Futu news reported on November 14 that an AI-driven marketing platform. $Zeta Global (ZETA.US)$ The stock has risen before the market opens. As of the time of writing, the stock is up 20.78%, trading at $21.45, with a pre-market transaction volume of $5.7338 million. It is worth noting that the stock had previously fallen over 50% in the last two days.

In response to the institutions' short-selling report.

On Tuesday, the short-selling agency Culper Research released a report stating that Zeta has formed a "two-way" contractual relationship with a third party, simultaneously acting as both a supplier and buyer of consumer data. According to the report, Zeta has built its own "consent farm" network (i.e., fraudulent websites collecting personal information by offering bribes like gift cards or fictitious job interviews) to gather millions of consumers' data under false pretenses.

Culper believes that these "consent farms" have driven almost all of Zeta's growth over the past two years, now accounting for 56% of its reported adjusted EBITDA. Culper is concerned that Zeta "may face devastating regulatory actions."

In response to the short-selling report released by Culper Research, Zeta strongly refuted the misleading and false accusations in the report yesterday. The company emphasized that its independent auditing firm is Deloitte, not Ernst & Young as incorrectly mentioned in the report, and confirmed confidence in its internal accounting processes and controls.

Zeta clarified that the revenue generated from clients who are both buyers and suppliers is negligible, and as of the third quarter of 2024, the combined revenue contribution from Apptness and ArcaMax is less than 3%. Additionally, the company denied operating a 'consent farm' and reaffirmed its commitment to data protection and privacy compliance.

Share buyback plan

Zeta announced a share buyback plan yesterday, which will repurchase up to $0.1 billion of Class A common stock by December 31, 2026.

Performance for the third quarter of the 2024 fiscal year

As early as this Monday, Zeta released its performance for the third quarter of fiscal year 2024, with outstanding results, the stock price reached an all-time high. The specific performance and guidance are as follows:

• Revenue was 0.268 billion USD, compared to 0.189 billion USD in the same period last year, an increase of approximately 42% year-on-year.

• Net income was -17.38 million USD, compared to -43.09 million USD in the same period last year, with losses narrowing by approximately 60% year-on-year.

• The diluted earnings per share were -0.09 USD, compared to -0.27 USD in the same period last year, with losses narrowing by approximately 67% year-on-year.

• Adjusted EBITDA was 53.6 million USD, compared to 33.7 million USD in the same period last year, an increase of approximately 59% year-on-year.

Fourth quarter performance guidance for the 2024 fiscal year.

• The expected revenue is between 0.293 billion and 0.297 billion USD, an increase of approximately 39% to 41% year-on-year. The median is 0.295 billion USD, which is 32 million USD higher than the previous guidance of 0.263 billion USD.

• The expected adjusted EBITDA is between 64.9 million and 66.9 million USD, an increase of approximately 45% to 49% year-on-year. The median is 65.9 million USD, which is 6.5 million USD higher than the previous guidance of 59.4 million USD.

About the company

Zeta Global is a company that provides data-driven cloud platform services, and its Zeta marketing platform uses advanced data analytics and machine learning technologies to provide consumer intelligence and marketing automation solutions for businesses across multiple industries.