Cardlytics, Inc.
- Open
- 4.46
- Day high
- 4.83
- Day low
- 4.42
- Prev close
- 4.49
- Volume
- 38K
- Mkt cap
- $265M
- P/E (TTM)
- —
- EPS (TTM)
- —
- P/B
- -66.2
- P/S
- 1.3
- Yield
- —
- Per share
- —
- ▲Insiders net buying $46K over the last 3 months (2 open-market buys, 1 sale)
- 🏛Institutions reducing (13F)
Cardlytics, Inc. (CDLX) is a Communication Services company listed on NASDAQ. The stock is down 73% over the past year. Over the trailing 3 months, insiders filed 2 open-market buys and 1 sale (SEC Form 4).
Cardlytics, Inc. (CDLX) financials & analyst ratings
Fundamentals (TTM)
Source: exchange market data + company filings. Figures are trailing-twelve-month or as most recently reported. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
CDLX earnings date, history & EPS estimates
| Report date | EPS est | EPS actual | Surprise | Revenue | Rev. surprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 2026 | $-0.37 | $-0.25 | +32.4% | $34M | -7.7% |
| Mar 4, 2026 | $-0.14 | $-0.15 | -11.1% | $56M | +15.2% |
| Nov 5, 2025 | $-0.07 | $-0.07 | +0.0% | $52M | -4.5% |
| Mar 12, 2025 | $-0.24 | $-0.31 | -29.2% | $74M | +20.8% |
| Mar 14, 2024 | $0.12 | $0.14 | +16.7% | $89M | -0.4% |
| May 4, 2023 | $-0.40 | $-0.25 | +37.5% | $68M | +4.4% |
| Mar 1, 2023 | $-0.53 | $-0.29 | +45.3% | $83M | -1.3% |
| Nov 1, 2022 | $-0.54 | $-0.50 | +7.4% | $73M | -1.6% |
| Aug 2, 2022 | $-0.54 | $-0.65 | -20.4% | $75M | -0.8% |
| May 2, 2022 | $-0.69 | $-0.38 | +44.9% | $68M | +5.0% |
| Mar 1, 2022 | $-0.41 | $-0.15 | +63.4% | $90M | +17.7% |
| Nov 2, 2021 | $-0.50 | $-0.33 | +34.0% | $65M | +4.7% |
CDLX insider trading activity (SEC Form 4)
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2026 | Hill Scott Adirector | Grant | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Francis Jonathan Edwarddirector | Option | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Klinck John L. Jr.director | Option | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Fernandez Andre Jdirector | Grant | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Hornsey Lianedirector | Option | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Francis Jonathan Edwarddirector | Grant | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Hill Scott Adirector | Option | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Gupta Srishti A.director | Grant | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Hornsey Lianedirector | Grant | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Klinck John L. Jr.director | Grant | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Fernandez Andre Jdirector | Option | 11,000 | — |
| May 21, 2026 | Gupta Srishti A.director | Option | 11,000 | — |
| May 19, 2026 | Evans David Thomasofficer: Chief Financial Officer | Buy | 150,000 | $0.65 |
| May 19, 2026 | Evans David Thomasofficer: Chief Financial Officer | Buy | 50,000 | $0.63 |
| Apr 6, 2026 | Gupta Amitdirector, officer: Chief Executive Officer | Sell | 69,833 | $1.19 |
Source: CDLX SEC Form 4 filings, latest May 21, 2026. For informational purposes only — not investment advice.
See the full CDLX insider & 13F page →Cardlytics, Inc. company profile
Overview
Cardlytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDLX) is an advertising technology company founded in 2008 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company went public in February 2018 and operates a unique advertising platform that leverages bank transaction data to help marketers reach consumers through their financial institution partners. Cardlytics has expanded internationally to the United Kingdom and acquired Bridg, a customer data platform, to diversify its offerings beyond traditional bank-based advertising channels.
Business
Cardlytics operates in the digital advertising industry, specifically in what's known as purchase-based advertising or transaction-driven marketing. This represents a specialized segment of the broader digital advertising ecosystem that uses actual consumer spending data rather than traditional demographic or behavioral targeting. The company's core offering is the Cardlytics platform, which functions as a native advertising channel embedded within banking applications and digital interfaces. When consumers log into their bank accounts or mobile banking apps, they see personalized offers and advertisements based on their actual spending patterns. For example, if someone frequently purchases coffee, they might see offers for competing coffee chains or related products. This approach differs fundamentally from traditional digital advertising that relies on cookies, search history, or demographic assumptions. The company operates three main business segments: 1. U.S. Cardlytics Platform (approximately 70-75% of revenue): Partners with major financial institutions like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo to deliver targeted offers to banking customers. The platform reaches over 165 million monthly active users through these banking partnerships. 2. U.K. Operations (approximately 15-20% of revenue): Similar to the U.S. model but serving the United Kingdom market, showing strong growth with partnerships including Monzo and other financial institutions. 3. Bridg Platform (approximately 10-15% of revenue): A customer data platform acquired to expand beyond banking partnerships. Bridg utilizes point-of-sale data from retailers to help marketers perform analytics, targeted loyalty marketing, and measure campaign effectiveness. This platform maintains over 110 million unique shopper profiles and is being developed into a retail media network called Rippl.
Revenue model
Cardlytics generates revenue through multiple interconnected business models centered around advertising services and data insights. The primary revenue model involves advertising fees paid by marketers who want to reach consumers through the company's banking and retail partners. The company operates on a revenue-sharing model with its financial institution partners. When consumers engage with offers (such as making purchases after viewing advertisements), Cardlytics collects fees from advertisers and shares a portion with the banking partners. The company has been transitioning from traditional impression-based pricing to engagement-based pricing, where advertisers pay based on actual consumer actions rather than just ad views. For the Bridg platform, revenue comes from subscription fees and service fees for data analytics and marketing services provided to retailers. This includes customer segmentation, loyalty program management, and campaign measurement services. The paying customers are primarily large enterprise advertisers across various sectors including consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, travel, financial services, and specialty retail. These advertisers value Cardlytics' unique ability to measure actual purchase behavior and target consumers based on real spending patterns rather than inferred interests. Several factors influence the company's margins and profitability. Positive margin drivers include the shift to engagement-based pricing (which typically commands higher rates), expansion of the advertiser base to reduce dependence on large accounts, and the development of higher-margin data and analytics services. The company's unique access to transaction data creates pricing power, as this information is difficult to replicate through other advertising channels. Margin pressures come from the revenue-sharing arrangements with banking partners (typically 50-60% of revenue is shared), competitive pressure from other digital advertising platforms, macroeconomic conditions affecting advertiser spending, and the significant technology investments required to maintain and improve the platform. Consumer spending patterns also directly impact revenue, as the platform's effectiveness depends on active consumer engagement with banking applications and actual purchase behavior.
Competitive moat
Cardlytics possesses a moderate to strong competitive moat built primarily around exclusive data access and network effects, though this moat faces evolving challenges in the digital advertising landscape. The company's primary competitive advantage stems from its exclusive partnerships with major financial institutions, providing access to real transaction data that competitors cannot easily replicate. This creates a significant barrier to entry, as establishing similar banking relationships requires substantial time, trust-building, and regulatory compliance. The transaction data offers superior targeting accuracy compared to traditional digital advertising methods, as it's based on actual spending behavior rather than inferred preferences. Network effects strengthen the platform as more advertisers join, creating better targeting capabilities and more diverse offers for consumers, which in turn attracts more banking partners. The scale of 165+ million monthly active users across major banks creates a valuable audience that's difficult to assemble elsewhere. However, the moat faces several challenges. Regulatory risks around data privacy and financial data usage could limit the platform's effectiveness or require costly compliance measures. The company's dependence on banking partners creates vulnerability, as these relationships could be terminated or renegotiated on less favorable terms. Major banks could potentially develop competing internal capabilities or partner with larger technology companies. Competitive threats come from multiple directions: traditional digital advertising giants like Google and Facebook have vast resources and could develop competing transaction-based advertising products; fintech companies and neobanks might create their own advertising platforms; and retail media networks (like Amazon's advertising business) offer alternative ways for advertisers to reach consumers based on purchase data. The emergence of privacy-focused regulations and the deprecation of third-party cookies actually strengthens Cardlytics' position by making first-party transaction data more valuable. However, the company must continuously invest in technology and maintain strong banking relationships to preserve its competitive advantages.
Risks & safety
The company presents moderate to high financial risk with limited margin of safety, reflecting ongoing profitability challenges and elevated debt levels. • Cash Position: $52 million in cash and short-term investments as of Q1 2025, down from $66 million in Q4 2024, indicating continued cash burn • Debt Burden: Debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44, representing significant leverage that constrains financial flexibility • Profitability: Negative EBITDA of -$4 million in Q1 2025, though improved from -$135 million in Q3 2024; company targeting positive adjusted EBITDA by year-end 2025 • Cash Flow: Negative free cash flow of -$6.7 million in Q1 2025, with extended line of credit to 2028 providing some breathing room • Valuation Metrics: Trading at negative P/E ratios due to losses; price-to-book ratio of 1.47 suggests modest premium to book value • Liquidity: Current ratio of 1.19 indicates tight working capital position; management reports $87 million in available liquidity including credit facilities • Other Considerations: Recent 15% workforce reduction demonstrates cost discipline but also reflects operational challenges; revenue decline trends create uncertainty about path to profitability
Recent development
Over the past few years, Cardlytics has undergone significant strategic transformation focused on what management calls "platformization" - evolving from a traditional bank-embedded advertising service to a broader advertising technology platform. The company implemented a four-pillar strategic framework: increasing supply (expanding beyond traditional banking partners), strengthening demand (diversifying advertiser relationships), optimizing network performance (improving ad delivery and targeting), and growing the Bridg business. A key milestone was launching the Cardlytics Rewards Platform (CRP) with its first non-financial institution partner, marking expansion beyond traditional banking channels. Technology modernization has been central to the transformation, including migration to cloud infrastructure, development of the Ad Decisioning Engine (ADE) with 80% of banking partners now onboarded, and transition to engagement-based pricing models. The company resolved significant delivery performance issues that plagued operations in 2023-2024 through improved campaign management, better forecasting, and increased automation. The Bridg platform integration represents another major strategic shift, combining Cardlytics' banking transaction data with Bridg's point-of-sale retail data to create more sophisticated targeting capabilities. This has enabled development of micro-targeting solutions for CPG advertisers and expansion of the Rippl retail media network, which now maintains over 110 million unique shopper profiles. Geographic expansion in the U.K. has shown strong results, with four consecutive quarters of double-digit growth and profitability, demonstrating the model's international scalability. The company has also focused on advertiser diversification, reducing dependence on large accounts while expanding into new verticals like specialty retail, which grew 52% in the most recent quarter. Recent operational restructuring included a 15% workforce reduction and extension of credit facilities to 2028, reflecting efforts to achieve profitability while maintaining strategic investments in platform development and market expansion.
CDLX company profile · for informational purposes only — not investment advice.
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