Criteo today reported first quarter 2026 financial results that crossed a symbolic milestone - activated media spend exceeding $1 billion in a single quarter for the first time - while GAAP revenue fell 6% year-over-year and net income dropped sharply, weighed down by the continuing impact of scope reductions from two named retail media clients.

The results, announced May 6, 2026, via a press release and an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, cover the three months ended March 31, 2026. According to Criteo's earnings documents, total revenue reached $424.6 million, down from $451.4 million in Q1 2025. Net income collapsed to $8.6 million from $40 million a year earlier - a 79% decline. The company's primary non-GAAP profitability metric, Contribution ex-TAC (revenue minus traffic acquisition costs and other cost of revenue), came in at $250.4 million, down 5% as reported and down 9% at constant currency, in line with company guidance.

The milestone behind the headline

Despite the revenue decline, total media spend - defined by Criteo as working media allocated to retail media campaigns plus media spend activated on behalf of performance media clients - reached $1.002 billion in Q1 2026, up 8% year-over-year at constant currency. This marks the first time a single quarter has cleared the $1 billion threshold. On a trailing 12-month basis, media spend stood at $4.4 billion.

The gap between rising media spend and falling reported revenue reflects a structural shift in how Criteo's business is evolving. As the company moves toward a platform model, the dollar value of media it facilitates is growing faster than the revenue it directly recognizes. That divergence has strategic implications for how the ad tech industry interprets Criteo's trajectory.

The two business segments - Retail Media and Performance Media - moved in very different directions. Retail Media revenue fell 31%, or 32% at constant currency, to $41.3 million from $59.5 million. Retail Media Contribution ex-TAC dropped from $58.8 million to $40.6 million. Performance Media revenue fell a more modest 2%, or 6% at constant currency, to $383.4 million, while Performance Media Contribution ex-TAC increased 2% as reported (down 2% at constant currency) to $209.8 million, lifted by AdTech services growth of 7% at constant currency.

The two client problem

The single largest factor in the retail media decline is well-documented in Criteo's filings. Two specific retail media clients significantly reduced their scope of services, creating a $27 million headwind to Contribution ex-TAC in Q1 alone. According to Criteo's earnings release, this headwind accounted for approximately 10 percentage points of drag on year-over-year growth. Excluding those two clients, the underlying retail media base grew 24% in Q1 2026.

PPC Land first reported on this client situation in May 2025, when Criteo disclosed that its largest retail media client would discontinue managed services and curtail brand demand sales services beginning November 2025. At the time, the company estimated a $25 million negative revenue impact in Q4 2025 and a $75 million cumulative impact across the first ten months of 2026. The Q1 2026 headwind of $27 million, broken out in the latest filing, confirms that trajectory.

The company's modeling assumptions, disclosed today, show the headwind declining across the year: $27 million in Q1, $21 million in Q2, $20 million in Q3, and $7 million in Q4 - totaling $75 million for the full year 2026 before the impact annualizes out.

Profitability and cash generation

Adjusted EBITDA fell 30% year-over-year to $64.9 million, from $92.1 million in Q1 2025. The Adjusted EBITDA margin as a percentage of Contribution ex-TAC declined from 35% to 26%. Adjusted diluted EPS came in at $0.73, down 34% from $1.10 a year ago.

Operating expenses rose 12% to $212.3 million, partly driven by restructuring, integration and transformation costs that jumped 443% to $10.2 million, which Criteo's filings indicate includes costs related to nonrecurring litigation matters. Depreciation and amortization increased 10% to $28.4 million, reflecting infrastructure investment. Research and development expenses grew 15% to $69.7 million.

Free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow minus net capital expenditures, was $16 million in Q1 2026, down from $45.3 million in Q1 2025. Capital expenditures of $32.2 million nearly doubled year-over-year, primarily attributed to data center renewal. On a trailing 12-month basis, free cash flow was $181 million.

Cash and cash equivalents at March 31, 2026 stood at $320 million. Including $51 million in marketable securities and $468 million available under the revolving credit facility, total financial liquidity reached approximately $889 million. The company repurchased $31 million in shares during Q1 2026 and had $190 million remaining on its buyback authorization as of quarter-end. In April, Criteo separately cancelled 1.9 million treasury shares that had been reserved for M&A purposes, representing approximately $39 million.

Client count declined 3% year-over-year and 2% sequentially to 16,528. Days sales outstanding improved by 8 days to 60 days from 68 days a year earlier. Headcount was 3,553 at quarter-end, up 1% year-over-year.

The OpenAI partnership and agentic AI positioning

The most strategically significant operational disclosure today involves Criteo's relationship with OpenAI. According to the earnings materials, Criteo became the first advertising technology partner to integrate with OpenAI's advertising solution, embedding its demand infrastructure inside ChatGPT's Free and Go tiers.

PPC Land covered the initial announcement of this partnership on March 2, 2026, when Criteo disclosed the integration, noting that internal data from 500 U.S. retailers showed users referred from large language model platforms converting at approximately 1.5 times the rate of other referral channels. In an update published May 5, 2026, Criteo disclosed that over one thousand brands are now live on ChatGPT through the integration, with conversion rates in specific categories approaching two times those of traditional search referrals.

According to Criteo's investor presentation, the company's agentic AI strategy rests on three technical pillars: commerce data at scale (more than $1 trillion in annual ecommerce transactions processed), a recommendation system designed to predict shopper intent, and a Model Context Protocol (MCP) implementation that delivers product and shopper information to AI agents. The MCP layer allows Criteo's commerce intelligence to be accessible within agent interfaces operated by marketers, publishers, and agencies - a position the company describes as facilitating seamless interoperability across AI platforms.

The investor presentation also describes two forward-looking use cases: AI platform advertising, which integrates Criteo's demand into ChatGPT's ad offering, and conversational shopping experiences that enable sponsored products inside chat-like interfaces. According to Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski in the earnings materials, "We are helping shape how advertising can support discovery and consideration within Large Language Model (LLM) platforms, grounded in experiences that are additive, relevant, and built on user trust."

For the marketing community, this development carries practical weight. Conversational AI platforms are emerging as a distinct advertising surface with measurement characteristics different from search or social. PPC Land's coverage of the OpenAI Ads Manager launch on May 5, 2026 shows that OpenAI simultaneously introduced cost-per-click bidding and a Conversions API - moves that bring the measurement infrastructure closer to what performance advertisers require. Criteo's position as the first ad tech partner in that ecosystem means it currently controls a significant distribution channel for any brand seeking to reach ChatGPT's user base through programmatic means.

GO platform: self-service expansion and SMB push

The second major operating development of Q1 2026 involves Criteo's GO platform. According to the earnings materials, full self-service access launched at the end of Q1 2026, with agentic onboarding capabilities embedded into the platform to reduce friction for new clients. Two in three campaigns from small U.S. clients now flow through GO, according to the investor presentation.

PPC Land reported in detail on the GO expansion on April 1, 2026, noting that the platform allows advertisers to launch cross-channel campaigns in as few as five clicks across discovery, consideration, conversion, and retention stages of the buyer journey. The agentic onboarding agent embedded in GO guides users from campaign launch to scale without requiring a managed service contract - an architectural shift that reduces Criteo's dependence on high-touch service relationships and expands its addressable market to smaller advertisers.

Retail media footprint and new formats

Despite the headline revenue declines in retail media, Criteo's operational indicators show continued expansion of its network. According to the investor presentation, the company now serves 235 retailers - including approximately 75% of the top 30 U.S. retailers and 40% of the top 50 EMEA retailers - and 4,150 global brands. Retail media spend reached approximately $439 million in Q1 2026, up 30% year-over-year at constant currency. The discrepancy between rising media spend and falling Contribution ex-TAC reflects the $27 million headwind from client scope changes.

New formats are gaining adoption. Retailers adopting auction-based display increased from 49 in Q4 2025 to 60-plus in Q1 2026. Shoppable video ads media spend grew 105% year-over-year. The same-retailer Contribution ex-TAC retention rate, excluding the largest client subject to scope changes, stood at 110%, indicating that the existing retailer base deepened its usage.

New retailer partnerships in Q1 included an expanded DoorDash collaboration in Canada - PPC Land covered the initial DoorDash partnership announcement in October 2025 - and the addition of Hyundai Department Store in APAC.

Geographic and segment breakdown

Regional revenue trends show divergence. Americas revenue fell 18% year-over-year to $158.6 million, the steepest regional decline. EMEA grew 6% to $175.3 million, the only region posting growth. APAC declined 3% to $90.7 million.

Performance Media's internal composition showed mixed trends. The Commerce Growth product line declined 6% at constant currency, reflecting softness in the Americas and APAC, partially offset by EMEA strength and growth in travel and marketplace verticals. The SSP (Commerce Grid) showed continued momentum. AdTech services grew 7% at constant currency, a positive signal given that this segment benefits from Criteo's publisher supply network.

Client retention remained close to 90%. A third of media spend was activated through agencies, and half of Commerce Growth clients used more than one product, according to the investor presentation.

Outlook and guidance

The Q2 2026 guidance reflects continued pressure from the retail media client scope changes. Criteo expects Contribution ex-TAC between $260 million and $264 million in Q2 2026, representing a decline of 11% to 9% year-over-year at constant currency. Excluding the $21 million retail media headwind in Q2, the underlying decline would be in the low-single-digit range. Adjusted EBITDA guidance for Q2 2026 is $67 million to $71 million.

For the full year 2026, the company now expects Contribution ex-TAC to decrease in the low-single-digit range at constant currency. This represents a revision from the earlier guidance of flat to up 2%, reflecting macro conditions including geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and reduced marketing budgets among certain large Performance Media clients in the United States. Adjusted EBITDA margin guidance of 32% to 34% of Contribution ex-TAC remains unchanged.

CFO Sarah Glickman stated in the earnings release, "Our first quarter results reflect strong execution, while our outlook incorporates macro volatility, including geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the lower marketing budgets for certain large Performance Media U.S. clients so far in the second quarter. We are taking a prudent approach, with a continued focus on execution and cost discipline."

Capital expenditure for the full year is expected to reach approximately $190 million, nearly double the $101 million spent in 2025, driven by data center renewal.

Luxembourg redomiciliation

Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve Criteo's redomiciliation from France to Luxembourg via a cross-border conversion. The company expects the process to complete in Q3 2026, after which it intends to pursue a subsequent merger into a newly incorporated U.S. subsidiary. PPC Land reported on the Luxembourg shareholder vote schedule in January 2026, noting the corporate structure change was designed to facilitate direct Nasdaq listing of ordinary shares and improve capital flexibility.

Why this matters for ad tech and marketing professionals

The Q1 2026 results illustrate a tension common across the ad tech sector: platform-level metrics improving while revenue metrics decline due to client concentration and service model shifts. Criteo's $27 million headwind from two clients is not a signal of weak demand - the 24% underlying client base growth and 110% same-retailer retention confirm that the broader network is performing. It is instead a reminder of the risk inherent in large managed-service relationships, the kind that Criteo's Q4 2025 results had already flagged as a structural challenge.

The OpenAI integration is the more consequential development for the long-term. If ChatGPT advertising scales - and the platform crossed $100 million in annualized revenue within six weeks of launch in February 2026 - Criteo's first-mover status as the only formal ad tech partner gives it distributional leverage that no other programmatic platform currently holds. Whether that translates into incremental Contribution ex-TAC in measurable quantities is a question for subsequent quarters.

Timeline

  • February 5, 2025 - Criteo announces Q4 2024 results, reporting record retail media growth of 23% at constant currency and $334 million in Q4 Contribution ex-TAC. PPC Land coverage
  • May 2, 2025 - Criteo discloses Q1 2025 results and reveals its largest retail media client will discontinue managed services starting November 2025, creating a $75 million headwind across ten months. PPC Land coverage
  • July 30, 2025 - Criteo reports Q2 2025 revenue of $483 million, raises full-year guidance; retail media Contribution ex-TAC grows 11% at constant currency. PPC Land coverage
  • October 6, 2025 - Criteo announces multi-year DoorDash retail media partnership for grocery and convenience delivery advertising. PPC Land coverage
  • January 7, 2026 - Criteo board approves cross-border conversion to Luxembourg; shareholder meeting scheduled for February 27, 2026. PPC Land coverage
  • February 5, 2026 - Criteo reports Q4 and full year 2025 results; Q4 revenue $541 million, down 2%, with $25 million headwind from retail media client scope reductions. PPC Land coverage
  • March 2, 2026 - Criteo announced as first advertising technology partner in OpenAI's ChatGPT advertising pilot, connecting approximately 17,000 advertiser clients to ChatGPT Free and Go tiers. PPC Land coverage
  • March 31, 2026 - Criteo launches full self-service access for GO platform, with agentic onboarding for SMBs. PPC Land coverage
  • May 5, 2026 - Criteo discloses over 1,000 brands live on ChatGPT via its integration, with AI-referred conversion rates approaching 2x in select categories. PPC Land coverage
  • May 6, 2026 - Criteo reports Q1 2026 results: revenue $424.6 million (-6%), Contribution ex-TAC $250.4 million (-5%), Adjusted EBITDA $64.9 million (-30%), net income $8.6 million (-79%), media spend $1.002 billion (+8% at constant currency).

Summary

Who: Criteo S.A. (NASDAQ: CRTO), a Paris-headquartered global commerce intelligence platform serving approximately 16,528 clients across retail media and performance media advertising. Results were reported by CEO Michael Komasinski and CFO Sarah Glickman.

What: Criteo reported Q1 2026 financial results showing total revenue of $424.6 million (down 6%), Contribution ex-TAC of $250.4 million (down 5%), Adjusted EBITDA of $64.9 million (down 30%), and net income of $8.6 million (down 79%). Activated media spend exceeded $1 billion in a single quarter for the first time. The company also confirmed its status as the first advertising technology partner integrated with OpenAI's ChatGPT advertising solution, with over 1,000 brands now running campaigns through that integration.

When: The results cover the three months ended March 31, 2026, and were announced on May 6, 2026. An earnings call took place the same day at 8:00 AM ET.

Where: Criteo operates globally across more than 100 markets, with headquarters at 32 Rue Blanche, Paris, France. The company is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker CRTO and is in the process of redomiciling to Luxembourg.

Why: Revenue and profitability declined primarily because of previously communicated scope reductions from two retail media clients, creating a $27 million Contribution ex-TAC headwind in Q1 2026. The company is simultaneously increasing operating expenses to fund AI investments - including the OpenAI partnership, the GO self-service platform, and the Model Context Protocol infrastructure for agentic commerce - while absorbing macroeconomic volatility including geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and reduced U.S. marketing budgets among large Performance Media clients.

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