Informa TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT) lowered its full-year 2026 outlook after reporting a decline in third-quarter revenue, as customers took longer to commit to spending and a healthy sales pipeline converted more slowly than management expected.
The company now expects full-year revenue to be modestly lower than in 2025, rather than returning to growth. It also cut its adjusted EBITDA forecast to $80 million to $85 million from $95 million to $100 million.
Chief Executive Officer Gary Nugent said customers were generally healthy and profitable but were weighing the risks and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence. “The healthy opportunity pipeline that we have built through the year is converting more slowly than we anticipated,” he said.
Revenue and profitability decline
Third-quarter revenue fell 2.5% from a year earlier to $119.2 million, though it rose 2.6% sequentially from the second quarter. Revenue for the first nine months was $341.4 million, down 1.4% from $346.1 million in the comparable 2025 period.
Brand to Demand revenue declined 2.5% to $87.8 million in the third quarter. Chief Financial Officer Dan Noreck attributed the decrease primarily to lower intent data revenue and the timing of customer campaigns, particularly in international markets.
Intelligence & Advisory revenue fell 2.4% to $31.5 million. Subscription revenue grew, Noreck said, but lower advisory revenue offset the increase.
Adjusted EBITDA fell to $18.6 million from $22.6 million a year earlier, while the adjusted EBITDA margin declined to 15.6% from 18.5%. Noreck said lower revenue and cost inflation, including higher costs of revenue, weighed on results, partly offset by structural savings and synergies.
The company reported a third-quarter net loss of $18.2 million, compared with a loss of $76.8 million a year earlier. For the first nine months, the net loss narrowed to $110.7 million from $998.8 million. Noreck said the improvement primarily reflected substantially lower non-cash goodwill impairment charges and the absence of restructuring expense in the third quarter of 2026.
Customer caution shapes outlook
Management expects a strong seasonal increase in fourth-quarter revenue and profitability from the third quarter, supported by three annual channel partner forums. Even so, customer caution and slower pipeline conversion prompted the reduced full-year outlook.
Nugent said the company recorded double-digit bookings growth among its largest customers in the third quarter, helped by a greater focus on those accounts and cross-selling. He expects continued volatility in the mid-market and said macroeconomic uncertainty was having a greater impact internationally than in North America.
Some customers are making shorter-term purchases looking ahead roughly 90 days, Nugent said, while others are already planning for 2027. The backlog of orders for 2027 increased during the quarter, he added.
AI products and audience investments
The company launched Buyer Intelligence, an intent-data product with AI features designed to help marketers and sales professionals identify prospects’ business problems, tailor messaging and map buying-group roles. Nugent said more than 40% of users had adopted the new features, with adoption continuing to grow.
Informa TechTarget also launched a framework allowing clients to use its intent and buyer data in their own AI workflows. Beginning in January, joint customers are expected to be able to access the company’s data within Demandbase’s Pipeline Engine, Nugent said.
Asked about customer preferences for accessing intent data, Nugent said some were choosing both the company’s portal and data-as-a-service offerings. He also said intent bookings improved in the third quarter.
The company’s audience membership grew to more than 59 million, a mid-single-digit percentage increase from a year earlier. Nugent said search traffic began to stabilize during the quarter and was converting to membership at a higher rate. The company completed a refresh of TechTarget.com in the quarter and expects to migrate its remaining media titles to the new platform and model by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
Cash flow and balance sheet
Adjusted free cash flow was positive $15 million for the first nine months of 2026. At September 30, the company had $35.3 million in cash and $120.1 million drawn on its $250 million revolving credit facility, resulting in net debt of $84.8 million.
Noreck said cash flows associated with restructuring, acquisition and integration costs would be behind the company as it enters 2027. He said capital expenditures, cash taxes and interest on the credit facility would remain considerations for cash flow.
About TechTarget (NASDAQ:TTGT)
TechTarget, Inc is a business-to-business technology marketing and data company that helps technology vendors identify, reach and engage potential customers. Its platform uses research and content-consumption signals to provide insights into organizations that are actively evaluating technology products and services.
The company offers purchase-intent data, lead-generation programs, digital advertising, content marketing and sales-enablement services. Its products and services are designed to support technology companies throughout the buying process, from building awareness and generating demand to identifying prospective accounts and helping sales teams prioritize outreach.
TechTarget was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts.
