## Vivid Seats Q2 2025 Earnings Reveal Sharp Declines Amid Market Softness; Unveils Major Cost Restructuring Initiative

Vivid Seats Inc. (NASDAQ: SEAT), the online ticketing marketplace, released its second quarter 2025 financial performance on August 5, 2025, revealing significant headwinds across key operational metrics alongside an aggressive organizational restructuring plan.

### The Numbers Tell a Challenging Story

The quarter reflected mounting pressures across the live events ticketing ecosystem. Marketplace Gross Order Value (GOV) contracted to $685.5 million, representing a steep 31% year-over-year decline from $998.1 million in Q2 2024. Revenue deterioration mirrored this trend, falling 28% to $143.6 million compared to $198.3 million in the prior-year period.

Profitability metrics painted an even bleaker picture. The company recorded a net loss of $263.3 million for the quarter, a dramatic swing from the $1.2 million loss reported in Q2 2024—largely driven by $320.4 million in impairment charges related to goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. Adjusted EBITDA, which strips out non-recurring items, declined $29.8 million to $14.4 million, underscoring operational stress beneath the headline losses.

Transaction volumes reflected broader market weakness. Marketplace orders totaled 2,173 thousand, down from 3,097 thousand year-over-year. Event cancellations contributed approximately $20.3 million in negative impact to GOV during the quarter.

### Strategic Response: $25 Million Cost Reduction Program

In response to near-term market challenges, Vivid Seats unveiled an ambitious cost reduction initiative targeting $25 million in annualized savings, with full implementation expected by year-end 2025.

"We continued to navigate a challenging industry backdrop in the second quarter as we saw pressure on consumer spending coupled with continued competitive intensity in performance marketing channels," explained Stan Chia, Chief Executive Officer. "Industry monthly volume trends have been unpredictable while competitive intensity persists near peak levels."

Chia emphasized that despite near-term headwinds, management remains bullish on the long-term structural opportunity. "While near-term growth is under pressure, we continue to view live events as an attractive long-term opportunity with durable supply and demand tailwinds. We have identified $25 million of annualized cost savings that we expect to fully action by the end of 2025. This cost reduction program will both right-size the organization for the current environment and drive enhanced long-term efficiency to ensure Vivid Seats can offer a leading value proposition to fans and sellers over the long-term."

Lawrence Fey, Chief Financial Officer, elaborated on capital allocation priorities: "We intend to utilize a portion of the savings generated by our cost reduction program to be more competitive across key levers to stabilize top line as we look to 2026 and beyond. We anticipate positive cash flow in the third quarter due to a combination of typical seasonality improvements and a belief that the degree of June's industry volume softness was atypical."

### Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Dynamics

As of June 30, 2025, Vivid Seats held $153.0 million in cash and equivalents, down from $243.5 million at year-end 2024. Total assets declined to $1.15 billion from $1.64 billion, reflecting the impairment charges and operational pressures.

Cash flow from operations turned negative during the first half of 2025, with the company burning $53.9 million in operating cash flow (compared to generating $25.4 million in the prior-year period). This deterioration was partially offset by seasonal expectations for Q3 recovery.

### Six-Month Cumulative Performance

For the first six months of 2025, cumulative metrics reinforced the quarterly weakness:
- Marketplace GOV: $1.51 billion (down 26% from $2.03 billion in H1 2024)
- Revenue: $307.6 million (down 21% from $389.2 million)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $36.1 million (down 57% from $83.1 million)

### Capital Structure and Reverse Stock Split

Vivid Seats executed a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of its Class A and Class B common stock, effective August 5, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. ET. The reclassified shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on a split-adjusted basis under ticker "SEAT" beginning August 6, 2025.

### Forward Outlook and Investor Relations

Management declined to provide specific 2025 guidance, citing unpredictable industry volume trends and persistent competitive pressures. However, the CFO's commentary suggests stabilization expectations entering 2026, contingent on successful cost program execution and seasonal demand recovery in Q3.

Vivid Seats' investor relations team has prepared supplemental materials available through the company's investor relations portal for those seeking deeper financial analysis and detailed reconciliations of non-GAAP metrics.

### Industry Context

The performance reflects sector-wide challenges in discretionary spending and intensifying competition in digital marketing channels. Event cancellations—totaling 47,845 and 90,198 events during Q2 and H1 2025 respectively—continue to pressure transaction values alongside consumer spending constraints.

Management's positioning suggests confidence in the structural demand for live experiences despite near-term cyclical pressures, with the cost restructuring serving as a bridge to stabilization and long-term value creation.