Summary
LiveRamp opened fiscal 2027 with revenue of $214.0 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up 9.8% from $194.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Management attributed the gain to growth in both Subscription and Marketplace and Other revenue, with upsell to existing customers, higher variable revenue, and Data Marketplace and transactional activity all contributing. One wrinkle: the company issued no financial guidance for the next quarter or the full fiscal year and did not host an earnings call, in each case because of the pending sale to Publicis Groupe.
Profitability improved faster than the top line. Gross profit was $150.9 million, up 10.6%, and gross margin of 70.5% rose 0.5 percentage points. Operating income was $20.2 million, up 179.2%, and operating margin of 9.4% rose 5.7 percentage points. Net income reached $17.5 million, up 126.1%, and diluted earnings per share were $0.28 against $0.12 a year earlier.
Non-GAAP results point the same direction. Non-GAAP gross profit was $155 million, up 10%, and its 72% margin was stable. Non-GAAP operating income of $50 million was up 41% and carried a 24% margin. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $0.65. The largest cost pressure came from cloud infrastructure spending tied to heavier customer usage and platform migration work, which partly offset the revenue gain.
Cash generation flipped positive. Operating cash flow was $17.0 million, up from a use of $15.8 million in the prior-year quarter. Capital expenditures were $0.7 million, up 109.2%. Free cash flow, a non-GAAP measure, was $16 million. The backlog lines look less healthy. Current deferred revenue of $45.3 million was down 12.7% year over year, and remaining performance obligations of $684.9 million were down 0.8%.
The company's own operating metrics tell a steadier story. Annualized recurring revenue was $539 million, up 7%, and current remaining performance obligations were $482 million, up 7%. Subscription net retention was 103%, down from 104% a year earlier, and platform net retention was 106%. LiveRamp ended the quarter with 132 customers generating more than $1 million in annualized subscription revenue, versus 127 a year ago, and 845 direct subscription customers, versus 835. About 84% of subscription revenue was fixed and 16% was usage based, a mix that keeps results exposed to volume swings.
Product news leaned into AI and agentic tooling. LiveRamp launched the Agent Builders Lab program, enabled marketers running ChatGPT ad campaigns to feed conversion events through its Conversions API Hub, embedded identity, activation, collaboration and measurement in Databricks' new agentic customer data platform, added an Adobe GenStudio integration for commerce media networks, and struck a measurement partnership with DoorDash. Those efforts support the pitch that the data collaboration network is the connective layer for marketing AI.
The pending Publicis transaction dominates the investment case. The all-cash deal values LiveRamp equity at $38.50 per share, and the company still expects it to close before the end of calendar 2026, subject to a shareholder vote scheduled for August 17, 2026 and to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The merger agreement restricts buybacks, capital expenditures, equity issuance and new debt while the deal is pending, and repurchases are paused; the quarter still included 0.6 million shares bought back for $17.6 million, and merger-related legal and professional fees ran through the gains, losses and other items line. The risks disclosed with the deal are the familiar ones: customers may not renew, data suppliers may withhold data, competition and technology move fast, and anticipated AI benefits may not materialize. Privacy regulation, the decline of third-party cookies and tracking, litigation, tariffs, recession, inflation, acquisition integration and talent retention all remain on the list. If the deal closes, LiveRamp shares delist from the NYSE.
Forecast
No forward guidance in this quarter's filings.
Reported figures
GAAP, from SEC filings| Metric | Q1 FY2027 | Q4 FY2026 | QoQ | Q1 FY2026 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $214.0M | $206.1M | +3.8% | $194.8M | +9.8% |
| Gross profit | $150.9M | $145.5M | +3.7% | $136.5M | +10.6% |
| Gross margin | 70.5% | 70.6% | -0.1 pp | 70.1% | +0.5 pp |
| Research & development | $37.1M | $37.8M | -1.6% | $39.6M | -6.2% |
| Sales & marketing | $51.9M | $56.2M | -7.6% | $51.9M | +0.1% |
| General & administrative | $35.1M | $33.0M | +6.6% | $37.3M | -5.9% |
| Total operating expenses | $130.8M | $130.3M | +0.4% | $129.3M | +1.2% |
| Operating income (loss) | $20.2M | $15.3M | +31.8% | $7.2M | +179.2% |
| Operating margin | 9.4% | 7.4% | +2.0 pp | 3.7% | +5.7 pp |
| Net income (loss) | $17.5M | $70.9M | -75.3% | $7.7M | +126.1% |
| Net margin | 8.2% | 34.4% | -26.2 pp | 4.0% | +4.2 pp |
| Diluted EPS | $0.28 | $1.09 | -$0.81 | $0.12 | +$0.16 |
Risks
The Company's pending merger with a Publicis subsidiary at $38.50 per share in cash is expected to close by the end of calendar year 2026 but remains subject to a stockholder vote at the August 2026 special meeting and required regulatory approvals. If the merger is not consummated, or is delayed, the Company faces potential adverse effects on its business and the market price of its common stock, and upon consummation the common stock will be delisted from the NYSE and deregistered under the Exchange Act.
Under the Merger Agreement the Company must conduct business in the ordinary course and cannot, without Parent's consent, make capital expenditures above specified amounts, issue equity, incur indebtedness, or repurchase stock other than for tax withholding and option exercise prices. The Company has paused repurchases under its stock repurchase program (remaining capacity of $244.2 million at June 30, 2026) through completion of the merger, limiting a prior use of capital.
Backlog and deferred revenue softened versus the prior-year quarter: remaining performance obligations were $684.9 million, down 0.8%, and current deferred revenue was $45.3 million, down 12.7%. Subscription net retention slipped to 103% from 104%, which the Company attributed to lower contribution from variable revenue, and CRPO growth of 7% trailed the 14% growth reported in the prior-year comparison period.
Management cites uncertainty regarding tariffs and other trade restrictions, risk of recession, the military conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, cost increases, capital markets volatility and general inflationary pressures as factors that could impair customer collections, the ability to raise capital, and overall liquidity. These conditions could increase the Company's cost of capital and force it to curtail operations if it cannot raise funds when needed.
The Company completed the wind down of its arrangement with a third-party service provider in India and onboarded those roles, adding approximately 180 employees and bringing India headcount to about 265 as of July 1, 2026. Restructuring and other charges were $6.6 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up $6.1 million from $0.4 million a year ago, with the current period primarily reflecting acquisition-related costs tied to the Merger.
Total other income, net decreased $0.6 million to $3.1 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared to $3.7 million in the prior-year period, primarily attributable to lower interest rates. Continued rate declines would further reduce non-operating income that currently supports profitability.
SaaS KPIs
All quarters →Non-GAAP Operating Margin
Platform Net Retention
Subscription Net Retention
Current Remaining Performance Obligations (CRPO)
Customers > $1M ARR
Direct Subscription Customers
Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR)
Free Cash Flow
Non-GAAP Operating Income
Summary, forecast, risks and KPIs are extracted from LiveRamp Holdings, Inc.'s SEC filings for Q1 FY2027 (10-Q / 10-K and the 8-K earnings release); GAAP figures in the summary are checked against the reported XBRL data. They can contain errors; the filings are authoritative. Processed Oct 2, 2026.