NIQ Global Intelligence is the Advent-backed consumer-measurement franchise that listed last July and is now trying to prove that a mid-single-digit organic engine plus sponsor-era cost work can throw off cash rather than another adjusted-earnings story. The latest quarter is the fifth straight beat since the listing, and it is the first print in which levered free cash flow turned clearly positive while both product lines accelerated. That combination is the entire investment debate. Either the cash turn finishes the deleveraging the offering was sold on, or a still-lossy reported P&L and a controlling-shareholder register keep the equity boxed as a private-equity leftover. The stock has recovered from a winter trough well below the offering price, yet it still trades as a leveraged information-services name rather than as a data platform. The market is paying for proof of cash, not for the AI product brochure.
The operating core is a subscription measurement book that just crossed three billion in annualized Intelligence subscription revenue, with net dollar retention still at one hundred five percent. Organic constant-currency growth of 5.8 percent was led by the Americas, while Activation outgrew Intelligence for a second straight quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin expanded two hundred seventy basis points as selling costs stayed roughly flat against a larger revenue base. Roughly half of that expansion came from the February restructuring program and productivity work, and the other half from operating leverage on a largely fixed cost stack. The qualitative tell is client behavior, not the bridge. Twenty-six seven-figure wins, a record net promoter score, and ecommerce plus consumer-panel lines still growing faster than thirty percent all argue that customers are deepening the relationship rather than shopping the contract.
Reported net income stayed negative because last year's large foreign-exchange gain did not repeat and tax expense remained heavy relative to pretax income. Management raised the full-year outlook to mid-single-digit organic growth, a mid-twenty-percent adjusted EBITDA margin, and levered free cash flow of roughly a quarter billion, which implies about three hundred million of cash in the second half alone. Net leverage ended the quarter near 3.1 times, down from 3.4 times, against a year-end target below three. The question the next two prints resolve is whether that second-half cash actually shows up while the YiMian close in China starts to matter, or whether a soft APAC Intelligence line and a sponsor-heavy register keep the multiple pinned to an exit story.