Shutterstock Revenue Falls to $221.8 Million as Next Earnings Report Looms
Key Facts
Shutterstock shares closed at $4.41 on October 28, according to EL7 data, with attention turning to third-quarter results due on November 5. The company reported revenue of $221.8 million in the second quarter of 2026, down from $267.0 million in the same period of 2025, according to its financial statement. Details of the leadership appointment report cited in an earlier summary could not be verified, so its claims that founder John Oringer would return as CEO or that Hisham Assi would be appointed cannot be confirmed. This context puts the focus back on the company’s core business performance, particularly customer acquisition, as the next disclosure approaches. The announced date for the November earnings call also contradicts the earlier draft’s claim that it had been canceled.
The decline extended to the subscriber base, which stood at 951,000 at the end of the second quarter, compared with 1.073 million at the end of the second quarter of 2025, according to Shutterstock data. The company attributed weaker content revenue mainly to a decline in new customer acquisition, saying in its statement that "our content revenue decline was primarily driven by weaker new customer acquisition." The figures link falling revenue with a shrinking subscriber base, both indicators of the challenge facing the company’s core business. Customer growth therefore stands out as a key factor in assessing next quarter’s results, alongside total revenue. The company’s data did not provide a more recent subscriber figure or third-quarter revenue.
The revenue decline coincided with the company swinging to a net loss of $155.9 million in the second quarter of 2026, after reporting net income of $29.4 million a year earlier. Shutterstock said the loss included a non-cash, after-tax goodwill impairment of $163.4 million. That means the goodwill impairment was larger than the reported net loss, while falling revenue and a smaller subscriber base remained part of the period’s operating picture. The year-over-year comparison shows a different accounting result between the two quarters, while the company explicitly distinguishes the recorded loss from the non-cash item it included. The available data provided no further detail linking the impairment to the performance of a particular segment.
In August, management announced operating expense reductions at an annualized rate of more than $70 million over the previous 18 months, and targeted an additional $60 million in annualized savings by the end of 2026. The additional target is part of efforts to reduce expenses as the company faces weaker customer acquisition and declining revenue. In its earlier second-quarter results announcement, Shutterstock said it would not provide guidance for the rest of 2026 and canceled the earnings call scheduled for August 6. That cancellation applied to the earlier call and does not match the subsequently announced November date. The company had said it expected to discuss its long-term strategy in the weeks after the second-quarter results announcement, but that did not establish a date or commitment for a new update after October.
Any change in the CEO role, if confirmed by an official source, would potentially return Oringer to a position he held from the company’s founding in 2003 until he became chairman and CEO in April 2020, according to the annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Shutterstock announced in February 2020 that Stan Pavlovsky would become CEO and Oringer would move to chairman and CEO, effective April 1 that year. In July 2026, the company said its board would begin a search for a permanent CEO and that Hennessy would remain a non-executive adviser through August 7. This leadership record provides context for recent reports of a change, but the new appointment details in the release summary are unconfirmed here. Getty Images also disclosed that it terminated its merger agreement with Shutterstock on July 7, 2026, an earlier development in the company’s background.
Shutterstock said its third-quarter 2026 results will be released on November 5, with an earnings call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, according to its investor relations website. The company is preparing to provide its latest financial figures on the announced date, after canceling the call scheduled for August and declining to issue guidance for the rest of the year. Revenue and customer metrics will allow investors to compare the new quarter’s performance with the second quarter, when revenue was $221.8 million and subscribers totaled 951,000. The results will also come as management pursues an additional $60 million in annualized operating expense reductions by year-end. The available information did not specify a date for a separate update on its long-term strategy.