Cardlytics (CDLX) AI Stock Analysis

• Market Cap: $37.15M
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Average Volume (3M): 713.15K
• Price to Earnings (P/E): ―
• Beta (1Y): 2.74
• Revenue Growth: -14.41%
• EPS Growth: 65.67%
• Country: US
• Employees: 440
• Sector: Communication Services
• Sector Strength: 97
• Industry: Advertising Agencies
• EPS (TTM): -0.15
• Shares Outstanding: 55,054,268
• 10 Day Avg. Volume: 867,909
• 30 Day Avg. Volume: 713,146
• PEG Ratio: 0.01
• Price to Book (P/B): -9.39
• Price to Sales (P/S): 0.26
• P/FCF Ratio: 6.93
• Enterprise Value/Market Cap: 5.52
• Enterprise Value/Revenue: 0.88
• Enterprise Value/Gross Profit: 1.95
• Enterprise Value/Ebitda: -3.10
• 1Y Price Target: $1.08
• Price Target Upside: 61.19% Upside
• Rating Consensus: Hold
• Number of Analyst Covering: 4
• EPS Forecast (FY): -0.84
• Revenue Forecast (FY): $219.14M

• Rating: 42 Neutral
• Price Target: $0.65 ▼(-3.43% Downside)
• Action: Reiterated Date: 03/05/26
• Date: Action: Reiterated 03/05/26

The score is held down primarily by weak financial fundamentals (ongoing losses and a strained balance sheet) and negative near-term outlook from guidance tied to major partner/supply disruptions. Technicals also show a weak trend. Cost cuts, positive EBITDA/free cash flow, and the CFO appointment provide some support but are not yet enough to outweigh the top-line and balance-sheet risks.

Positive Factors

Bank-channel distribution and proprietary transaction data

Embedding offers inside banks’ digital channels creates a durable distribution moat and exclusive access to transaction signals. That proprietary data enables measurable, performance-oriented campaigns that are hard for generalist ad platforms to replicate, supporting long-term advertiser relevance and retention.

Large addressable audience (MQU growth)

Rapid MQU growth expands available inventory and improves campaign reach, strengthening network effects. A larger, engaged user base increases advertiser ROI potential and gives Cardlytics more leverage to rebuild yield and diversify merchant demand over several quarters.

Operating efficiency from tech modernization

Modernized infrastructure and faster delivery materially lower unit economics and operating cost per campaign. Sustained productivity gains improve margin durability, enable faster product iteration, and reduce incremental cost as revenue scales, supporting persistent EBITDA and cash-flow improvement.

Negative Factors

Loss of a major financial-institution partner

Losing a top FI partner materially reduces access to high-yield audience and transaction supply, directly lowering billings and advertiser ROI. Replacing that scale is time-consuming; until comparable FI relationships and content permissions are rebuilt, top-line recovery remains structurally impaired.

High leverage and weakened equity position

Substantial debt with negative equity erodes the capital cushion, raising refinancing and covenant risks. Balance-sheet strain restricts strategic flexibility, may force asset sales or conservative spend, and makes the company vulnerable if revenue recovery stalls over the next several quarters.

Sustained revenue declines and pricing pressure

Sharply lower ACPU and multi-quarter revenue declines signal durable pricing and mix pressure that reduce monetization per user. Even with cost cuts, persistent lower yield requires sustained increases in billings or higher-value partnerships to restore revenue and margin trajectory.

Cardlytics Business Overview & Revenue Model

Company Description

Cardlytics, Inc. operates an advertising platform in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers Cardlytics platform, a proprietary native bank advertising channel that enables marketers to reach customers through their network of financial institution partners through digital channels, such as online, mobile applications, email, and various real-time notifications; and Bridg platform, a customer data platform which utilizes point-of-sale data and enables marketers to perform analytics and targeted loyalty marketing, as well as measure the impact of their marketing. The company was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

How the Company Makes Money

Cardlytics primarily makes money by enabling merchants/advertisers to run performance-oriented advertising and promotional campaigns that are delivered to consumers through participating financial institutions’ digital banking channels. In this model, Cardlytics’ platform uses transaction data (typically through its financial institution partners) to target offers and to attribute and measure whether a consumer made a qualifying purchase after seeing or activating an offer. Revenue is generally driven by advertising campaign spend from merchants/advertisers and is tied to measurable outcomes (e.g., when a purchase is attributed to a campaign) and/or other campaign pricing arrangements, depending on contract terms. A key feature of the model is that it embeds marketing offers directly into bank channels, so Cardlytics’ ability to generate revenue depends on: (1) the scale and engagement of its financial institution partners’ user bases, which determines available audience and inventory; (2) its roster of merchant/advertiser relationships and their marketing budgets; and (3) the effectiveness and measurement/attribution capabilities of its platform. Financial institution partnerships are significant because they provide distribution (access to consumers in digital banking environments) and purchase data signals used for targeting and measurement; the economics of these arrangements can include sharing a portion of campaign-related revenue or other fees with partners based on their agreements. If more granular detail on specific fee schedules, revenue-share percentages, or named partnership terms is not publicly available in the provided context, null.

Cardlytics Financial Statement Overview

Summary

Financial profile remains pressured: revenue is declining and net losses persist, while the balance sheet is strained with high debt and slightly negative equity. Offsetting that, 2025 shows operational stabilization with positive EBITDA and a return to positive operating and free cash flow, but durability is still uncertain.

Income Statement

Revenue has trended down recently (2025: -7.1% vs. 2024: -10.0%) after modest growth in 2022–2023, showing inconsistent top-line momentum. Profitability remains weak with persistent net losses across all years shown; while 2025 shows positive EBITDA margin (~10.8%), net margin is still deeply negative (~-44%), indicating costs below EBITDA (e.g., depreciation/amortization, interest, other items) continue to pressure bottom-line results. Overall, the income statement reflects improving operating trajectory versus 2022–2024, but the business is still far from sustained profitability.

Balance Sheet

Leverage is a key concern. Total debt remains high (about $215M in 2025) while equity has deteriorated sharply—from positive equity in 2024 (~$70M) to slightly negative in 2025 (~-$6.5M), which materially weakens the capital cushion. Debt relative to equity is therefore unfavorable and less meaningful with negative equity, highlighting balance sheet strain. Total assets also declined versus prior years, suggesting a shrinking balance sheet alongside ongoing losses.

Cash Flow

Cash flow shows a notable improvement in 2025 with positive operating cash flow and positive free cash flow (~$9.3M), a sharp turnaround from negative free cash flow in 2024–2020. However, the trend is volatile: free cash flow fell sharply in 2025 versus 2024 levels, and operating cash generation has been inconsistent historically. Positive free cash flow is a clear near-term strength, but durability is not yet proven given the loss-making earnings profile and prior-year volatility.

Breakdown	Dec 2025	Dec 2024	Dec 2023	Dec 2022	Dec 2021
Income Statement
Total Revenue	233.27M	278.30M	309.20M	298.54M	267.12M
Gross Profit	105.08M	120.89M	130.38M	112.63M	103.34M
EBITDA	-19.73M	-152.53M	-99.00M	-420.41M	-88.21M
Net Income	-103.49M	-189.30M	-134.70M	-465.26M	-128.56M
Balance Sheet
Total Assets	285.64M	392.71M	574.14M	691.24M	1.26B
Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments	48.72M	65.59M	91.83M	121.91M	233.47M
Total Debt	215.31M	221.65M	266.11M	235.26M	197.23M
Total Liabilities	292.15M	322.72M	439.35M	479.63M	573.10M
Stockholders Equity	-6.51M	69.99M	134.80M	211.60M	690.70M
Cash Flow
Free Cash Flow	8.81M	-28.12M	-12.58M	-67.39M	-51.09M
Operating Cash Flow	9.29M	-8.82M	-185.00K	-53.90M	-38.52M
Investing Cash Flow	-15.30M	-18.75M	-10.06M	-15.76M	-506.69M
Financing Cash Flow	-11.12M	1.44M	-20.03M	-39.99M	486.00M

Cardlytics Technical Analysis

• Technical Analysis Sentiment: Negative
• Last Price: 0.67
• 50DMA: Negative
• 100DMA: Negative
• 200DMA: Negative
• MACD: Positive
• RSI: Positive
• STOCH: Positive

Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For CDLX, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 0.67 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 0.83, below the 50-day MA of 1.00, and below the 200-day MA of 1.47, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -0.08 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 29.35 is Positive, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 6.83 is Positive, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for CDLX.

Cardlytics Peers Comparison

Name	Overall Rating	Market Cap	P/E Ratio	ROE	Dividend Yield	Revenue Growth	EPS Growth
QNST	68 Neutral	$709.00M	4.07	4.55%	―	43.12%	―
CRTO	67 Neutral	$906.41M	7.45	13.04%	―	0.32%	69.78%
ZD	63 Neutral	$1.49B	30.42	2.62%	―	5.70%	97.88%
Sector *	60 Neutral	$48.67B	4.58	-11.27%	4.14%	2.83%	-41.78%
EEX	55 Neutral	$805.08M	-28.94	1.20%	1.29%	11.18%	―
CDLX	42 Neutral	$37.15M	-0.59	-370.98%	―	-14.41%	65.67%

Cardlytics Corporate Events

Cardlytics to Sell Bridg Platform Assets to PAR

On January 23, 2026, Cardlytics, Inc. agreed to sell all assets, properties and rights primarily related to its Bridg platform to DB Sub, LLC, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary of PAR Technology Corporation, in a transaction structured as an asset sale with certain specified liabilities assumed by the buyer. As consideration, Cardlytics will receive PAR common stock valued at between $27.5 million and up to $30 million, subject to adjustments for new customer contracts and certain revenue-related closing adjustments, with PAR committing to register the resale of those shares and Cardlytics agreeing to five-year non-compete and non-solicitation covenants on the sold business; the deal, already approved by Cardlytics’ board, remains contingent on customary closing conditions, the absence of material adverse effects, and completion by March 24, 2026, unless extended or terminated under the agreement.

The most recent analyst rating on (CDLX) stock is a Hold with a $1.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Cardlytics stock, see the CDLX Stock Forecast page.

Cardlytics Reappoints David Evans as Chief Financial Officer

On December 18, 2025, Cardlytics announced that company alumnus David Evans will return as Chief Financial Officer, principal financial officer, and principal accounting officer effective January 12, 2026, succeeding outgoing CFO Alexis DeSieno, who will remain in a non-officer advisory role through March 6, 2026 to ensure a smooth transition. Evans, who previously helped steer Cardlytics through its early growth and 2018 IPO and later served as CEO of Passport Labs and an advisor and board member to several technology firms, will oversee finance, accounting and investor relations as the company navigates a self-described critical stage of its turnaround, with a compensation package that includes a $400,000 base salary, a target bonus equal to his salary, a 1,000,000-unit RSU inducement grant with staged vesting, a $200,000 signing bonus subject to clawback if he departs within 12 months, and severance protections that underscore the board’s bid to secure experienced financial leadership and signal continuity and renewed discipline to investors and other stakeholders.

The most recent analyst rating on (CDLX) stock is a Hold with a $1.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Cardlytics stock, see the CDLX Stock Forecast page.