Viant Technology Inc. — FY2023 Form 10-K
Business and period: Viant operates a U.S.-focused, cloud-based demand-side advertising platform used by marketers and agencies to plan, buy and measure programmatic campaigns across digital and traditional channels. This filing covers the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023; quarterly figures below are for Q4 ended December 31, 2023. Viant reports one operating segment.
Financial performance
| Metric | FY2023 | FY2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $222.9 million | $197.2 million |
| Gross profit | $102.5 million; 46.0% of revenue | $80.4 million; 40.8% of revenue |
| Operating loss | $18.3 million | $49.3 million |
| Consolidated net loss | $9.9 million | $48.1 million |
| Net loss attributable to Viant Technology Inc. | $3.4 million | $11.9 million |
| Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) | $29.1 million | $(6.1) million |
| Contribution ex-TAC (non-GAAP) | $143.4 million | $124.7 million |
| Cash from operating activities | $37.8 million | $(3.5) million |
Revenue growth was 13.1%. Operating expenses totaled $241.2 million, down 2.1%; sales and marketing fell 20.8% to $50.7 million, while technology and development rose 16.3% to $24.8 million. Stock-based compensation was $32.3 million. Q4 revenue was $64.4 million versus $54.5 million a year earlier; quarterly gross profit was $31.8 million (about 49.3% of revenue), and consolidated net income was $3.3 million versus a loss of $8.0 million. Adjusted EBITDA in Q4 was $13.0 million versus $2.6 million.
Balance sheet, liquidity and debt
At year-end, cash and cash equivalents were $216.5 million, including $188.0 million in money market funds; working capital was $231.6 million. Current assets were $340.4 million and current liabilities $108.9 million. Total assets were $404.9 million and total liabilities $130.5 million. There was no outstanding debt under the revolving facility. The amended PNC facility provides up to $75 million, with $74.1 million of undrawn availability at year-end and maturity in April 2028. The company reported covenant compliance.
Investing cash outflow was $13.5 million, including $12.3 million of capitalized software development costs. Financing cash outflow was $14.4 million, principally member tax distributions of $10.2 million and $4.2 million of taxes paid on net share settlement of equity awards. Cash increased by $9.9 million during the year.
Changes, outlook and notable items
- Management attributed FY2023 revenue growth primarily to a 57% increase from marketers in retail and public services, partly offset by a 4% decline across other verticals. It described advertising-budget trends as stabilizing after reductions in the second half of 2022.
- Management reported that over half of customers had adopted the AI Bid Optimizer, which it said saved users approximately 35% on average compared with prior spending. These are company-reported product claims, not GAAP financial measures.
- No specific numerical FY2024 revenue or earnings guidance is provided in the filing. Management plans continued investment in platform operations, product development, AI and automation, supply integrations, sales and marketing; it expects operating expenses to increase over the long term and notes investment may pressure near-term profitability.
- Viant says it achieved its 2023 carbon-neutrality goal for known and measurable emissions through renewable energy collaborations and purchased offsets/RECs; some RECs were to be fulfilled and retired in early 2024.
- The company recorded a $151,000 income tax provision. Deferred tax assets are fully offset by a valuation allowance; Viant said it did not expect near-term Tax Receivable Agreement payments based on its estimates, while disclosing an approximately $10.3 million unrecorded TRA liability.
- Management reported no current legal proceeding expected to have a material adverse effect and no known cybersecurity threat or incident that had materially affected, or was reasonably likely to materially affect, the company. The 2016 Myspace data breach and continuing privacy obligations remain disclosed risks.
- Financial statements received an unqualified audit opinion. Management concluded disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting were effective; the auditor did not provide an internal-control attestation because of the company’s filer exemptions.
Principal risks and contingencies
- Dependence on advertising budgets and a limited set of agency/customer relationships: one individual customer represented 14.1% of FY2023 revenue, one agency holding company 10.0%, and one customer 17.9% of year-end receivables.
- Changes to third-party cookies, mobile identifiers, privacy rules and access to people-based data could affect targeting, measurement, inventory and revenue. Google had disabled third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users in January 2024 and planned a broader phaseout by year-end 2024.
- Macroeconomic weakness may reduce customer ad spending; sequential-liability terms and timing differences mean Viant may owe suppliers before collecting from customers.
- Competition, supplier access, platform outages, cybersecurity incidents, third-party hosting dependence, and compliance with changing privacy and AI regulation could raise costs or impair operations.
- The company is controlled by the Vanderhook parties, which hold approximately 70% of voting power. Dual-class ownership and Nasdaq controlled-company exemptions limit minority-stockholder influence.
- The $75 million secured revolving facility contains restrictive covenants and a fixed-charge-coverage covenant that applies when undrawn availability falls below 25%. Operating lease and hosting commitments remain material ongoing obligations.
Investor verification points
- Reconcile GAAP net losses with adjusted EBITDA and other non-GAAP measures, including the effects of stock-based compensation and restructuring adjustments.
- Assess whether revenue growth and improving gross margin are durable, including the contribution of retail/public-services customers and customer concentration.
- Track cash conversion, receivables and supplier payment timing, and any future use of the revolving facility.
- Monitor the pace and effects of Chrome cookie changes, privacy-law compliance, data availability and customer adoption of Viant’s identity and AI products.
- Review dilution from equity awards and Class B unit exchanges, the potential future TRA obligation, and the implications of concentrated voting control.