Visual content marketplace Getty Images (NYSE: GETY) met Wall Street expectations for third-quarter 2025 revenue, but sales remained flat year-over-year at $240 million. The company’s full-year outlook was close to analyst estimates, with revenue guided at $946.5 million at the midpoint. Its non-GAAP earnings of $0.08 per share were 84.5% higher than analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy Getty Images? Find out in our full research report.
Income: $240 million versus $240 million estimated by analysts (stable over one year, online)
Adjusted EPS: $0.08 versus analyst estimates of $0.04 (84.5% beat)
Adjusted EBITDA: $78.71 million versus analyst estimates of $72.37 million (32.8% margin, 8.8% beat)
The company reconfirmed its revenue guidance for the full year of $946.5 million at midterm
Full-year EBITDA targets is $292 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $282.3 million
Operating margin: 18.8%, compared to 23.9% in the same quarter last year
Free Cash Flow was $7.89 million, up from -$1.84 million in the same quarter last year
Market capitalization: $734.2 million
“Third quarter results were in line with our expectations, with revenue growth flattening due to difficult year-over-year comparisons versus last year’s strong events calendar,” said Craig Peters, Chairman and CEO of Getty Images.
With a vast library of more than 562 million visual assets documenting everything from breaking news to iconic historical moments, Getty Images (NYSE: GETY) is a global visual content marketplace that licenses photos, videos, illustrations and music to businesses, media and creative professionals.
Looking at a company’s long-term business performance reveals insight into its quality. Any business can experience short-term success, but the most successful ones experience sustained growth for years.
With $946.3 million in revenue over the past 12 months, Getty Images is a small player in the business services space, which sometimes presents disadvantages compared to larger competitors with economies of scale and numerous distribution channels.
As you can see below, Getty Images has grown its sales at a compound annual growth rate of 2.7% over the past five years. This shows that it has failed to generate demand in any meaningful way and is a rough starting point for our analysis.
Getty Images Quarterly Revenue
Long-term growth is most important, but in business services, a half-decade historical view can miss new innovations or demand cycles. Getty Images’ recent performance shows its demand has slowed, with its annualized revenue growth of 1.3% over the past two years falling short of its five-year trend.
Getty Images Year-over-year revenue growth
This quarter, Getty Images’ revenue of $240 million was flat year-over-year and in line with Wall Street estimates.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue growth of 2.1% over the next 12 months, similar to its two-year rate. This projection is disappointing and implies that its new products and services will not yet catalyze better high-end performance.
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Operating margin is a key measure of profitability. Think of it as net income – the bottom line – excluding the impact of taxes and interest on debt, which are less tied to business fundamentals.
Getty Images has been a well-oiled machine for five years. It demonstrated elite profitability for a business services company, with an average operating margin of 18.7%.
Analyzing the evolution of its profitability, Getty Images’ operating margin decreased by 5.9 percentage points over the last five years. This raises questions about the company’s expense base, as its revenue growth should have given it leverage over its fixed costs, resulting in better economies of scale and profitability.
Getty Images 12-month operating margin (GAAP)
In the third quarter, Getty Images generated an operating profit margin of 18.8%, down 5.1 percentage points year-over-year. This contraction shows that it was less efficient because its expenses increased relative to its income.
While profits are undoubtedly valuable in assessing a company’s performance, we believe cash is king because you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills.
Getty Images posted impressive cash profitability, giving it the opportunity to reinvest or return capital to investors. The company’s free cash flow margin has averaged 8.8% over the past five years, better than the business services industry as a whole.
Taking a step back, we see that Getty Images’ margin fell by 11.1 percentage points during this period. If its decline continues, this could signal an increase in investment needs and capital intensity.
Getty Images 12-Month Free Cash Flow Margin
Getty Images’ free cash flow was $7.89 million in the third quarter, a margin of 3.3%. This result is good because its margin is 4 percentage points higher than the same quarter last year, but we do not think too much in the short term because investment needs can be seasonal, leading to temporary fluctuations. Long-term trends have greater significance.
It was good to see Getty Images beating analysts’ EPS expectations this quarter. Overall, we think this is another strong quarter, with a few key areas of upside. The stock traded up 3.2% at $1.78 immediately after the results.
Getty Images had an encouraging quarter, but a single result doesn’t necessarily mean a buy. Let’s see if it’s a good investment. When making this decision, it is important to consider its valuation, its business qualities, as well as what happened over the last quarter. We cover this in our comprehensive, actionable research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.
