Zeta Global's 46% growth was 30% organic, and its Q4 guide slows to 22% to 24%
In its November 10 Q3 filing, the marketing-cloud company's growth excluding the Marigold acquisition and election revenue was 30%, and its own Q4 guide slows that to 22% to 24%.
Vincent Jiangfour-minute read
Zeta Global+6.22% — Zeta Global, up 6.22 percent today, the New York-listed marketing software company, filed third-quarter results with the SEC on November 9: revenue of $492.7 million, up 46%, and net income of $38.3 million against a $3.6 million loss a year earlier, its first positive GAAP quarter of 2026 and first positive trailing-twelve-month profit 12. Co-founder and chief executive David Steinberg headlined "hitting the Rule of 71 in total": 46% growth plus a 24.6% adjusted EBITDA margin 8. The stock rose 8.2% on November 10 to about $35, pricing those headline numbers 7.
Eight of the last twelve quarters were GAAP losses; Q3's $38M is the largest profit
Net income swung $42 million positive year over year
Data
| GAAP net income | |
|---|---|
| Q4 '23 | -$35.28M |
| Q1 '24 | -$39.57M |
| Q2 '24 | -$28.07M |
| Q3 '24 | -$17.37M |
| Q4 '24 | $15.24M |
| Q1 '25 | -$21.6M |
| Q2 '25 | -$12.81M |
| Q3 '25 | -$3.63M |
| Q4 '25 | $6.54M |
| Q1 '26 | -$13.25M |
| Q2 '26 | $8.17M |
| Q3 '26 | $38.27M |
Sixteen of the 46 points were bought
The acquired Marigold enterprise business contributed $48.0 million and political candidates $7.4 million against a $337.2 million base a year ago 16. Strip both and growth ran at 30%, up from 28% in the second quarter and the 22nd straight quarter above 20% on that basis 128. The 24.6% margin is adjusted too 23. Stock-based compensation of $50.0 million sits against $38.3 million of GAAP profit, and the GAAP operating margin was 9.3% 23. Scored the same way with the unadjusted margin, 30% organic growth plus 9.3% puts the quarter at about 39 on the company's own formula 23.
The guide slows the engine
Fourth-quarter guidance of $521 million to $525 million is 32% to 33% growth on the headline basis but 22% to 24% excluding deals and election revenue, and the full-year midpoint of $1.855 billion implies 27% organic 1. The raised GAAP EPS guide of $0.22 to $0.24 excludes a possible one-time, non-cash tax benefit management calls a "reasonable possibility" within twelve months 16. Partnership revenue in the outlook counts only signed pilots inside a 2% to 5% cushion, as previewed here on November 8 4.
Strip the acquisition and the election, and growth runs at 30%, guided to 22 to 24 percent
16 points of the 46 came from Marigold and election money
- Estimate
Data
| Value | Range | |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 headline | 46% | — |
| Q3 organic (estimate) | 30% | — |
| Q2 organic | 28% | — |
| Q4 guide organic (guided range) (estimate) | 22–24% | 22–24% |
Athena gets the credit and no revenue line
More than half of Zeta's 212 super-scaled customers, averaging $2.0 million each over twelve months, were monthly active users of Athena, the company's AI marketing agent, up from just over 40% a quarter earlier 124. The top 25 Athena users grew revenue more than 70% against 46% companywide, and chief financial officer Chris Greiner tied the $22 million beat to Athena adoption and usage 48.
No Athena revenue figure was disclosed 5. Steinberg also reversed his distribution doctrine: "I have always been we need to control everything, and now I'm saying the UI can actually exist in a third-party platform," opening Athena to enterprise ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini while insisting "No third party will ever have access to our data cloud" 8.
What February has to answer
The cash is real: free cash flow rose 73% to $81.5 million, and Zeta repurchased $29.9 million of stock in the quarter 128. But at roughly 20 times the $415 million of EBITDA Zeta guides for the year, the price already assumes the strong version of every number 6, and at that multiple the 30% organic engine, not the 46% cover, is what the buyer is underwriting.
The next print sets the price
Steinberg set the test himself: official 2027 guidance comes in February 8. If Q4 organic growth holds at 30% or better, the premium holds; if it lands inside the guided 22% to 24%, the headline 46 becomes the quarter to remember and the tax credit, which happens once, the only upside left 16.
Sources: 1. Bullished, Zeta Swings To $38 Million Profit And Raises Its Annual Earnings Forecast (ZETA), November 11, 2026 — https://www.bullished.co/zeta-swings-to-38-million-profit-and-raises-its-annual-earnings-forecast-6ee8d241/ 2. GuruFocus, Zeta Global Holdings Corp Reports Q3 Earnings: GAAP EPS of $0.14 Beats Estimates, November 9, 2026 — https://www.gurufocus.com/news/9185975/zeta-global-holdings-corp-reports-q3-earnings-gaap-eps-of-014-beats-estimates-revenue-of-4927-million-misses-expectations 3. Yahoo Finance, Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) reports bullish Q3 2026, full-year outlook exceeds expectations, November 9, 2026 — https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/zeta-global-nyse-zeta-reports-212208887.html 4. Bullished, Zeta Opens Athena To Rival AI Interfaces While Keeping Its Data And Execution In-House (ZETA), November 10, 2026 — https://www.bullished.co/zeta-opens-athena-to-rival-ai-interfaces-while-keeping-its-data-and-execution-in-house-f43c8577/ 5. Drillr, Zeta Global (ZETA) Athena AI Agent Reaches 50% of Super-Scaled Clients, November 10, 2026 — https://drillr.ai/article/zeta-athena-ai-agent-super-scaled-customers-2026 6. AInvest, Zeta's 46% growth is really 30%, know which one you're paying for, November 11, 2026 — https://www.ainvest.com/news/zeta-46-growth-30-paying-2611/ 7. Yahoo Finance (Simply Wall St), Zeta Global (ZETA) Stock Jumps On Q3 Earnings And Profit Turn, November 10, 2026 — https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/zeta-global-zeta-stock-jumps-002024575.html 8. The Motley Fool via Yahoo Finance, Zeta Global (ZETA) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript, November 10, 2026 — https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/zeta-global-zeta-q3-2026-063316171.html 9. Zeta Global, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, company data, retrieved November 11, 2026 — https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001851003
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