CHICAGO, May 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vivid Seats Inc. (NASDAQ:SEAT) ("Vivid Seats" or "we"), a leading marketplace that utilizes its technology platform to connect millions of buyers with thousands of ticket sellers across hundreds of thousands of events each year, today provided financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. "We are proud to deliver another strong quarter, showcasing the power of our core business and the momentum that has continued into 2024," said Stan Chia, Vivid Seats CEO. "We were able to drive these results while simultaneously furthering our strategic initiatives, including driving revenue synergies by optimizing ticket listings across our Vegas.com and Vivid Seats properties. With our focus on accelerating our international expansion timeline, we have made excellent progress internationalizing our platform to scale efficiently across geographies and look forward to that launch later this year. As we continue to unlock leverage from our recent investments, and as the live event industry continues to benefit from long-term tailwinds, we anticipate driving sustained double-digit growth on both the top and bottom line for years to come." First Quarter 2024 Key Operational and Financial Metrics Marketplace GOV of $1,028.5 million – up 20% from $855.5 million in Q1 2023 Revenues of $190.9 million – up 18% from $161.1 million in Q1 2023 Net income of $10.7 million – down 65% from $30.3 million in Q1 2023 Adjusted EBITDA of $38.9 million – down 8% from $42.4 million in Q1 2023 "We delivered 20% top-line growth in the first quarter, which we converted to strong Adjusted EBITDA while making incremental investments to expand internationally," said Lawrence Fey, Vivid Seats CFO. "This strong start to the year was in line with our expectations and we continue to forecast high-teens Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA growth in 2024. In the first quarter, we generated $39 million of cash from operations and initiated our 2024 share repurchase program; we will seek to continue delivering shareholder value through strategic deployment of our robust cash flow." Key Performance Indicators ('000s)     Three Months Ended March 31,       2024   2023   Marketplace GOV(1)   $ 1,028,477   $ 855,528   Total Marketplace orders(2)     2,876     2,275   Total Resale orders(3)     99     87   Adjusted EBITDA(4)   $ 38,920   $ 42,435   (1) Marketplace Gross Order Value ("Marketplace GOV") represents the total transactional amount of Marketplace segment orders placed on our platform in a period, inclusive of fees, exclusive of taxes, and net of cancellations that occurred during that period. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, Marketplace GOV was negatively impacted by cancellations in the amount of $18.3 million compared to $12.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2023. (2) Total Marketplace orders represents the volume of Marketplace segment orders placed on our platform in a period, net of cancellations that occurred during that period. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, our Marketplace segment experienced 50,049 cancellations compared to 20,480 cancellations during the three months ended March 31, 2023. (3) Total Resale orders represents the volume of Resale segment orders in a period, net of cancellations that occurred during that period. During the three months ended March 31, 2024, our Resale segment experienced 872 cancellations compared to 685 cancellations during the three months ended March 31, 2023. (4) Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure not defined under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). We believe Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors and others in understanding and evaluating our results of operations, as well as provides a useful measure for making period-to-period comparisons of our business performance. See the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures section below for more information and a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to its most directly comparable GAAP measure. 2024 Financial OutlookVivid Seats anticipates Marketplace GOV, Revenues and Adjusted EBITDA for the year ending December 31, 2024 to be: Marketplace GOV in the range of $4.2 billion to $4.5 billion Revenues in the range of $810.0 million to $840.0 million Adjusted EBITDA in the range of $160.0 million to $170.0 million* Additional detail around the 2024 outlook will be available on the first quarter 2024 earnings call.*We calculate forward-looking non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA based on internal forecasts that omit certain information that would be included in forward-looking net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure. We do not attempt to provide a reconciliation of forward-looking Adjusted EBITDA to forward-looking net income because the timing and/or probable significance of certain excluded items that have not yet occurred and are out of our control is inherently uncertain and unavailable without unreasonable efforts. Such items could have a significant and unpredictable impact on our future GAAP financial results. Webcast DetailsVivid Seats will host a webcast at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today to discuss the first quarter 2024 financial results, business updates and financial outlook. Participants may access the live webcast and supplemental earnings presentation on the events page of the Vivid Seats Investor Relations website at https://investors.vividseats.com/events-and-presentations. About Vivid SeatsFounded in 2001, Vivid Seats is a leading online ticket marketplace committed to becoming the ultimate partner for connecting fans to the live events, artists, and teams they love. Based on the belief that everyone should "Experience It Live," the Chicago-based company provides exceptional value by providing one of the widest selections of events and tickets in North America and an industry leading Vivid Seats Rewards program where all fans earn on every purchase. Vivid Seats has been chosen as the official ticketing partner by some of the biggest brands in the entertainment industry including ESPN, Rolling Stone, and the Los Angeles Clippers. Vivid Seats also owns Vivid Picks, a daily fantasy sports app. Through its proprietary software and unique technology, Vivid Seats drives the consumer and business ecosystem for live event ticketing and enables the power of shared experiences to unite people. Vivid Seats has been recognized by Newsweek as one of America's Best Companies for Customer Service in ticketing. Fans who want to have the best live experiences can start by downloading the Vivid Seats mobile app, going to vividseats.com, or calling 866-848-8499. Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements in this press release relate to, without limitation: our future operating results and financial position, including our expectations regarding Marketplace GOV, revenues and Adjusted EBITDA and the impact of our investments; our expectations with respect to live event industry growth; our TAM and competitive positioning; our business strategy; our share repurchase program; and the plans and objectives of management for future operations. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "can," "continue," "could," "designed," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "goal," "intend," "likely," "may," "plan," "project," "propose," "seek," "should," "target," "will" and "would," as well as similar expressions which predict or indicate future events and trends or which do not relate to historical matters, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that can be difficult to predict and/or outside of our control. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: our ability to generate sufficient cash flows or raise additional capital necessary to fund our operations; the supply and demand of live concert, sporting and theater events; our ability to maintain and develop our relationships with ticket buyers, sellers and partners; changes in internet search engine algorithms and dynamics, search engine disintermediation or mobile application marketplace rules; our ability to compete in the ticketing industry; our ability to maintain and improve our platform and develop successful new solutions and enhancements or improve existing ones; the impact of extraordinary events, including disease epidemics and pandemics; the impact of our acquisitions and strategic investments, including our integration of Wavedash Co., Ltd. and Vegas.com, LLC; the effects of any recession and/or heightened inflation; our ability to maintain the integrity of our information systems and infrastructure, and to identify, assess and manage relevant cybersecurity risks; and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" sections of our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Contacts: InvestorsKate MediaJulia VIVID SEATS INC.CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS(in thousands, except per share data) (Unaudited)     March 31,     December 31,       2024     2023   Assets             Current assets:             Cash and cash equivalents   $ 154,028     $ 125,484   Restricted cash     6,851       6,950   Accounts receivable – net     69,649       58,481   Inventory – net     29,505       21,018   Prepaid expenses and other current assets     36,822       34,061   Total current assets     296,855       245,994   Property and equipment – net     9,831       10,156   Right-of-use assets – net     9,287       9,826   Intangible assets – net     233,719       241,155   Goodwill     944,129       947,359   Deferred tax assets     84,727       85,564   Investments     7,190       6,993   Other non-current assets     3,502       3,052   Total assets   $ 1,589,240     $ 1,550,099   Liabilities and equity             Current liabilities:             Accounts payable   $ 307,399     $