Liftoff Mobile’s AI-powered Cortex platform is driving an increasingly large portion of the company’s growth, with Core Advertising revenue rising 36% year-over-year while trailing-12-month free cash flow increased 142%.
Core Advertising revenue reached $219 million in Q2, up 36% year-over-year and 7% sequentially. Daily Average Revenue for the business increased another 6% quarter-over-quarter. Liftoff says Core Advertising is predominantly powered by Cortex-backed demand solutions and represents the foundation of its strategy following the rollout of Cortex in 2023.
The growth is translating into substantial operating leverage. Adjusted EBITDA margin reached 60% in Q2 compared with 53% a year earlier. Trailing-12-month operating cash flow increased 90% to $236.9 million, while free cash flow increased from $76.4 million to $184.5 million.
Liftoff expects full-year 2026 revenue of $870 million to $880 million and adjusted EBITDA of $510 million to $518 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 59%.
KEY QUOTES:
“Q2 marked our eleventh consecutive quarter of revenue growth and reinforced a pattern we have seen over time: better advertising performance gives customers reason to increase their spend with us. Cortex’s continued self-learning and discrete model improvements both contributed to that performance this quarter.”
Jeremy Bondy, CEO of Liftoff Mobile
“Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded meaningfully, as our revenue scaled faster than our cost base. That operating leverage, combined with our capital light architecture, converted growth into significant free cash flow.”
Tarek Kutrieh, President and CFO of Liftoff Mobile
