By Karsten Weide, Chief Analyst
Criteo reported its third-quarter 2025 earnings on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. The AdTech company delivered the tenth quarter of profitable net growth in a row, powered by Retail Media momentum and disciplined execution. Criteo also announced its decision to redomicile to Luxembourg and set the stage for a future U.S. listing. The move signals ambition: to simplify structure, broaden investor access, and assert its identity as a global commerce-media platform capable of competing with Amazon, Google, and The Trade Desk alike.
Strategic Business Highlights
Criteo’s Q3 2025 performance underscored how its multi-year transformation from retargeting vendor to full-funnel “commerce media” player is paying off. Advertising spend transacted on its platform reached $1 billion in the quarter and $4.3 billion over the past 12 months. Retail Media Contribution ex-TAC grew 11% year over year, while Performance Media rose 7%, showing Retail Media remains its main growth motor while the legacy retargeting business still delivers reasonably strong growth.
Strategically, Criteo expanded its network of retail partners-adding DoorDash, Sephora and others. It also became Google’s first onsite Retail Media partner, allowing advertisers to buy Criteo retailer inventory via Search Ads 360. The company also hired Amazon Advertising veteran Edouard Dinichert as Chief Customer Officer, likely to stem the attrition of clients. Those client losses have now lasted for the last ten quarters, even though revenue per client has steadily increased. Overall, these moves illustrate a clear competitive aim: leveraging its commerce data and AI infrastructure to remain a leading independent alternative to walled-garden ad platforms.
Revenue Numbers
Criteo reported $470 million in gross revenue for Q3 2025, up 2% year-over-year (flat at constant currency). Net revenue ex traffic acquisition costs (TAC) grew by 8% to $288 million. This means the company has become more efficient at monetizing its platform at lower TAC. In fact, Criteo has now improved efficiency for the past twenty quarters.
In comparison, The Trade Desk’s delivered an average revenue growth rate of 25% over the past two years, driven by Connected TV. But Criteo’s mix is structurally different. It competes primarily in Retail Media and commerce-driven display, markets growing in the high single digits. Criteo’s ability to raise profitability while maintaining positive growth in this slower-moving segment suggests a maturing, disciplined operator rather than a hyper-growth story.
Revenue by Product Segment
Criteo operates two core segments: Retail Media and Performance Media. Retail Media connects brands to shoppers directly on retailer sites and apps, while Performance Media covers open-web and social-based campaigns targeting high-intent consumers.
In Q3 2025, Retail Media revenue increased 11% and Performance Media 7%. The composition shift toward Retail Media has been striking. Five years ago, more than 90% of Criteo’s revenue came from retargeting. Now, Retail Media accounts for nearly a quarter of total Contribution ex-TAC and is expanding faster. Performance Media remains larger by revenue but slower-growing as Criteo focuses on integrating AI-driven commerce audiences and new creative tools.
Revenue by Geography
Criteo reports results primarily by region: Americas, EMEA, and APAC. The United States remain its largest market at a 43% share of gross revenue, followed by EMEA at 37% and APAC contributing 20%. The Americas segment has consistently increased its share over the past five years, with EMEA flat or slightly down, and APAC losing share. Importantly though, the key Americas region has lost revenue for the past six quarters. This is perhaps another reason why the company has hired a Chief Customer Officer, assuming that the company’s client loss is concentrated in the United States.
The long-term shift in the regional mix mirrors the global expansion of Retail Media advertising. Criteo’s penetration among U.S. retailers such as DoorDash and JCPenney underscores its foothold in the world’s most dynamic retail media market, while partnerships with European chains and Indian marketplaces signal diversification. Relative to The Trade Desk, whose revenue remains heavily skewed toward North America, Criteo maintains a more balanced international footprint – a hedge against regional disruptions.
Operating Income and Profitability
Gross profit climbed 11% to $256 million, and net income increased by 9% to $40 million. That translated to GAAP EPS of $0.70 and adjusted EPS of $1.31, easily surpassing Wall Street expectations of $0.93 per share. The GAAP figure adheres to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (strict U.S. standards enforced by the SEC), capturing a comprehensive view of profitability, including one-time, non-cash, or irregular expenses. In contrast, the adjusted diluted EPS is a non-GAAP metric that management uses to highlight “core” operational performance by excluding items deemed non-recurring or not reflective of ongoing business trends. This adjustment provides investors with a cleaner, apples-to-apples comparison across periods but can sometimes paint an overly optimistic picture if overused.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 28% year over year to $105 million, yielding a 36% margin on Contribution ex-TAC versus 31% a year earlier. Operating expenses fell 8% on a GAAP basis as Criteo reined in stock-based compensation and discretionary costs.
Investors responded enthusiastically to Criteo’s results. The company’s shares jumped nearly 6% to around $22 after earnings.
Cash Reserve
As of September 30 2025, Criteo held $296 million in cash and marketable securities, with total liquidity of about $811 million including its credit facility. Free cash flow for the quarter was $67 million, up 72% year on year, and the company repurchased $115 million of shares year-to-date. These numbers suggest ample capacity to finance AI development, product expansion, and potential bolt-on acquisitions without raising debt.
Looking Ahead
The quarter’s most consequential announcement was Criteo’s plan to move its legal domicile from France to Luxembourg, terminating its ADS structure and directly listing ordinary shares on Nasdaq. American depository shares allow companies not directly listed on U.S. stock exchanges to be traded in the United States. The conversion, expected by Q3 2026, will simplify governance and position Criteo for potential inclusion in U.S. stock indices – giving it access to capital off-limits to companies listed abroad. A subsequent move to the United States as early as 2027 is also under consideration.
The message is clear: French Criteo is preparing to become more “American” to better leverage the key U.S. market. Its new AI-driven “agentic commerce” vision – showcased in its Q3 presentation – frames Criteo not just as an ad tech platform but as an infrastructure layer for autonomous buying and selling in commerce, preparing for a future in which shopping bots make purchases on behalf of consumers rather than consumers themselves.
Strengths. Criteo’s key strengths lie in its commerce data, AI models, and global retail relationships. Its technology now operates across the entire commerce funnel-from product discovery to conversion-enabling closed-loop measurement that few rivals can match.
Weaknesses. Yet Criteo still faces a growth ceiling in traditional Performance Media, where competition from Google and Meta remains fierce and costs are rising.
Opportunities. The migration to Luxembourg opens doors to U.S. index eligibility and broader institutional ownership. Retail Media remains a massive opportunity as more retailers monetize onsite and offsite inventory. Criteo is also positioning itself as an AI infrastructure partner for retailers and brands experimenting with autonomous agents and agentic commerce.
Threats. The competitive environment is tightening. Amazon Advertising’s expansion poses an existential threat. Macroeconomic headwinds, especially in Europe, could slow ad spend and pressure Criteo’s smaller retail partners. And any delays or regulatory snags in the plan to move to the U.S. could temper investor enthusiasm.
More broadly, the digital advertising industry is entering a new phase defined by AI-driven planning, agentic commerce, and retail media consolidation. Criteo’s evolution from a retargeting specialist to a profit-focused commerce platform places it in the vanguard of this shift – provided it can keep executing.
Conclusion
Criteo’s third quarter of 2025 showed reasonably strong growth, beat expectations on profit and cash flow, proved the company’s model can scale efficiently and signaled a clear path to becoming a truly global, index-eligible public company. For investors and industry observers, the message is one of discipline and determination. Criteo is building the next generation of commerce media infrastructure.
About Criteo
Criteo (NASDAQ: CRTO) is a global technology company that connects brands, agencies, retailers, and media owners through its AI-powered advertising platform, enabling personalized commerce experiences and measurable business outcomes. More information at www.criteo.com.
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