Reddit shares sink 11% on 'choppy' search referrals even as results blow past estimates

Reddit reported second-quarter earnings on Thursday that beat on the top and the bottom lines, and the company issued guidance that sailed past expectations. But the company's shares sank after it revealed in an investor letter that "Search referrals were choppy," underscoring investor concerns about Reddit's reliance on Google to land new users.

Reddit shares sink 11% on 'choppy' search referrals

Here's how the company did compared with LSEG estimates:

• Earnings per share: $1.25 vs. 95 cents expected
• Revenue: $805 million vs. $730 million expected

Sales for the second quarter rose 61% year-over-year from $500 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Net income climbed to $253 million, or $1.25 a share, from $89 million, or 45 cents per share, the previous year.

Third-quarter revenue should come in between $860 million to $870 million, the company said, while  analysts were expecting $828 million. Reddit said adjusted earnings this quarter will be between $385 million and $395 million, topping Wall Street projections of $368 million.

Reddit's revenue rose more than 60% for an eighth straight quarter as the company's ad business continues to benefit from overseas expansion, a rush of new users and continued improvements to its online ad engine.

The results come a day after digital ad giant Meta reported a 28% increase in year-over-year revenue. That topped estimates, but the stock sank due to a weaker-than-expected forecast and dwindling cash flow tied to artificial intelligence investments.

Meta's cash is going the other direction, as the companies investments stay in check. Free cash flow more than doubled to $261 million from $111 million a year ago.

The company's global daily active unique users, or DAUq, jumped 18% year-over-year to 130.3 million for the quarter, ahead of analyst estimates of 129.9 million. Its U.S.-specific DAUq rose 6% to 53.2 million.

Average revenue per user, or ARPU, came in at $6.18 while U.S. ARPU was $11.85.

Reddit's "Other revenue" category, which includes its data licensing business, grew 24% year-over-year to $43 million. The company's two biggest data licensing partners are OpenAI and Google.

While Reddit's user base has been expanding, investors have expressed concern about the company's ability to monetize traffic, as Google search referrals come down.

CEO Steve Huffman wrote in the investor letter on Thursday that, "Search referrals were choppy in the quarter, and traffic was more volatile later in the quarter."

"But the bigger picture is unchanged," he wrote. "The commercial business is strong, our revenue growth is differentiated, and we have much to be encouraged by on the product side."

Reddit shares sank around 7% in after-hours trading, underscoring Wall Street's concerns about the company's search-referral traffic from Google.

Earlier this month, Reddit shares tumbled after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was considering cutting off Google's access to its data. Reddit and publishers like USA Today and Politico are concerned that they're receiving less referral traffic as the search giant increasingly pushes its Gemini-powered AI chat service, the report said.

A Reddit spokesperson told CNBC at the time that it is approaching negotiations "just like any business should, by focusing on doing what's best for Reddit."

Huffman said the company is considering its options.

"In AI overviews, we have still yet to find that win-win, but we're still you know collaborative and looking for that," he said. "I don't think there's any simple binary decision here."

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