Beyond the headline.
Inside the numbers.
Ticker Byline
People Incorporated owns digital and print publisher People Inc. Group and a minority investment in MGM Resorts. Content licensing helped offset lower advertising as visits declined, while print revenue continued to contract.
People Incorporated (Nasdaq: PPLI) owns digital and print publisher People Inc. Group, whose brands include PEOPLE, Allrecipes, Investopedia, Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure. It also owns The Daily Beast and Vivian Health and holds a significant minority investment in MGM Resorts International.
The listed parent changed its name from IAC to People Incorporated on June 4, 2026. The publishing subsidiary, previously Dotdash Meredith, became People Inc. Group on June 30.
The table compares the three months ended September 30. Amounts are USD millions. Revenue and operating figures use the current presentation of continuing businesses and the current adjusted EBITDA definition. The parent net-loss figures also include discontinued businesses.
| Results | 2026 Q3 | 2025 Q3 |
|---|---|---|
| Group revenue | 430.8 | 447.1 |
| Operating loss, GAAP | (3.0) | (27.2) |
| Net loss attributable to parent shareholders, GAAP | (687.5) | (21.9) |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 54.8 | 55.1 |
| Publishing digital revenue | 288.5 | 283.2 |
| Publishing print revenue | 127.6 | 152.6 |
Adjusted EBITDA adds back stock compensation, depreciation, amortization and selected restructuring, lease, transaction and litigation items. Its definition expanded in Q2 2026, with prior periods recast. Digital comparisons also reflect a move of legacy agency activity from print into digital.
Digital revenue grew 2%, as licensing and other revenue of $52.7 million and performance marketing of $73.9 million helped offset advertising's decline to $161.9 million. The licensing category includes brand royalties, Apple News+, syndication and AI-related content arrangements.
Total network visits fell 25% to 1.794 billion. Core-site visits fell 26% to 1.613 billion. Those figures count visits, rather than individual readers. Management links the decline to changes in search and content discovery.
Digital adjusted EBITDA was $72 million, versus $73.2 million. Total publisher adjusted EBITDA was $70.4 million, versus $75.7 million, as print revenue fell 16%. Digital GAAP operating income rose to $48.7 million from $38.4 million, helped by lower amortization and prior-year severance. Higher marketing spending, compensation and software costs weighed on adjusted digital profit.
Annual group adjusted EBITDA is forecast at $263 million to $283 million, versus August's $255 million to $290 million. The publishing business is expected to contribute $330 million to $345 million, versus $325 million to $355 million previously, before parent costs and other businesses.
Digital revenue is now expected to grow in the mid-single digits, compared with the earlier mid-to-high-single-digit expectation. For Q4, the company expects low-to-mid-single-digit digital growth.
Annual GAAP operating income is forecast at $6 million to $49 million, versus $15 million to $80 million previously. The revised outlook includes $30 million to $35 million of restructuring costs, up from $10 million to $15 million.
People Inc. executed staffing reductions on October 29 and expects $15 million to $20 million of Q4 severance expense. The separate consolidation of parent corporate functions remains targeted for completion in Q1 2027, with approximately $45 million of annual operating expense and $30 million of annual stock compensation at that point, before possible cost reallocations.
Nine-month operating cash from continuing businesses was $105.6 million, versus $0.1 million. After $25.3 million of capital spending, free cash flow was $80.2 million, versus negative $12.5 million. Last year's cash flow included $47.4 million of office-lease payments.
Consolidated cash was $1.319 billion at September 30. Approximately $372.4 million was at the publishing subsidiary and $946.4 million elsewhere in the group.
Debt is an obligation of the publishing subsidiary. Principal totaled $1.423 billion; the balance-sheet carrying amount was $1.409 billion after financing adjustments. Borrowing agreements limit some transfers of cash from the subsidiary.
People Incorporated completed the sale of its limited-partner stake in a third-party fund on August 4 for $185.1 million of net proceeds. The sale generated a $174.9 million pretax gain. Those proceeds are separate from operating cash flow.
It completed the Care.com sale on March 16. Search operations ceased when the Google Services Agreement expired on April 30. Both businesses are presented as discontinued operations in the comparative financial statements. Angi was spun off on March 31, 2025.
The company withdrew its proposal to acquire MGM shares it did not already own on September 23. It continues to hold 66.8 million MGM shares, valued at $2.075 billion at September 30. A $1.120 billion unrealized pretax loss on that investment heavily affected Q3's GAAP net loss.
An October 27 amendment to the MGM voting agreement limits additional purchases if they would take the company, Barry Diller and their controlled affiliates above 29.9% ownership, with an exception for passive increases from MGM buybacks.
Analysis PPLI
People Incorporated's publisher grew digital revenue despite a steep decline in visits. Our document comparison shows how licensing offset lost advertising and why adjusted publishing profit still fell.