I've been with ACCESS for nearly 20 years, including my time with an organization that became part of ACCESS through an acquisition about six years ago. Specifically, working over this past weekend for us with one of our new IPO customers who is doing their first earnings call today. We delivered both sequential and year-over-year revenue growth, meaningful improvement in profitability, and strong operating discipline, all while continuing to invest in our product and platform enhancements that will drive our future growth. Revenue for the quarter came in at $5.7 million, up 2% sequentially and year-over-year from $5.6 million.
Adjusted EBITDA increased to $933,000, representing 16% of revenue, up from $546,000, or 10% in the same quarter of last year. These results reflect the positive impacts in our operational realignment earlier this year, our continued focus on cost control, and our accelerating shift to subscription-based revenue. Total active customers grew to 12,445, up slightly from the prior quarter and year. Subscription customers increased to 972, representing modest sequential growth and continued retention strength.
Average recurring revenue per subscribing customer also rose to $11,651, up 14% year-over-year, evidence that our value proposition is resonating and our upselling strategy is working. As Brian mentioned, Q3, another quarter of generating increased EBITDA and non-GAAP net income while increasing revenue and lowering operating expenses. Total revenue for the third quarter of 2025 was $5.7 million, an increase of $84,000, or 1.5% compared to $5.6 million for the same period of 2024. For the first nine months of 2025, total revenue was $16.8 million, a $411,000, or 2% decrease from $17.2 million for the same of the prior year.
| Metric | Period | Current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA | Q4 2025 | Management expects continued sequential improvement in both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter. |
| Subscription customers | Year-end 2025 / 2026 | Expected to finish 2025 slightly short of 1,200, then reach well north of 1,500-1,600 subscription customers on the communications platform a year from now |
| Gross margin | 2025 / 2026 | Confident 75% is at a bottom-end level for Q3 and expects gross margins to climb next year as top-line volume scales |
| Corporate office sublease savings | Beginning January 2026 (lease ends end of 2027) | Sublease expected to save over $300,000 per year, phasing in over the next two years |
| Additional operating cost savings | Ongoing | Roughly $30,000 to $50,000 per quarter in additional savings from infrastructure, cloud consolidation and webcast platform upgrades, though management prefers to reinvest for growth |
| Subscription mix of revenue | 2026 | On track to transition the business to a majority subscription model |
| Metric | YoY | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (Q3) | +1.5% (+$84K) to $5.7M; also +2% sequentially | Core press release revenue rose 7% on higher volume, partially offset by declines in pro webcasting and IR website solutions. |
| Nine-month revenue | -2% (-$411K) to $16.8M | Press release revenue increased 1% but was more than offset by declines in pro webcasting and IR website solutions. |
| Adjusted EBITDA (Q3) | +$387K to $933K (16% of revenue) from $546K (10%) | Operational realignment earlier in the year, continued cost control and the accelerating shift to subscription-based revenue. |
| Operating loss from continuing operations (Q3) | Improved to $184K loss from $604K loss | Total operating expenses decreased $380K, or 8%, on lower G&A including reduced bad debt and employee-related expenses. |
| GAAP loss from continuing operations (Q3) | $45K loss ($0.01/share) from $870K loss ($0.23/share) | Lower operating expenses and improved operating results across the core communications business. |
| Non-GAAP net income (Q3) | +$573K to $760K ($0.20/share) from $187K ($0.05/share) | Higher EBITDA and lower operating expenses while revenue grew. |
| Gross margin (Q3) | Flat at 75% | Increased distribution and infrastructure costs from expanding the footprint were offset by efficiencies in operations teams and AI editorial automation. |
| Total active customers | 12,445, up slightly | Modest growth from both the prior quarter and prior year. |
| Subscription customers | 972, modest sequential growth | Continued retention strength as the business shifts toward a subscription-first model. |
| Average recurring revenue per subscribing customer | +14% to $11,651 | Value proposition resonating and the upselling strategy driving higher ARR per subscriber. |
| Topic | Previous mention | Current period | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go to subscription / ARR transition | Ongoing shift discussed in prior quarters | Subscription business reached approximately 50% of revenue, with 972 subscription customers and average ARR per subscriber exceeding $11,650, up 14% year-over-year; management targets a majority subscription model and well north of 1,500-1,600 subscribers next year. | — |
| Rebrand and brand consolidation under ACCESS Newswire | Operated under multiple names including AssureDirect, ACCESSwire, Newswire and DirectTransfer | The January rebrand consolidated the go-to-market into a single Access communications brand, which management says produced a cleaner story, easier sales, no loss of public-company customers, and more traffic and engagement than in the prior 18 years. | — |
| Divestiture of the compliance business | — | The February sale reduced debt by 83% and OPEX by 7% but removed about 300 subscription customers and drove over $1.1 million of tax payments in the quarter; nine-month net income from discontinued operations was nearly $6 million ($1.53 per share) largely from the gain on sale. | — |
| AI automation and agentic products | AI editorial initiatives began earlier in the year | The internal editorial validation system is fully deployed and saves about 5% of editorial time per release, with a customer-facing version expected to add another 5% by year-end; the #KeelTheReport strategy will deliver an agentic, real-time prompting and alerting reporting system, alongside AI agents that analyze content in real time. | — |
| Product roadmap and social media integrations | Trade-up and trade-in strategy discussed over recent quarters | Planned upgrades add real-time monitoring across more than 30 social media platforms and connectivity to a major social media management platform, to be combined into the Access PR platform at year-end to lift ARR and broaden the addressable market. | — |
| Industry market share and LLM-driven content demand | — | Management said ACCESS grew from a low single-digit share to about 20% of news volume while the two largest wires lost share (one from 34% to 27%, another from 32% to 26%) between mid-2023 and Q3 2025, and expects GEO and AEO demand for press release and blog content to drive higher industry volume. | — |
| EDU program and PRSSA Bateman Case Study | — | A new EDU program launched in Q3 gives students and academics free access to the Access PR platform, and the company was selected as the real-world client for the PRSSA Bateman competition involving about 100 colleges and thousands of students, with winners to be announced early next year. | — |