Global Revenue up 2% and Billings up 6%
Loss from continuing operations was
Groupon relaunched
"Q3 was a consequential quarter for how Groupon operates," said Dusan Senkypl, Chief Executive Officer of Groupon. "We continued strengthening our operating leadership, accelerated our investments in agentic commerce through the relaunch of
Third Quarter 2026 Highlights
Global Revenue up 2% and Billings up 6% (up 6% FX-neutral) year-over-year.
North America Local Revenue was flat and Local Billings up 4%, driven by strength in Things to Do and our Enterprise channel, and growth in our paid and organic channels.
International Local Revenue up 12% and Local Billings up 11% (up 12% FX-neutral), driven by an expansion of seasonally relevant supply in major International cities, led by Health, Beauty & Wellness and Things to Do, and growth in our paid and organic channels.
Active customers were 16.2 million, roughly flat year-over-year, as 4% growth in International offset a 1% decline in
North America .Unit sales were 9.0 million, down 2% year-over-year, reflecting lower transaction volume in
North America , partially offset by growth in International. Average order value increased 8% as customers purchased higher-value offerings.Loss from continuing operations was
$0.8 million , compared with a loss from continuing operations of$117.8 million in the prior year period.Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, was positive
$14.7 million , compared with positive$17.5 million in the prior year period.Operating cash outflow from continuing operations was
$43.2 million and free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial measure, was negative$45.8 million .Cash and cash equivalents as of
September 30, 2026 were$177.4 million .The payroll actions under the 2026 Restructuring Plan are estimated to result in
$20.0 million to$25.0 million in annualized cost savings. The Company estimates total pre-tax charges of$7.0 million to$10.0 million , with a majority of the related headcount reductions having occurred by the end of the third quarter.Project Foundry, our project to redesign how Groupon works as an AI-native company, continues to drive meaningful change throughout our organization. In Q3, we launched FoundryAI (FAI), our internal AI platform designed to centralize company data, tools and skills and enable teams to share AI capabilities across the organization. The majority of our employees have moved onto the platform, and we expect FAI to become the default way our teams work by the end of 2026.
On
October 15 , we relaunchedLivingSocial as an agent-first experience marketplace and our lab for agentic commerce, opening in public preview with more than 50,000 local experiences acrossthe United States .
Definitions and reconciliations of all non-GAAP financial measures and additional information regarding operating measures are included below in the section titled "Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Operating Metrics" and in the accompanying tables.
2026 Outlook1
For the fourth quarter and full year 2026, the Company expects:
| As of | Q4 2026 Guidance | 2026 Guidance | |||||
| Low-end | High-end | Low-end | High-end | ||||
| Billings | +4% | +6% | +3% | ||||
| Revenue | |||||||
| flat | +2% | flat | +1% | ||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | |||||||
| Free Cash Flow | Positive | At Least | |||||
1 We do not provide a reconciliation for non-GAAP estimates on a forward-looking basis where we are unable to provide a meaningful calculation or estimation of reconciling items and the information is not available without unreasonable effort. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items that would impact the most directly comparable forward-looking
The outlook above reflects management's current expectations for 2026 and includes forward-looking statements regarding the Company's anticipated financial performance and operating priorities. Actual results may differ materially as a result of risks and uncertainties described in Groupon's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Form 10-Q and Form 10-K.
For information about our guidance, refer to our earnings commentary that is posted on our investor relations website (investor.groupon.com).
Conference Call
A conference call will be webcast
Groupon encourages investors to use its investor relations website as a way of easily finding information about the Company. Groupon promptly makes available on this website, free of charge, the reports that the Company files or furnishes with the
Groupon's management team will host an investor update in
About Groupon
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) (www.groupon.com) is a trusted local marketplace where consumers go to buy services and experiences that make life more interesting and deliver boundless value. To find out more about Groupon, please visit press.groupon.com.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Operating Metrics
In addition to financial results reported in accordance with
We exclude the following items from one or more of our non-GAAP financial measures:
Stock-based compensation. We exclude stock-based compensation because it is primarily non-cash in nature and we believe that non-GAAP financial measures excluding this item provide meaningful supplemental information about our operating performance and liquidity.
Depreciation and amortization. We exclude depreciation and amortization expenses because they are non-cash in nature and we believe that non-GAAP financial measures excluding these items provide meaningful supplemental information about our operating performance and liquidity.
Income taxes, interest, and other non-operating items. Income taxes, interest, and other non-operating items include: income taxes, foreign currency gains and losses, interest income and interest expense. We exclude interest and other non-operating items from certain of our non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that excluding these items provides meaningful supplemental information about our core operating performance and facilitates comparisons to our historical operating results.
Special charges and credits. We exclude special charges and credits related to our 2026 Restructuring Plan, 2022 Restructuring Plan and 2020 Restructuring Plan, loss on extinguishment of debt, as well as gain on sale of business. We exclude special charges and credits from Adjusted EBITDA because we believe that excluding those items provides meaningful supplemental information about our core operating performance and facilitates comparisons with our historical results.
Descriptions of the non-GAAP financial measures included in this release and the accompanying tables are as follows:
Foreign currency exchange rate neutral operating results show current period operating results as if foreign currency exchange rates had remained the same as those in effect in the prior year period. Those measures are intended to facilitate comparisons to our historical performance.
Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP performance measure that we define as Income (loss) from continuing operations excluding income taxes, interest and other non-operating items, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and other special charges and credits, including items that are unusual in nature or infrequently occurring. Our definition of Adjusted EBITDA may differ from similar measures used by other companies, even when similar terms are used to identify such measures. Adjusted EBITDA is a key measure used by our management and Board to evaluate operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions. Accordingly, we believe that Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and Board. However, Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a substitute for Income (loss) from continuing operations.
Free cash flow is a non-GAAP liquidity measure that comprises Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations less purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software. We use free cash flow to conduct and evaluate our business because, although it is similar to Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations, we believe that it typically represents a more useful measure of cash flows because purchases of fixed assets, software developed for internal use and website development costs are necessary components of our ongoing operations. Free cash flow is not intended to represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for the applicable period.
Descriptions of the operating metrics included in this release and the accompanying tables are as follows:
Gross billings is the total dollar value of customer purchases of goods and services. Gross billings is presented net of customer refunds, order discounts and sales and related taxes. The substantial majority of our revenue transactions are comprised of sales of vouchers and similar transactions in which we collect the transaction price from the customer and remit a portion of the transaction price to the third-party merchant who will provide the related goods or services. For these transactions, gross billings differs from Revenue reported in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations, which is presented net of the merchant's share of the transaction price. Gross billings is an indicator of our growth and business performance as it measures the dollar volume of transactions generated through our marketplaces. Tracking gross billings also allows us to monitor the percentage of gross billings that we are able to retain after payments to merchants.
Active customers are unique user accounts, identified by a distinct email address, that have made a purchase during the trailing twelve months ("TTM") either through one of our online marketplaces or directly with a merchant for which we earned a commission. We consider this metric to be an important indicator of our business performance as it helps us to understand how the number of customers actively purchasing our offerings is trending. Some customers could establish and make purchases from more than one account, so it is possible that our active customer metric may count certain customers more than once in a given period. We do not include consumers who solely make purchases with retailers using digital coupons accessed through our websites or mobile applications in our active customer metric, nor do we include consumers who solely make purchases of our inventory through third-party marketplaces with which we partner.
Units are the number of purchases during the reporting period, before refunds and cancellations, made either through one of our online marketplaces, a third-party marketplace, or directly with a merchant for which we earn a commission. We do not include purchases with retailers using digital coupons accessed through our websites or mobile applications in our units metric. We consider units to be an important indicator of the total volume of business conducted through our marketplaces.
Note on Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained in this release that refer to plans and expectations for the next quarter, the full year or the future are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended ("Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"), including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial position, business strategy and plans and our objectives for future operations and future liquidity. The words "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "intend," "continue" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in our forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to execute and achieve the expected benefits of our go-forward strategy, including our broader AI-native transformation; the risk that the anticipated benefits of our AI strategy may not be realized in the time frame we expect or at all and may have adverse effects on our operations, merchants and customers; the risk that our public statements regarding our AI strategy and deployment of AI agents are not adequately substantiated or are later viewed as inconsistent with our actual capabilities or results; execution of our business and marketing strategies; volatility in our operating results; challenges arising from our international operations, including fluctuations in currency exchange rates, tax, legal and regulatory developments in the jurisdictions in which we operate and geopolitical instability; global economic uncertainty, including as a result of inflationary pressures; any impact from
As used herein, "Groupon," "the Company," "we," "our," "us" and similar terms include
Non-GAAP Reconciliation Schedules
(in thousands)
(unaudited)
The following is a quarterly reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the most comparable
| Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |||||||||||||||
| Income (loss) from continuing operations | $ | (117,782 | ) | $ | 8,081 | $ | (12,589 | ) | $ | (1,456 | ) | $ | (806 | ) | |||||
| Adjustments: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | 11,109 | 10,189 | 11,911 | 8,330 | 3,816 | ||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 4,301 | 4,267 | 4,191 | 4,060 | 4,323 | ||||||||||||||
| Restructuring and related charges (credits) | (64 | ) | (61 | ) | 7 | 3,161 | 2,334 | ||||||||||||
| Loss on extinguishment of debt | 99,925 | - | - | - | - | ||||||||||||||
| Other (income) expense, net | (1,197 | ) | (3,595 | ) | 4,371 | 3,275 | 1,565 | ||||||||||||
| Provision (benefit) for income taxes | 21,248 | 2,022 | 4,899 | (2,536 | ) | 3,502 | |||||||||||||
| Total adjustments | 135,322 | 12,822 | 25,379 | 16,290 | 15,540 | ||||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 17,540 | $ | 20,903 | $ | 12,790 | $ | 14,834 | $ | 14,734 |
Free cash flow is a non-GAAP liquidity measure. The following is a reconciliation of free cash flow to the most comparable
| Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | Q3 2026 | |||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing operations | $ | (20,506 | ) | $ | 56,607 | $ | (9,958 | ) | $ | 18,127 | $ | (43,208 | ) | ||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment and capitalized software from continuing operations | (4,082 | ) | (3,575 | ) | (3,559 | ) | (3,105 | ) | (2,575 | ) | |||||||||
| Free cash flow | $ | (24,588 | ) | $ | 53,032 | $ | (13,517 | ) | $ | 15,022 | $ | (45,783 | ) | ||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities from continuing operations | $ | (3,024 | ) | $ | 2,423 | $ | (3,559 | ) | $ | (3,105 | ) | $ | (2,575 | ) | |||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities | $ | (3,275 | ) | $ | (1,097 | ) | $ | (55,669 | ) | $ | (13,827 | ) | $ | (6,684 | ) |

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SOURCE Groupon