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what it is
Arena runs digital media sites, publishing tools, and the Sports Illustrated media business.
how it gets paid
Last year Arena Hldgs made $126M in revenue. Advertising was the main engine at $80.0M, or 64% of sales.
what just happened
Revenue hit $107M, more than 3x the $34.7M consensus bar.
At a glance
C++ balance sheet — some cracks in the foundation
25/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
1.6x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
-$0.22 fy2024 eps est
$126M fy2024 rev est
xvary composite: 31/100 — weak
What they do
Arena runs digital media sites, publishing tools, and the Sports Illustrated media business.
You get 100 million monthly users for 198 employees. That is 505,051 users per worker, per company data. Gross margin (revenue left after direct costs) was 52.6% in the latest quarter, so the audience does more work than the payroll does.
How they make money
$126M
annual revenue
Advertising
$80.0M
Subscriptions and membership
$25.2M
Platform and other
$20.8M
The products that matter
sells audience attention
Digital Media & Advertising
$86.2M · 64% of revenue mix
it represented 64% of 2025 revenue mix, down from 74% in 2024. you still need this segment to stabilize because it is the part paying most of the bills.
shrinking core
turns content into transactions
Content-to-Commerce
$48.2M · 36% of revenue mix
this segment reached 36% of 2025 revenue mix. that matters because the turnaround depends on this line growing faster than the $86.2M ad business declines.
prove-it pivot
Key numbers
$126M
annual revenue
That is the whole business, not a side hustle.
$107M
latest quarter
One quarter did almost the work of the full-year run rate by itself.
52.6%
gross margin
More than half of sales stayed after direct costs in the latest quarter.
$113M
long-term debt
Debt equals 46% of capital, so lenders still get a vote.
Financial health
C++
strength
- balance sheet grade C++ — below average — limited financial resources
- risk rank 5 — safer than 5% of stocks
- price stability 5 / 100
- long-term debt $113M (46% of capital)
C++ — balance sheet grade and long-term debt are flagged. this stock carries more risk than average.
Total return vs. market
Return history isn't available for AREN right now.
source: institutional data · return history unavailable
What just happened
beat estimates
Revenue hit $107M, more than 3x the $34.7M consensus bar.
EPS came in at $2.51, and gross margin was 52.6%. The quarter was driven by scale, not by a prettier story.
$107.0M
revenue
$2.51
eps
52.6%
gross margin
revenue surprise
The $107M quarter mattered because it was 3.1x the $34.7M estimate.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is advertising revenue shrinking faster than content-to-commerce can replace it.
med
the core business is still the weak part
advertising fell to 64% of the 2025 revenue mix from 74% in 2024. when your largest revenue stream is shrinking, the rest of the business has to grow faster just to keep you flat.
that leaves roughly $86.2M of revenue mix exposed to the part of the model already under pressure.
med
the pivot exists, but it has not carried the whole company
content-to-commerce reached 36% of the 2025 mix, but the latest quarter still showed a 22% revenue decline. that is the contrast that matters. the newer engine is visible. it is not big enough yet.
the turnaround now leans on a $48.2M segment scaling fast enough to cover ad declines and restore growth.
med
debt cuts down your margin for error
long-term debt is $113M, equal to 46% of capital, against a roughly $135M market cap. that is a lot of leverage for a business with a C++ balance sheet and a 25/100 predictability score.
if revenue keeps sliding, financial flexibility gets tighter before the strategy has time to prove itself.
med
the data set is thin where you want confidence
institutional ownership detail is sparse, long-range target data is not published here, and the segment mix disclosure sits next to a different-period revenue estimate. that does not break the story, but it does lower visibility.
when the evidence base is thin, the stock can swing hard on single-quarter prints because there is less else to anchor you.
a 22% quarterly revenue drop plus $113M of long-term debt is the combined risk picture. if sales do not stabilize soon, leverage becomes the story.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
trend
the next revenue print
after revenue fell 22% to $28.2M, the next quarter matters more than management language. you want the decline to slow first. growth comes later.
mix shift
whether commerce keeps gaining share
advertising moved from 74% of revenue to 64% while content-to-commerce rose to 36%. the shift is real. the question is whether it gets big enough, fast enough.
balance sheet
debt versus buybacks
the board authorized up to 3 million shares of repurchases in july 2025. with $113M of debt already sitting there, you should care which claim on cash wins.
quarterly check
whether EBITDA margin stays high while sales heal
35.8% adjusted EBITDA margin bought management some credibility on cost control. if that margin slips while revenue still falls, the turnaround case gets thinner fast.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
25 / 100
this sits near the low end. in human-speak, analysts think quarterly results are hard to model and surprises are more likely than usual.
balance sheet grade
C++
balance sheet grade. in plain english: this is not distressed on this page, but it is weak enough that execution misses matter more.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutional ownership data for AREN is being compiled.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
n/a
n/a
$3
current price
n/a
target midpoint · n/a from current
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