Ibotta returned to year-over-year revenue growth a quarter earlier than management had framed, and the investment debate is no longer whether the publisher network can add shoppers. The debate is whether consumer packaged goods brands put enough offer inventory onto that larger network to convert reach into paid redemptions. Second-quarter revenue reached $88.9 million, a 3% increase. Redemption revenue, the fee earned when a shopper completes a qualifying purchase, rose at the fastest clip since late 2024. That is the first clean read that advertiser supply, not just publisher logos, is moving again.
The print still mixes a genuine commercial repair with a calendar gift. Third-party publisher redemption revenue climbed 27%, and redemptions per redeemer on those properties turned positive for the first time since late 2024. Management attributes the inflection to a verticalized sales rebuild that began in the third quarter of last year and to LiveLift, a machine-learning product that lets a brand set profitability constraints and then lets the network tune the offer. The same quarter also pulled Walmart deal-day activity into June, which the finance chief sized at a few points of growth versus the prior outlook. A recovery that needs a retailer event to clear the bar is not yet a run-rate recovery.
The owned-app franchise continues to shrink underneath that publisher story, and that mix shift is the second half of the debate. Direct-to-consumer redemption revenue fell 24% as shoppers migrate into white-label retailer and delivery apps. Advertising and other revenue, which rides the owned audience, fell 32%. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization landed at $16.5 million. The margin held near the full-year 2025 level even as stock-based compensation nearly matched that adjusted profit. Cash generation stayed positive, and the company kept buying stock, but the quality of the earnings bridge is thinner than the headline margin implies.
Four variables decide whether this is an inflection or a pause. Offer-supply depth shows up first in third-party redemptions per redeemer. LiveLift scale shows up next, because the product still sits behind spend and duration gates and remains a modest slice of revenue. Walmart agreement durability is the concentration variable the entire white-label model still leans on. Publisher-mix versus owned-app decay is the fourth, because a network that grows redeemers while advertising and direct cash-back fade can look healthy on volume and still stall on total revenue. The market already treats the second-quarter beat as proof that 2025 was the trough. The next two prints on those four variables either confirm that read or expose it as early.