we had $20,800,000 remaining available under the existing repurchase authorization. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:15:31In addition, the Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, demonstrating our continued commitment to shareholder returns alongside prudent, balanced capital deployment. Finally, we remain on track for and are reaffirming our full year 2025 guidance of a range of $450,000,000 to $460,000,000 in revenue and $120,000,000 to $125,000,000 in adjusted EBITDA. In line with expectations at the start of the year, the second and third quarters are both our smallest, and we expect Q3 reported organic growth to be our weakest this year, followed by stronger reported organic growth in the fourth quarter. Given the added dynamic of the continued construction at the Las Vegas Convention Center impacting our largest Q3 event, organic growth in that quarter is expected to fall below what we reported in the second quarter, consistent with our original expectations this year. Q1 and Q4 remain our largest and strongest growth quarters. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:16:31This seasonality is fully in line with our expectations and supports the full year targets we set at the beginning of the year and targets that we are reiterating today. Our outlook also factors in potential tariff impacts. While the precise effect remains uncertain due to evolving U. S. Trade policy, our overall exposure is relatively limited. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:16:51We remain proactive, targeting growth in underpenetrated markets while preserving the agility to adapt to changing macro conditions. With that, we'll now open the call up for questions. Operator? Operator00:17:18Your first question comes from Barton Crockett with Rosenblatt. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:17:23For taking the question. Good morning. Good morning. So, yes, so I guess one of the things I was wondering about is the commentary you just gave on the third quarter kind of trajectory. You say that organic growth will be below what you had in the second quarter, but there wasn't much growth in the second quarter. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:17:43Are you actually saying that the third quarter looks like it will be down year over year? Any And way to kind of size that in terms of just bigger than a breadbasket type of thing? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:17:54Sure. Thank you, Barton. Good morning. The Good morning. That's exactly what we're saying. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:17:59The reality is is every quarter, have different events around different industries at that stage, and they have different characteristics. That's why we target the year in terms of overall portfolio performance, and that continues to track. The third quarter is by far our smallest quarter of the year, And we are impacted, as we've talked about for a long time now, by construction at the Las Vegas Convention Center that is impacting the largest show that's in our third quarter. And so we do expect that, that will pull organic growth down into the negative region. But that's in line with how we've seen the year progress. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:18:41And we do expect the fourth quarter based on the mix of events in the quarter to be a nicely positive organic growth quarter more consistent with overall first half performance. And that should lead to the full year performance that we're guiding to and that we've guided to from the beginning of the year. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:19:02Okay. Now the Vegas stuff, is that done after this year? Do you expect it to be not a factor next year? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:19:09That's correct. The Las Vegas Convention Center is scheduled to be completed and we believe they're on schedule by the end of this year. And so we expect that as we get into 2026 that we will come back to a more normal pattern. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:19:31Okay. Now, the performance, the contributions from the acquisitions were pretty meaningful this quarter. It looks like it sounds like they're growing, like gangbusters, but even with the disruption of acquisitions. But do we see much more contribution from these guys over the balance of this calendar year? Or is the second quarter really the bulk of what we're going to see from This is Beyond and InsurTech? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:19:58Both businesses have events in the second half of the year. This Is Beyond has four more events this year, one in September and then three in the fourth quarter. And InsurTech has one smaller event in the fourth quarter. So it's the most the bulk of InsurTech here is done from a revenue standpoint outside of their Hong Kong event. But this is beyond still quite a bit to go. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:20:24Okay. All right. And then, in terms of the some of the back and forth about impacts of the macro, I was wondering if you could just give us the sense kind of in aggregate is how much of a headwind do you feel right now from just the macro environment? Is it a small kind of headwind? Is it a big headwind that you're just overcoming? Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:20:51Or just kind of qualitatively, how do you feel about how big the macro kind of impacts are at this point for you guys? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:21:00Well, think the most important thing to say is that we went into this year expecting an impact, and therefore, we were prudent in our budgeting process. And as I said in the script, we've already secured 99% of our full year international revenue. So we are tracking very, very well to the assumptions that we made. I would characterize the impact as small overall given that international is a small part is a smaller part of the total revenue. And as I mentioned, while we're seeing headwinds in China for sure and in Canada, we're very pleased that there are some other countries that I named where we're seeing the opposite effect. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:21:52They're really taking advantage of entering The U. S. Market and therefore they're exceeding our expectations. So when you pull it together, the impact is relatively small. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:22:07I think the only thing I'd add to that is, while small, there is an impact. And as we cycle it and as we said in the script, as we cycle it and as we as there's more clarity in the specifics country by country, we do think it becomes more of a contributor again in 2026. And so what is a moderate drag on organic growth this year, we think could be a contributor next year, especially given our aggressive investment in rolling out our agent network around the world, which gives us more reach into more countries than Emerald has ever had before. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:22:47Okay. All right. That's great. Thank you, guys. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:22:51Thank you. Operator00:22:52Your next question comes from Allen Klee with Maxim Group. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:22:58Hi, Allen. Yes. Hi. When you in the press release, you talked about three acquisitions impact on the quarter. One, I wasn't familiar with, GRC World. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:23:15I assume it's smaller. Could you just comment on what that is? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:23:20Yeah. GRC is global risk and compliance. We actually acquired that last summer, in the '4, but it was not in the first half twenty twenty four numbers. So in order to run the appropriate pro form a, we had to include it in both. And it is small. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:23:40Got it. Okay. And then if I read I think I read that you it's in your numbers saying that acquisitions added 24,000,000 in 2Q. And I think last quarter, said you expected this is beyond an InsurTech to add 40,000,000 in revenue for the full year. So is it correct saying, you know, the difference between those two is what you expect in the second half? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:24:07That would be the math. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:24:12I'm sorry. What? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:24:13Yes. That's correct. Alan. That's right. Oh, we're confirming your assumption. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:24:19Usually, I need to confirm, you know, my assumptions usually. Okay. And then you said that you're seeing positive first half twenty six rebooking rates. Is there any commentary you can say in terms of just overall of how much of revenue you feel you have booked for '25 and '26? Or any any commentary of just in general? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:24:46I I think it's premature to give a a '26 number. But needless to say, we're willing to express confidence because it's surely up nice enough to allow us to give a comment that it's trending well. And so given that our events are about returning on investment to our customers, the fact that they're rebooking at higher rates is really good sign, and that's what we're indicating. In terms of 2025, at this point, we're 90 booked on the year of where we're tracking. And so there's still a little bit more to go and obviously largely fourth quarter weighted on what still needs to be booked. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:25:34But we're feeling pretty good about the trajectory to the range that we've given. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:25:41That's great. And I missed when you were talking about free cash flow and you said if it would have been adjusted for some of the money collected for acquisitions, how much did you say was added to the quarter? I think I heard a number that's probably too high. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:26:00So in quarter, the I'm just going to pull for the exact, so I don't misstate it myself. Dollars $17,000,001.07? Correct. Correct. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:26:18Oh, wow. So you did, like, 30,000,000 of EBITDA, but I'm Free cash flow really would have been more like 30. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:26:30Correct. So just to be clear, right? So next year, when we own these businesses for the full year, we will have the benefit of the collections for the events we stage ahead of that event. This year, those collections happened prior to the acquisition. Right? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:26:50So we acquired those collections. They came to us as an offset to purchase price. So we still got the money, but it doesn't show up in cash flow from operations in 2025. But in 2026, you should see a much higher conversion of adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow because we will own the entire period of marketing those events and the collection of the cash for those events. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:27:19That that's helpful. That's great. I mean, in this in one of your smaller quarters, to have that much free cash flow generation is great pro form a. So then just one other thing on the Las Vegas construction. Do do you have events in the fourth quarter that that are also gonna be at the Los Las Vegas, Center that that will be affected in the fourth quarter, but maybe that'll show better for for fourth quarter twenty six? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:27:54Yes, we do. We have one event in the fourth quarter that has the same will have the same impact or similar impact. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:28:06The fourth quarter overall, though, is a larger quarter. We run more events with more revenue. So on a percent basis, it doesn't swing the numbers as much. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:28:19That makes sense. Okay. And then last quarter, you mentioned how you were trying to use AI internally for certain things. Any, update, comment on that? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:28:33Yes. We're absolutely, we're leveraging AI to enhance our employee productivity to we have a number of initiatives around cost reduction, some customer engagement initiatives. And we also have a revenue component where we have a dedicated efforts towards unlocking revenue from AI across our portfolio and we'll talk about that more as that strategy is developed. But right now, we have early pilots in finance, in marketing, in customer service and in content production that are already starting to yield some measurable efficiency gains, and they're streamlining some of our workflows. And we're confident that over time, we'll continue to both find ways to save money, be more efficient, allow our teams to do more with less and that's before the revenue initiative that I mentioned. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:29:49That's great. My last question is I have written in my notes from the first quarter earnings call that you said something like I forget why, but for some reason, you thought you might be tracked and tell me if I'm wrong, you were tracking maybe towards the higher end of your '25 guidance. If if you did say that then, is that something that you would repeat now? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:30:16I I I think what we said is that our guidance range was based on a range of possibilities, one of which is the range of tariff impact on the year. And there's still some uncertainty there. So I I you know, our range is our range. Our quarter was a strong quarter and as we expected. So we're tracking, you know, well. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:30:42That's for sure. And, you know, hopefully, we continue on this and and deliver to the high end. But, we give a range because that's our guidance. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:30:54Got it. Thank you. You guys are really well positioned in this environment, just in general. So congratulations. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:31:02Thank you very much, Alan. Operator00:31:07There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Emerald's CEO, Herve Zetke, for closing remarks. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:31:15Well, thank you very much. So to wrap things up, our second quarter showed us how strong and resilient the Emerald platform really is. We stuck to our plan. We made smart acquisitions that added value and handled outside challenges with confidence. It all comes down to the dedication of our team and the trust of our customers. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:31:38So we're feeling good about where we're headed and confidence we can keep creating long term value for shareholders while giving our team and customers great experiences. And so with that, I thank you for joining us today. Have a great day, and goodbye. Operator00:31:55This concludes today's conference. You may now disconnect.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesErica BartschEVP - Strategy & CommunicationsHervé SedkyCEO, President & DirectorDavid DoftCFOAnalystsBarton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt SecuritiesAllen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim GroupPowered by Earnings DocumentsSlide DeckPress Release(8-K)Quarterly report(10-Q) Emerald Earnings HeadlinesEmerald Expositions Refinances Credit Facilities for FlexibilityAugust 14 at 11:24 AM | msn.comWe Think Emerald Holding's (NYSE:EEX) Profit Is Only A Baseline For What They Can AchieveAugust 14 at 11:24 AM | finance.yahoo.comThe Robotics Revolution has arrived … and one $7 stock could take off as a result.Something big is brewing in Washington. According to my research, an executive order from President Trump could be just weeks away. And it holds the potential to trigger one of the most explosive tech booms in US history. At the center of it all? Robots. Not the kind that clean your house or pour you coffee. But the kind that could reshape entire industries, add $1.2 trillion per year to the US economy, and affect 65 million American lives — just in the next year. | Weiss Ratings (Ad)MJBizCon & Budist Launch The MJBowl, a First-of-its Kind Bi-Coastal Cannabis Competition ...August 14 at 9:18 AM | gurufocus.comMJBizCon & Budist Launch The MJBowl, a First-of-its Kind Bi-Coastal Cannabis Competition & AwardsAugust 14 at 8:00 AM | prnewswire.comEmerald Expositions Acquires Generis Group for $60 MillionAugust 12 at 7:56 PM | msn.comSee More Emerald Headlines Get Earnings Announcements in your inboxWant to stay updated on the latest earnings announcements and upcoming reports for companies like Emerald? Sign up for Earnings360's daily newsletter to receive timely earnings updates on Emerald and other key companies, straight to your email. Email Address About EmeraldEmerald (NYSE:EEX) operates business-to-business (B2B) trade shows in the United States. The company provides B2B trade show franchises; and B2B print publications and digital media products, which provide industry specific business news and information across various sectors. It also offers B2B e-commerce and digital merchandising solutions to manufacturers and retailers through Elastic Suite and Bulletin platforms. The company serves retail, design, technology, equipment, and safety and security. Emerald Holding, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in New York, New York.View Emerald ProfileRead more More Earnings Resources from MarketBeat Earnings Tools Today's Earnings Tomorrow's Earnings Next Week's Earnings Upcoming Earnings Calls Earnings Newsletter Earnings Call Transcripts Earnings Beats & Misses Corporate Guidance Earnings Screener Earnings By Country U.S. Earnings Reports Canadian Earnings Reports U.K. Earnings Reports Latest Articles Brinker Serves Up Earnings Beat, Sidesteps Cost PressuresWhy BigBear.ai Stock's Dip on Earnings Can Be an Opportunity CrowdStrike Faces Valuation Test Before Key Earnings ReportPost-Earnings, How Does D-Wave Stack Up Against Quantum Rivals?Why SoundHound AI's Earnings Show the Stock Can Move HigherAirbnb Beats Earnings, But the Growth Story Is Losing AltitudeDutch Bros Just Flipped the Script With a Massive Earnings Beat Upcoming Earnings Palo Alto Networks (8/18/2025)Medtronic (8/19/2025)Home Depot (8/19/2025)Analog Devices (8/20/2025)Synopsys (8/20/2025)TJX Companies (8/20/2025)Lowe's Companies (8/20/2025)Workday (8/21/2025)Intuit (8/21/2025)Walmart (8/21/2025) Get 30 Days of MarketBeat All Access for Free Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools. Start Your 30-Day Trial MarketBeat All Access Features Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring Get personalized stock ideas. Compare portfolio to indices. Check stock news, ratings, SEC filings, and more. Stock Ideas and Recommendations See daily stock ideas from top analysts. Receive short-term trading ideas from MarketBeat. Identify trending stocks on social media. Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools Use our seven stock screeners to find suitable stocks. Stay informed with MarketBeat's real-time news. Export data to Excel for personal analysis. Sign in to your free account to enjoy these benefits In-depth profiles and analysis for 20,000 public companies. Real-time analyst ratings, insider transactions, earnings data, and more. Our daily ratings and market update email newsletter. Sign in to your free account to enjoy all that MarketBeat has to offer. Sign In Create Account Your Email Address: Email Address Required Your Password: Password Required Log In or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google Forgot your password? Your Email Address: Please enter your email address. Please enter a valid email address Choose a Password: Please enter your password. Your password must be at least 8 characters long and contain at least 1 number, 1 letter, and 1 special character. Create My Account (Free) or Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Google By creating a free account, you agree to our terms of service. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
PresentationSkip to Participants Operator00:00:00Thank you for standing by. My name is Carly, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Emerald Holdings Second Quarter twenty twenty five Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question and answer session. Operator00:00:33Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Erica Bartsch, AVP EVP of Strategy and Communications at Emerald. Please go ahead. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:00:44Good morning, and welcome to the Emerald Holdings second quarter twenty twenty five earnings conference call. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that this call will include certain statements that constitute forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes remarks about future expectations, beliefs, estimates, plans and prospects. In particular, the company's statements about projected results for 2025 are forward looking statements. Such statements are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated or implied by such statements. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:01:25For a discussion of these risks, uncertainties and other factors, please refer to the company's SEC filings, including its most recently filed periodic reports on Form 10 ks and 10 Q as well as the company's earnings release, all of which can be found on the company's Investor Relations website. The company does not undertake any duty to update such forward looking statements. Additionally, during today's call, management will discuss non GAAP measures, which it believes can be useful in evaluating the company's performance. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with U. S. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:02:05GAAP. A reconciliation of these non GAAP measures to their most comparable GAAP measures can be found in the company's earnings release, which is available on the company's Investor Relations website. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded, and a replay of this call will be available on the company's Investor Relations website through 11:59 p. M. Eastern Time on 08/11/2025. Erica BartschEVP - Strategy & Communications at Emerald00:02:27I would now like to turn the call over to Mr. Herve Sedikki, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:02:34Thank you, Erica. Good morning, everyone, and thank you all for joining us today. I'll begin the call with an overview of our second quarter performance and a review of our strategic initiatives. I'll then turn things over to David Doft, our CFO, who will take us through our financials. The second quarter reflected strong disciplined execution across the portfolio with results in line with the expectations that we laid out earlier this year. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:03:01We delivered solid year over year growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA supported by the strength of our platform and the recent acquisitions. As we contemplated in our budgeting and guidance, reported organic growth was muted due to the event mix in the quarter. However, on a pro form a basis, assuming the recently completed acquisitions were part of the portfolio in the 2024, organic growth would have been approximately 5% this quarter. This is a more accurate reflection of the performance of our business as it's constituted on a go forward basis with the inclusion of these acquisitions. This offers a clearer view of the performance of the current Emerald platform and the positive underlying momentum across the portfolio. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:03:53Taken together, our results year to date reinforce Emerald's position as a scaled insights driven B2B platform and gives us confidence to reaffirm our full year outlook. The momentum we're seeing is a direct result of the deliberate actions that we've taken to reshape and strengthen our portfolio. Over the past eighteen months, we've exited underperforming assets that were not going to recover post COVID, realigned our cost structure and completed targeted acquisitions that strengthen our position in high growth verticals. As a result, Emerald has sharpened its focus and further strengthened its performance driven approach with a portfolio built for durability and growth across market cycles. This transformation is not only taking hold, but it's driving meaningful performance improvements across the business. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:04:48We're also seeing encouraging rebooking trends for the 2026, a clear signal of customer confidence in the breadth and value of our portfolio. Our solid rebook rates underscore the commercial strength of our events from qualified lead generation to business outcomes that support long term customer ROI. Exhibitors continue to reinvest because our events drive meaningful impact from enabling discovery, in person engagement and sales pipeline acceleration. Early rebooking activity highlights the resilience of our model and affirms that in person engagement remains a critical go to market channel across sectors with strong performance in both established and high growth segments. While we're pleased with our execution and continued progress, we remain closely focused on the broader macroeconomic environment, navigating these dynamics with operational discipline and strategic focus. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:05:51Certain end markets are continuing to face macro related pressures, tariffs in particular, but our diversified portfolio continues to perform well. This underscores the strength of our model and our intentional efforts to increase our exposure to categories that have resilient demand characteristics and relatively less exposure to economic ebbs and flows. Our strategic focus is also contributing to measured progress internationally. As a reminder, international exhibitors account for approximately 10% of total revenue with limited exposure to any single region. While moderately dragging overall growth, we're already we've already secured 99% of our full year international revenue target signaling sustained interest from global partners seeking access to The U. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:06:43S. Buyers and giving us confidence to deliver on our full year targets. We're seeing pockets of encouraging activity in markets like Italy, Germany and Brazil, which are helping to offset continued softness in regions like China and Canada. Much of this early progress reflects the foundation laid by our expanded global agent network, now nearly 100 agents across more than 50 countries, a long term investment we expect will yield more measurable results over time. Importantly, as more trade deals get signed and bring certainty to more industries, our belief is that this important customer segment should bounce back and continue to grow beginning next year. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:07:25In a landscape shaped by shifting trade policy, rapid technological change and rising uncertainty, the value of trusted high impact connection channels is only growing. That's why we remain confident in the resilience and relevance of live events. In person experiences consistently outperformed digital in brand recall and ROI, particularly in complex or high consideration environments. This advantage becomes even more pronounced during periods of uncertainty when businesses prioritize channels that drive measurable impact and build real trust. As Mark Cuban recently noted on his X Feed, the explosion of AI generated content is creating a vanilla effect, a growing skepticism of what's real versus what's synthetic. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:08:20In his words, this will drive people back to authenticity and heightened demand for face to face interactions that build credibility, connection and lasting value. We couldn't agree more. This conviction ultimately shapes how we operate and where we invest for long term value. Our approach remain laser focused on three core pillars of customer centricity, three sixty five day engagement and portfolio optimization. We've made great progress in our portfolio optimization efforts, where we're pursuing targeted acquisitions that diversify our offerings and expanding our presence in resilient sectors with attractive long term growth opportunities that have a demonstrated track record of delivering impactful in person B2B experiences. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:09:10Notably, our acquisitions of This Is Beyond and InsurTech Insights are already advancing our strategic priorities and contributing to growth. In June, InsurTech Insights held its U. S. Addition, drawing strong industry participation and reinforcing our position in a high growth vertical. Similarly, this is Beyond's flagship events, We Are Africa and LE Miami delivered exceptional experiences in Q2, convening a highly curated global community of luxury travel leaders. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:09:43Their focus on premium, purpose driven experiences aligns with evolving B2B customer expectations and further strengthens Emerald's position in the high growth global luxury travel market. These early performance indicators underscore the strength of our portfolio, optimization strategy and our disciplined approach to integration and value creation, leaving me energized for what's ahead. So in closing, our second quarter performance illustrates the strength and resilience of the Emerald platform. Our ability to deliver as planned, integrate value enhancing acquisitions and navigate external challenges reflects both the commitment of our team and the trust of our customers. We remain confident in our capacity to drive meaningful long term value for shareholders while continuing to deliver exceptional experiences for our customers. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:10:40And with that, I'll hand things over to David for a deeper look at our financials. David? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:10:46Thank you, Herve, and good morning. Turning to our results for the second quarter. Total revenue was $105,500,000 compared to $86,000,000 in the prior year quarter. Reported organic revenue, which excludes the impact of acquisitions, scheduling adjustments and discontinued events, was up 0.4% year over year, driven by growth in our connections business, offset by event mix in the quarter and softness in content. Specifically, we had three events that staged in Q2 twenty twenty five, but were held in a different quarter in 2024, and two events that occurred in Q2 twenty twenty four, but are scheduled for a different quarter in 2025. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:11:30As Herve noted, this does not tell the full story. We believe the most accurate view of our organic growth is on a pro form a basis, reflecting the portfolio as it actually exists today. Assuming the recently completed acquisitions were part of the portfolio in 2024, our second quarter organic growth would have been approximately plus 5% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $24,400,000 in the second quarter compared to $15,300,000 in the prior year period, an increase of 59.5%. The increase was primarily driven by higher operating income from our events and continued management of underlying costs. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:12:12This also equates to an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 23.1% for the quarter compared to 17.8% in Q2 twenty twenty four. LTM adjusted EBITDA, excluding insurance proceeds, is $123,100,000 Turning to expenses. On a reported basis, SG and A was $47,100,000 versus $39,500,000 in the prior year quarter. The year over year increase is largely due to incremental expenses from acquisitions in our Connections business and higher stock based compensation, offset by lower salary expenses in both the Content and Commerce businesses. We generated $13,800,000 in free cash flow in the second quarter as compared to July in the prior year period due to higher adjusted EBITDA in the quarter. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:13:05As was the case in the first quarter, underlying free cash flow in Q2 was stronger than reported, primarily due to the timing of recent acquisitions. Specifically, with the Business Beyond acquisition closing shortly before its major event, Most event related cash was collected prior to the transaction and flowed to Emerald through a purchase price adjustment rather than through standard receivables. As a result, those inflows are not reflected in reported free cash flow and cash from operations minus CapEx. This mirrors the dynamic we noted last quarter with InsurTech Insights, and it's important context when evaluating the free cash flow conversion and strength of our cash generation. Adjusting for these acquisition related timing effects, total free cash flow would have been $17,000,000 higher. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:13:57Also, our year to date free cash flow is similarly impacted by the acquisition of InsurTech Insights in the first quarter of this year to the tune of $3,500,000 and from $5,500,000 of fees related to our January 2025 refinancing of our debt that flows through the financials. In total, these items impacted reported year to date free cash flow by $26,000,000 Turning to the balance sheet. We had $156,400,000 in cash as of June 30 versus $276,800,000 as of March 31. This is after funding the This Is Beyond transaction, which closed in the quarter. Our total liquidity is $266,400,000 including full availability on our $110,000,000 credit facility. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:14:45As of June 30, our net debt to covenant EBITDA ratio is 2.56x, well within our sub-3x financial policy target. Our strong balance sheet and cash flow give us flexibility to invest in strategic growth and deliver long term value. As a business, we remain focused on disciplined capital deployment across M and A, organic growth, debt reduction and shareholder return. In the second quarter, we repurchased approximately 1,600,000.0 shares for $6,900,000 at an average price of $4.24 per share under our buyback program, underscoring management and the Board's conviction in Emerald's long term value. At quarter end, we had $20,800,000 remaining available under the existing repurchase authorization. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:15:31In addition, the Board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, demonstrating our continued commitment to shareholder returns alongside prudent, balanced capital deployment. Finally, we remain on track for and are reaffirming our full year 2025 guidance of a range of $450,000,000 to $460,000,000 in revenue and $120,000,000 to $125,000,000 in adjusted EBITDA. In line with expectations at the start of the year, the second and third quarters are both our smallest, and we expect Q3 reported organic growth to be our weakest this year, followed by stronger reported organic growth in the fourth quarter. Given the added dynamic of the continued construction at the Las Vegas Convention Center impacting our largest Q3 event, organic growth in that quarter is expected to fall below what we reported in the second quarter, consistent with our original expectations this year. Q1 and Q4 remain our largest and strongest growth quarters. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:16:31This seasonality is fully in line with our expectations and supports the full year targets we set at the beginning of the year and targets that we are reiterating today. Our outlook also factors in potential tariff impacts. While the precise effect remains uncertain due to evolving U. S. Trade policy, our overall exposure is relatively limited. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:16:51We remain proactive, targeting growth in underpenetrated markets while preserving the agility to adapt to changing macro conditions. With that, we'll now open the call up for questions. Operator? Operator00:17:18Your first question comes from Barton Crockett with Rosenblatt. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:17:23For taking the question. Good morning. Good morning. So, yes, so I guess one of the things I was wondering about is the commentary you just gave on the third quarter kind of trajectory. You say that organic growth will be below what you had in the second quarter, but there wasn't much growth in the second quarter. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:17:43Are you actually saying that the third quarter looks like it will be down year over year? Any And way to kind of size that in terms of just bigger than a breadbasket type of thing? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:17:54Sure. Thank you, Barton. Good morning. The Good morning. That's exactly what we're saying. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:17:59The reality is is every quarter, have different events around different industries at that stage, and they have different characteristics. That's why we target the year in terms of overall portfolio performance, and that continues to track. The third quarter is by far our smallest quarter of the year, And we are impacted, as we've talked about for a long time now, by construction at the Las Vegas Convention Center that is impacting the largest show that's in our third quarter. And so we do expect that, that will pull organic growth down into the negative region. But that's in line with how we've seen the year progress. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:18:41And we do expect the fourth quarter based on the mix of events in the quarter to be a nicely positive organic growth quarter more consistent with overall first half performance. And that should lead to the full year performance that we're guiding to and that we've guided to from the beginning of the year. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:19:02Okay. Now the Vegas stuff, is that done after this year? Do you expect it to be not a factor next year? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:19:09That's correct. The Las Vegas Convention Center is scheduled to be completed and we believe they're on schedule by the end of this year. And so we expect that as we get into 2026 that we will come back to a more normal pattern. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:19:31Okay. Now, the performance, the contributions from the acquisitions were pretty meaningful this quarter. It looks like it sounds like they're growing, like gangbusters, but even with the disruption of acquisitions. But do we see much more contribution from these guys over the balance of this calendar year? Or is the second quarter really the bulk of what we're going to see from This is Beyond and InsurTech? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:19:58Both businesses have events in the second half of the year. This Is Beyond has four more events this year, one in September and then three in the fourth quarter. And InsurTech has one smaller event in the fourth quarter. So it's the most the bulk of InsurTech here is done from a revenue standpoint outside of their Hong Kong event. But this is beyond still quite a bit to go. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:20:24Okay. All right. And then, in terms of the some of the back and forth about impacts of the macro, I was wondering if you could just give us the sense kind of in aggregate is how much of a headwind do you feel right now from just the macro environment? Is it a small kind of headwind? Is it a big headwind that you're just overcoming? Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:20:51Or just kind of qualitatively, how do you feel about how big the macro kind of impacts are at this point for you guys? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:21:00Well, think the most important thing to say is that we went into this year expecting an impact, and therefore, we were prudent in our budgeting process. And as I said in the script, we've already secured 99% of our full year international revenue. So we are tracking very, very well to the assumptions that we made. I would characterize the impact as small overall given that international is a small part is a smaller part of the total revenue. And as I mentioned, while we're seeing headwinds in China for sure and in Canada, we're very pleased that there are some other countries that I named where we're seeing the opposite effect. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:21:52They're really taking advantage of entering The U. S. Market and therefore they're exceeding our expectations. So when you pull it together, the impact is relatively small. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:22:07I think the only thing I'd add to that is, while small, there is an impact. And as we cycle it and as we said in the script, as we cycle it and as we as there's more clarity in the specifics country by country, we do think it becomes more of a contributor again in 2026. And so what is a moderate drag on organic growth this year, we think could be a contributor next year, especially given our aggressive investment in rolling out our agent network around the world, which gives us more reach into more countries than Emerald has ever had before. Barton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt Securities00:22:47Okay. All right. That's great. Thank you, guys. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:22:51Thank you. Operator00:22:52Your next question comes from Allen Klee with Maxim Group. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:22:58Hi, Allen. Yes. Hi. When you in the press release, you talked about three acquisitions impact on the quarter. One, I wasn't familiar with, GRC World. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:23:15I assume it's smaller. Could you just comment on what that is? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:23:20Yeah. GRC is global risk and compliance. We actually acquired that last summer, in the '4, but it was not in the first half twenty twenty four numbers. So in order to run the appropriate pro form a, we had to include it in both. And it is small. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:23:40Got it. Okay. And then if I read I think I read that you it's in your numbers saying that acquisitions added 24,000,000 in 2Q. And I think last quarter, said you expected this is beyond an InsurTech to add 40,000,000 in revenue for the full year. So is it correct saying, you know, the difference between those two is what you expect in the second half? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:24:07That would be the math. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:24:12I'm sorry. What? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:24:13Yes. That's correct. Alan. That's right. Oh, we're confirming your assumption. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:24:19Usually, I need to confirm, you know, my assumptions usually. Okay. And then you said that you're seeing positive first half twenty six rebooking rates. Is there any commentary you can say in terms of just overall of how much of revenue you feel you have booked for '25 and '26? Or any any commentary of just in general? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:24:46I I think it's premature to give a a '26 number. But needless to say, we're willing to express confidence because it's surely up nice enough to allow us to give a comment that it's trending well. And so given that our events are about returning on investment to our customers, the fact that they're rebooking at higher rates is really good sign, and that's what we're indicating. In terms of 2025, at this point, we're 90 booked on the year of where we're tracking. And so there's still a little bit more to go and obviously largely fourth quarter weighted on what still needs to be booked. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:25:34But we're feeling pretty good about the trajectory to the range that we've given. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:25:41That's great. And I missed when you were talking about free cash flow and you said if it would have been adjusted for some of the money collected for acquisitions, how much did you say was added to the quarter? I think I heard a number that's probably too high. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:26:00So in quarter, the I'm just going to pull for the exact, so I don't misstate it myself. Dollars $17,000,001.07? Correct. Correct. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:26:18Oh, wow. So you did, like, 30,000,000 of EBITDA, but I'm Free cash flow really would have been more like 30. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:26:30Correct. So just to be clear, right? So next year, when we own these businesses for the full year, we will have the benefit of the collections for the events we stage ahead of that event. This year, those collections happened prior to the acquisition. Right? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:26:50So we acquired those collections. They came to us as an offset to purchase price. So we still got the money, but it doesn't show up in cash flow from operations in 2025. But in 2026, you should see a much higher conversion of adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow because we will own the entire period of marketing those events and the collection of the cash for those events. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:27:19That that's helpful. That's great. I mean, in this in one of your smaller quarters, to have that much free cash flow generation is great pro form a. So then just one other thing on the Las Vegas construction. Do do you have events in the fourth quarter that that are also gonna be at the Los Las Vegas, Center that that will be affected in the fourth quarter, but maybe that'll show better for for fourth quarter twenty six? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:27:54Yes, we do. We have one event in the fourth quarter that has the same will have the same impact or similar impact. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:28:06The fourth quarter overall, though, is a larger quarter. We run more events with more revenue. So on a percent basis, it doesn't swing the numbers as much. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:28:19That makes sense. Okay. And then last quarter, you mentioned how you were trying to use AI internally for certain things. Any, update, comment on that? Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:28:33Yes. We're absolutely, we're leveraging AI to enhance our employee productivity to we have a number of initiatives around cost reduction, some customer engagement initiatives. And we also have a revenue component where we have a dedicated efforts towards unlocking revenue from AI across our portfolio and we'll talk about that more as that strategy is developed. But right now, we have early pilots in finance, in marketing, in customer service and in content production that are already starting to yield some measurable efficiency gains, and they're streamlining some of our workflows. And we're confident that over time, we'll continue to both find ways to save money, be more efficient, allow our teams to do more with less and that's before the revenue initiative that I mentioned. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:29:49That's great. My last question is I have written in my notes from the first quarter earnings call that you said something like I forget why, but for some reason, you thought you might be tracked and tell me if I'm wrong, you were tracking maybe towards the higher end of your '25 guidance. If if you did say that then, is that something that you would repeat now? David DoftCFO at Emerald00:30:16I I I think what we said is that our guidance range was based on a range of possibilities, one of which is the range of tariff impact on the year. And there's still some uncertainty there. So I I you know, our range is our range. Our quarter was a strong quarter and as we expected. So we're tracking, you know, well. David DoftCFO at Emerald00:30:42That's for sure. And, you know, hopefully, we continue on this and and deliver to the high end. But, we give a range because that's our guidance. Allen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim Group00:30:54Got it. Thank you. You guys are really well positioned in this environment, just in general. So congratulations. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:31:02Thank you very much, Alan. Operator00:31:07There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to Emerald's CEO, Herve Zetke, for closing remarks. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:31:15Well, thank you very much. So to wrap things up, our second quarter showed us how strong and resilient the Emerald platform really is. We stuck to our plan. We made smart acquisitions that added value and handled outside challenges with confidence. It all comes down to the dedication of our team and the trust of our customers. Hervé SedkyCEO, President & Director at Emerald00:31:38So we're feeling good about where we're headed and confidence we can keep creating long term value for shareholders while giving our team and customers great experiences. And so with that, I thank you for joining us today. Have a great day, and goodbye. Operator00:31:55This concludes today's conference. You may now disconnect.Read moreParticipantsExecutivesErica BartschEVP - Strategy & CommunicationsHervé SedkyCEO, President & DirectorDavid DoftCFOAnalystsBarton CrockettMD & Senior Research Analyst at Rosenblatt SecuritiesAllen KleeMD & Senior Research Analyst at Maxim GroupPowered by