Dolphin Entertainment, Inc. — Call Transcript 2026

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Dolphin Entertainment First Quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, James Carbonara with Hayden Investor Relations. James, the floor is yours. Thank you, operator, and once again, good afternoon, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that during the course of this conference call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involves risks and uncertainties that could differ materially from actual results. Please refer to the forward-looking statements contained in the earnings release published today, as well as the most recent SEC filings and reports. During the call, management will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA or loss. The company believes that these will provide helpful information for investors. Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are provided in the earnings release. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Bill O'Dowd, Chief Executive Officer of Dolphin. Bill, please proceed. Thanks, James, and welcome everyone. As always, I'll start by walking through the key highlights from our first quarter, and then Mirta will take you through the detailed financials before we open it up for your questions. For those who have followed Dolphin Entertainment for a while, you know that our business has a very natural seasonality to it. The first quarter is historically our lightest, and our revenue tends to build as the year goes on, usually peaking in a very strong fourth quarter. With that seasonal context in mind, we are pleased with our start to 2026. On the top line, total revenue grew 5.2% to $12.8 million. To give you just a quick flavor of what that growth looks like on the ground, our agencies have been at the absolute center of pop culture this year. Our powerhouse subsidiaries led major brand activations during Super Bowl LX, and we dominated the awards circuit. 42West and Shore Fire Media clients took home honors at the Grammys, and we celebrated an Oscar win for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. We also had a massive presence at South by Southwest with a company record 16 world premiere titles, and we are seeing fantastic cross-agency collaboration like The Door and Shore Fire teaming up to launch the new hospitality concept, Pawn Shop, in Los Angeles. Where I really want to focus your attention today is on our profitability and our cash flow potential. For the first quarter, we reduced our adjusted EBITDA loss from last year's first quarter by 25% year-over-year. When we calculate adjusted EBITDA, we add back one-time and non-recurring items, along with our significant non-cash amortization costs that come from expensing the intangible assets we acquired through the years of building our marketing supergroup. We do this because it strips out the noise and gives you a much clearer, more accurate picture of our true cash flow potential. The takeaway there is that our core business is operating more efficiently, driving that 25% improvement. While Q1 has historically resulted in an adjusted EBITDA loss, it's also worth noting that in full year 2025, our adjusted EBITDA was a positive $2.9 million. This speaks to the seasonality in our business that I mentioned at the top of my remarks. We certainly hope to beat that adjusted EBITDA result this year. Taking a step back, the broader thesis we laid out on our last call remains entirely intact. After several years of aggressive acquisitions and growth-related investments, Dolphin has built the infrastructure. We are now in the phase where we get to reap the benefits of that work. We operate in incredibly hot sectors, and with our rising profitability and very low capital expenditure requirements, we expect to generate significant free cash flow going forward. It's also worth reminding everyone that we are sitting on approximately $127 million in federal and state Net Operating Loss carryforwards. Because of those NOLs, we pay very little in cash taxes. That means as our EBITDA grows, it translates almost directly into free cash flow. Since our management team and insiders hold a substantial stake in the company, you can be sure we are deeply aligned with our shareholders in driving long-term value. Looking ahead to the rest of this year, to next year and beyond, we are incredibly enthusiastic. Alongside the organic growth we expect from our agencies, we have several major catalysts lined up. First, we are making strides with our DealMaker partnership. We are having good conversations and are targeting having our first deal on the market later this year. This is a perfect example of a catalyst that leverages our existing marketing acumen and carries highly attractive margins. Second, we just announced earlier today the launch of a publishing imprint venture with Copper Books and Simon & Schuster. This gives us the ability to offer premium book publishing services to our clients, whether that's a children's book, James Carbonara's favorite, a cookbook, or a novel. The best part of this model is that Dolphin puts up 0 capital, but we receive 15% of the revenue. It's exactly the kind of capital-light venture we love to pursue. Finally, we want to reiterate two massive contractual catalysts that will fundamentally change our free cash flow profile. First, we expect to realize about $1 million in annualized lease savings when our large legacy leases in New York and Los Angeles expire before the end of 2027. Second, our bank debt matures in roughly two and a half years. Paying that off will save us almost $2.2 million annually in principal and interest. Combined, that is over $3 million in annual cash flow savings that we expect will flow almost entirely to our bottom line. In short, the infrastructure is built. We expect continued revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion throughout 2026, and we are very excited to watch our incremental revenue flow disproportionately to the bottom line. With that, I will turn the call over to Mirta Negrini, our Chief Financial Officer, to walk through the numbers. Mirta? Thank you, Bill, and good afternoon, everyone. I will now review our first quarter 2026 financial results. Total revenue for the three months ended March 31st, 2026 was $12.8 million, an increase of 5.2% from $12.2 million in the prior year same quarter. Our operating loss was $2.1 million for the first quarter of 2026 compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million for the same period in 2025. Operating expenses for Q1 2026 were $14.9 million. As Bill noted, this included unusual items, specifically $900,000 in legal and professional fees, as well as a one-time direct cost of $700,000 related to a distribution guarantee for Youngblood. This compares to operating expenses of $13.9 million in Q1 2025, which included acquisition costs of approximately $400,000. Both periods included non-cash depreciation and amortization expenses of roughly $500,000 and $600,000, respectively. Net loss for Q1 2026 was $2.7 million compared to a net loss of $2.3 million in Q1 of 2025. Basic and diluted loss per share for Q1 2026 was $0.22 based on 12.3 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared to a basic and diluted loss per share of $0.21 in Q1 2025 based on 11.2 million weighted average shares outstanding. Finally, turning to adjusted EBITDA. After adding back non-cash items like depreciation and amortization, as well as the one-time Youngblood guarantee and the unusually high legal fees related to outstanding litigation, our adjusted EBITDA loss for Q1 2026 was approximately $467,000. This represents a 25% improvement compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $625,000 in Q1 2025, reflecting the underlying strength of our core operations. With that, I'll now turn it back to the operator to open the floor for questions. Operator, would you please poll for questions? Certainly. The floor is now open for questions. If you wish to join the queue to ask a question at this time, please press star one on your telephone keypad. We do ask, if listening on speakerphone today, that you pick up your handset while asking your question to provide optimal sound quality. Once again, please press star one on your keypad at this time if you wish to join queue to ask a question. Please hold a moment while we poll for questions. We have a question from Derek Greenberg from Maxim Group. Derek, your line is live. Please go ahead. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to start with just the DealMaker partnership. At the beginning of the call, Bill, you had mentioned you expect to announce your first deal from that later this year. I was wondering if you could just update us. I think on the last call, you had said that deals should generate around 6-figure fees per deal. I was wondering, A, if that math is still correct, if that's what you're seeing. Then, B, as we move forward, kind of just what your expectations are with that partnership in terms of like maybe deals per year or just how you think about how that can contribute to the business overall. Sure. Thanks, Derek, for the question. We had a very nice, let's say vetting call with DealMaker at the end of April, sourcing or sharing the source deals that we have, to evaluate and talk about what we like, what they like, which ones we think are ready for market. It gives me the confidence to believe we'll be able to announce our first deal, maybe even before our next earnings call, but certainly have a deal in market by the end of the year. We have a couple that we're all very excited about. With that said, I do believe that each of these deals will result in 6 figures per year to Dolphin in marketing revenue. I also believe that we'll be able to get to multiple deals per year in the market. We're gonna test with the first one, go through the process together, have that deal in market alone, not try and do two deals at once to start, but get the rhythm down and go from there. It'll impact later this year in a positive way, then it'll be a real driver for us in 2027. Okay, great. Then on one of the other catalysts you had mentioned, with today's announcement of the partnership with Copper Books, you had said you expect to get 15% of revenue with 0 capital. I was wondering, is that in relation to, like, a publishing deal, or is that, like, book sales, how you think about that revenue? Just overall, your expectations for that partnership, and then kind of getting your pipeline of talent activated within that partnership. Yeah. This is a real nice to have for us. We have many clients across most of our companies, quite frankly, that have either published books already, they're established authors or want to. The ability to offer this service to guide them to a national distribution deal through Simon & Schuster is something that really separates us, gives us a little bit of extra reason for the clients to want to either sign with us as a business development tool or retain our clients because we can offer services like this. We'll see the uptake. It's all net positive, as you can see, no investment from Dolphin in this relationship. From that sense, it's anything is additive. We'll see how many take us up on it and how much it grows over time. The publishing industry in general, the book world, is something that we have a couple of irons in the fire on that we think can be very additive to Dolphin. It's entertainment, right? It's something that our companies are already experienced at promoting and marketing. Each of our marketing companies have helped launch books or clients with books or held events for book launches. It's a natural extension for us, and Copper Books is a trusted source. Allison Trowbridge that founded Copper Books is a dear friend of many of us within the company. She has a fabulous business, and Simon & Schuster is obviously one of the big publishers. We're excited for it and looking forward to seeing where it will go. Okay, great. Just on that 15% revenue, if you could just clarify if that was like publishing deal between author and the publisher, if it's book sales, just with that number? Sure. How to think about revenue. Yeah. That'll be 15% of the author's keep. Any consulting fees that are required to get the book into market. That's what that represents. Okay, great. I wanted to ask about the Youngblood movie. I had two questions there. First, if there is just any revenue from this quarter that was related to the premiere and box office run for Youngblood. My other question is just if there's been any updates on a potential streaming deal or your expectations there. Sure. Yeah. The, we recognized $450,000 of revenue in this quarter, from U.S. sales of Youngblood, which is nice. In terms of the streaming sale, I'll go to the middle part, if I could. Sorry. After the theatrical release, we put a movie out for pay-per-view. It did enter pay-per-view through a sub-distribution deal with Universal. We've been told that the first month was looking good, a few hundred thousand in sales. We'll get a full report in the next 30 days, which I could share, of course, on the second quarter earnings call. We're gonna try and use that positive result from the pay-per-view sales to help drive a favorable streaming deal for ourselves. We're waiting on that report, and then hopefully we'll have something to share about a streaming sale on the Q2 earnings call. Okay, great. That's super helpful. Could you touch on just how the revenue share for the pay-per-view works? Typically, in this case, we'll receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 40%-50% of that revenue when there's a sub-distributor like that of Universal Pictures, after they take their fee for doing that. That could be offset by marketing costs and from the first month or two of revenue. As a general rule of thumb, I think you could probably expect something like that in that range. Okay. Got it. I wanted to turn to another initiative you guys had, I think towards the end of last year, just on the Dolphin Intelligence and your marketing initiatives. I was wondering just how that's progressing and what you're seeing. Yeah. That is run by Mark Anderson, who has spoken on a few panels in the last two months, I think, on this topic and is as big a, and I say this with love, as big a geek on this topic as anybody I know, and certainly in the broader industry that we work in. The clients have expressed a strong interest in this service. I think we have signed our first two clients to do what we call the audit, where we go in and effectively audit the results when people search in the general area that that client works in to show them if they are showing up on AI searches, and if not, why not? So that we can take remedial action. It started, and we think the momentum will pick up. Mark will be with me, and we'll have about eight of our team members across Dolphin Entertainment at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It's in Cannes, France, at the end of June. Not to be confused with the Cannes Film Festival that started today. But the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, I would say that AI is AI and influencer marketing are the two twin topics that probably are between them, 90% of the conversation in marketing today. The use of AI and the continued growth of influencer marketing. We have members of our influencer marketing team going to that conference. We have members of our consumer products team. We have Mark from our Dolphin Intelligence team. I'll be there. Our chief of staff will be there. It'll be a good conference for us, and I would expect we'll have some more momentum behind Dolphin Intelligence coming out of that, the biggest conference of the year. Great. Guess just my last question. I was curious how you think about potential M&A from here. Obviously, it was a huge part of your past and history, but I was wondering now that you view the platform as largely built out, if you still plan to opportunistically pursue M&A or just if you had any thoughts on that front. Sure. Yeah, I guess you will never say never, right? I don't know of a single acquisition in a pipeline today. If something comes across our desk or if there's a skill set that, you know, who knows where the world's going, right? If there's a skill set we determine that we need, we could go back into the market. We certainly haven't forgotten how to acquire companies, but we're more focused today on our DealMaker partnership, on our venture, so to speak, that can create disproportionate upside for us along with our organic growth, of course. That has always been the mousetrap that we were trying to build that was a, you know, a better mousetrap, so to speak, right? If we could build this group to a certain scale and have it grow organically so our profits are growing every year, both revenue and profits, but that we could once the group was finished, so we had enough horizontal scale across earned media to provide a suite of marketing services that would influence the outcome of ventures that we pursue, that we could take ownership stakes in, then that's the, that's the better mousetrap, right? Some of these DealMaker type opportunities or some of these ventures that we're evaluating now, they're 10 X's, maybe more. That's what we want to pursue, and quite frankly, a better use of our opportunity cost than incremental acquisitions would be, in our view. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for taking my question. Oh, sure. Thank you. There are no further questions in queue at this time. I would now like to hand the call back to CEO Bill O'Dowd for closing remarks. Well, sure. Thank you. The closing remarks after Q1 usually start with, I know we just spoke six weeks ago. We have the short span here and nothing major to report since we last spoke after our phenomenal Q4 to end 2025. We'll get back into our normal rhythm now of speaking again in 90 days. I think in that type of timeframe, we may have something exciting to talk about, one or two things, and certainly an update on our DealMaker partnership. As I had mentioned, those are the huge opportunities that we see in our future, big catalyst for us coming out of that. In the meantime, the blocking and tackling of just incrementally doing better per quarter, year-over-year, and each quarter gets us one quarter closer to those cash savings that I've really talked quite a bit about on our last couple of calls with the leases expiring and the term loan being paid off. It's gonna free up a lot of cash flow for us, and that's always exciting too. Thank you, everybody, for the time, and look forward to talking to you in 90 days. Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect at this time. Have a wonderful day. Thank you once again for your participation.

Speaker 5: Good afternoon, and welcome to the Dolphin Entertainment First Quarter 2026 earnings call. At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, James Carbonara with Hayden Investor Relations. James, the floor is yours. Good afternoon, and welcome to the Dolphin Entertainment First Quarter 2026 earnings call. good afternoon and welcome to the dolphin entertainment first quarter 2026 earnings call At this time, all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode, and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation. at this time all participants have been placed on a listen-only mode and we will open the floor for your questions and comments after the presentation It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, James Carbonara with Hayden Investor Relations. it is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host james carbonara with hayden investor relations James, the floor is yours. james the floor is yours

Speaker 3: Thank you, operator, and once again, good afternoon, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that during the course of this conference call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involves risks and uncertainties that could differ materially from actual results. Please refer to the forward-looking statements contained in the earnings release published today, as well as the most recent SEC filings and reports. During the call, management will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA or loss. The company believes that these will provide helpful information for investors. Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are provided in the earnings release. Now, I would like to turn the call over to Bill O'Dowd, Chief Executive Officer of Dolphin. Bill, please proceed. Thank you, operator, and once again, good afternoon, everyone. thank you operator and once again good afternoon everyone Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that during the course of this conference call, management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. before we begin i'd like to remind everyone that during the course of this conference call management may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the private securities litigation reform act of 1995 These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involves risks and uncertainties that could differ materially from actual results. these statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and involves risks and uncertainties that could differ materially from actual results Please refer to the forward-looking statements contained in the earnings release published today, as well as the most recent SEC filings and reports. please refer to the forward-looking statements contained in the earnings release published today as well as the most recent sec filings and reports During the call, management will also discuss non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA or loss. during the call management will also discuss non-gaap financial measures including adjusted ebitda or loss The company believes that these will provide helpful information for investors. the company believes that these will provide helpful information for investors Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures are provided in the earnings release. reconciliations to the most comparable gaap measures are provided in the earnings release Now, I would like to turn the call over to Bill O'Dowd, Chief Executive Officer of Dolphin. now i would like to turn the call over to bill o'dowd chief executive officer of dolphin Bill, please proceed. bill please proceed

Speaker 1: Thanks, James, and welcome everyone. As always, I'll start by walking through the key highlights from our first quarter, and then Mirta will take you through the detailed financials before we open it up for your questions. For those who have followed Dolphin Entertainment for a while, you know that our business has a very natural seasonality to it. The first quarter is historically our lightest, and our revenue tends to build as the year goes on, usually peaking in a very strong fourth quarter. With that seasonal context in mind, we are pleased with our start to 2026. On the top line, total revenue grew 5.2% to $12.8 million. To give you just a quick flavor of what that growth looks like on the ground, our agencies have been at the absolute center of pop culture this year. Thanks, James, and welcome everyone. thanks james and welcome everyone As always, I'll start by walking through the key highlights from our first quarter, and then Mirta will take you through the detailed financials before we open it up for your questions. as always i'll start by walking through the key highlights from our first quarter and then mirta will take you through the detailed financials before we open it up for your questions For those who have followed Dolphin Entertainment for a while, you know that our business has a very natural seasonality to it. for those who have followed dolphin entertainment for a while you know that our business has a very natural seasonality to it The first quarter is historically our lightest, and our revenue tends to build as the year goes on, usually peaking in a very strong fourth quarter. the first quarter is historically our lightest and our revenue tends to build as the year goes on usually peaking in a very strong fourth quarter With that seasonal context in mind, we are pleased with our start to 2026. with that seasonal context in mind we are pleased with our start to 2026 On the top line, total revenue grew 5.2% to $12.8 million. on the top line total revenue grew 5.2% to $12.8 million To give you just a quick flavor of what that growth looks like on the ground, our agencies have been at the absolute center of pop culture this year. to give you just a quick flavor of what that growth looks like on the ground our agencies have been at the absolute center of pop culture this year Our powerhouse subsidiaries led major brand activations during Super Bowl LX, and we dominated the awards circuit. 42West and Shore Fire Media clients took home honors at the Grammys, and we celebrated an Oscar win for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. We also had a massive presence at South by Southwest with a company record 16 world premiere titles, and we are seeing fantastic cross-agency collaboration like The Door and Shore Fire teaming up to launch the new hospitality concept, Pawn Shop, in Los Angeles. Where I really want to focus your attention today is on our profitability and our cash flow potential. For the first quarter, we reduced our adjusted EBITDA loss from last year's first quarter by 25% year-over-year. Our powerhouse subsidiaries led major brand activations during Super Bowl LX, and we dominated the awards circuit. 42West and Shore Fire Media clients took home honors at the Grammys, and we celebrated an Oscar win for Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards. our powerhouse subsidiaries led major brand activations during super bowl lx and we dominated the awards circuit 42west and shore fire media clients took home honors at the grammys and we celebrated an oscar win for best documentary feature at the academy awards We also had a massive presence at South by Southwest with a company record 16 world premiere titles, and we are seeing fantastic cross-agency collaboration like The Door and Shore Fire teaming up to launch the new hospitality concept, Pawn Shop, in Los Angeles. we also had a massive presence at south by southwest with a company record 16 world premiere titles and we are seeing fantastic cross-agency collaboration like the door and shore fire teaming up to launch the new hospitality concept pawn shop in los angeles Where I really want to focus your attention today is on our profitability and our cash flow potential. where i really want to focus your attention today is on our profitability and our cash flow potential For the first quarter, we reduced our adjusted EBITDA loss from last year's first quarter by 25% year-over-year. for the first quarter we reduced our adjusted ebitda loss from last year's first quarter by 25% year-over-year When we calculate adjusted EBITDA, we add back one-time and non-recurring items, along with our significant non-cash amortization costs that come from expensing the intangible assets we acquired through the years of building our marketing supergroup. We do this because it strips out the noise and gives you a much clearer, more accurate picture of our true cash flow potential. The takeaway there is that our core business is operating more efficiently, driving that 25% improvement. While Q1 has historically resulted in an adjusted EBITDA loss, it's also worth noting that in full year 2025, our adjusted EBITDA was a positive $2.9 million. This speaks to the seasonality in our business that I mentioned at the top of my remarks. We certainly hope to beat that adjusted EBITDA result this year. When we calculate adjusted EBITDA, we add back one-time and non-recurring items, along with our significant non-cash amortization costs that come from expensing the intangible assets we acquired through the years of building our marketing supergroup. when we calculate adjusted ebitda we add back one-time and non-recurring items along with our significant non-cash amortization costs that come from expensing the intangible assets we acquired through the years of building our marketing supergroup We do this because it strips out the noise and gives you a much clearer, more accurate picture of our true cash flow potential. we do this because it strips out the noise and gives you a much clearer more accurate picture of our true cash flow potential The takeaway there is that our core business is operating more efficiently, driving that 25% improvement. the takeaway there is that our core business is operating more efficiently driving that 25% improvement While Q1 has historically resulted in an adjusted EBITDA loss, it's also worth noting that in full year 2025, our adjusted EBITDA was a positive $2.9 million. while q1 has historically resulted in an adjusted ebitda loss it's also worth noting that in full year 2025 our adjusted ebitda was a positive $2.9 million This speaks to the seasonality in our business that I mentioned at the top of my remarks. this speaks to the seasonality in our business that i mentioned at the top of my remarks We certainly hope to beat that adjusted EBITDA result this year. we certainly hope to beat that adjusted ebitda result this year Taking a step back, the broader thesis we laid out on our last call remains entirely intact. After several years of aggressive acquisitions and growth-related investments, Dolphin has built the infrastructure. We are now in the phase where we get to reap the benefits of that work. We operate in incredibly hot sectors, and with our rising profitability and very low capital expenditure requirements, we expect to generate significant free cash flow going forward. It's also worth reminding everyone that we are sitting on approximately $127 million in federal and state Net Operating Loss carryforwards. Because of those NOLs, we pay very little in cash taxes. That means as our EBITDA grows, it translates almost directly into free cash flow. Taking a step back, the broader thesis we laid out on our last call remains entirely intact. taking a step back the broader thesis we laid out on our last call remains entirely intact After several years of aggressive acquisitions and growth-related investments, Dolphin has built the infrastructure. after several years of aggressive acquisitions and growth-related investments dolphin has built the infrastructure We are now in the phase where we get to reap the benefits of that work. we are now in the phase where we get to reap the benefits of that work We operate in incredibly hot sectors, and with our rising profitability and very low capital expenditure requirements, we expect to generate significant free cash flow going forward. we operate in incredibly hot sectors and with our rising profitability and very low capital expenditure requirements we expect to generate significant free cash flow going forward It's also worth reminding everyone that we are sitting on approximately $127 million in federal and state Net Operating Loss carryforwards. it's also worth reminding everyone that we are sitting on approximately $127 million in federal and state net operating loss carryforwards Because of those NOLs, we pay very little in cash taxes. because of those nols we pay very little in cash taxes That means as our EBITDA grows, it translates almost directly into free cash flow. that means as our ebitda grows it translates almost directly into free cash flow Since our management team and insiders hold a substantial stake in the company, you can be sure we are deeply aligned with our shareholders in driving long-term value. Looking ahead to the rest of this year, to next year and beyond, we are incredibly enthusiastic. Alongside the organic growth we expect from our agencies, we have several major catalysts lined up. First, we are making strides with our DealMaker partnership. We are having good conversations and are targeting having our first deal on the market later this year. This is a perfect example of a catalyst that leverages our existing marketing acumen and carries highly attractive margins. Second, we just announced earlier today the launch of a publishing imprint venture with Copper Books and Simon & Schuster. Since our management team and insiders hold a substantial stake in the company, you can be sure we are deeply aligned with our shareholders in driving long-term value. since our management team and insiders hold a substantial stake in the company you can be sure we are deeply aligned with our shareholders in driving long-term value Looking ahead to the rest of this year, to next year and beyond, we are incredibly enthusiastic. looking ahead to the rest of this year to next year and beyond we are incredibly enthusiastic Alongside the organic growth we expect from our agencies, we have several major catalysts lined up. alongside the organic growth we expect from our agencies we have several major catalysts lined up First, we are making strides with our DealMaker partnership. first we are making strides with our dealmaker partnership We are having good conversations and are targeting having our first deal on the market later this year. we are having good conversations and are targeting having our first deal on the market later this year This is a perfect example of a catalyst that leverages our existing marketing acumen and carries highly attractive margins. this is a perfect example of a catalyst that leverages our existing marketing acumen and carries highly attractive margins Second, we just announced earlier today the launch of a publishing imprint venture with Copper Books and Simon & Schuster. second we just announced earlier today the launch of a publishing imprint venture with copper books and simon & schuster This gives us the ability to offer premium book publishing services to our clients, whether that's a children's book, James Carbonara's favorite, a cookbook, or a novel. The best part of this model is that Dolphin puts up 0 capital, but we receive 15% of the revenue. It's exactly the kind of capital-light venture we love to pursue. Finally, we want to reiterate two massive contractual catalysts that will fundamentally change our free cash flow profile. First, we expect to realize about $1 million in annualized lease savings when our large legacy leases in New York and Los Angeles expire before the end of 2027. Second, our bank debt matures in roughly two and a half years. Paying that off will save us almost $2.2 million annually in principal and interest. This gives us the ability to offer premium book publishing services to our clients, whether that's a children's book, James Carbonara's favorite, a cookbook, or a novel. this gives us the ability to offer premium book publishing services to our clients whether that's a children's book james carbonara's favorite a cookbook or a novel The best part of this model is that Dolphin puts up 0 capital, but we receive 15% of the revenue. the best part of this model is that dolphin puts up 0 capital but we receive 15% of the revenue It's exactly the kind of capital-light venture we love to pursue. it's exactly the kind of capital-light venture we love to pursue Finally, we want to reiterate two massive contractual catalysts that will fundamentally change our free cash flow profile. finally we want to reiterate two massive contractual catalysts that will fundamentally change our free cash flow profile First, we expect to realize about $1 million in annualized lease savings when our large legacy leases in New York and Los Angeles expire before the end of 2027. first we expect to realize about $1 million in annualized lease savings when our large legacy leases in new york and los angeles expire before the end of 2027 Second, our bank debt matures in roughly two and a half years. second our bank debt matures in roughly two and a half years Paying that off will save us almost $2.2 million annually in principal and interest. paying that off will save us almost $2.2 million annually in principal and interest Combined, that is over $3 million in annual cash flow savings that we expect will flow almost entirely to our bottom line. In short, the infrastructure is built. We expect continued revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion throughout 2026, and we are very excited to watch our incremental revenue flow disproportionately to the bottom line. With that, I will turn the call over to Mirta Negrini, our Chief Financial Officer, to walk through the numbers. Mirta? Combined, that is over $3 million in annual cash flow savings that we expect will flow almost entirely to our bottom line. In short, the infrastructure is built. combined that is over $3 million in annual cash flow savings that we expect will flow almost entirely to our bottom line. in short the infrastructure is built We expect continued revenue growth and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion throughout 2026, and we are very excited to watch our incremental revenue flow disproportionately to the bottom line. we expect continued revenue growth and adjusted ebitda margin expansion throughout 2026 and we are very excited to watch our incremental revenue flow disproportionately to the bottom line With that, I will turn the call over to Mirta Negrini, our Chief Financial Officer, to walk through the numbers. with that i will turn the call over to mirta negrini our chief financial officer to walk through the numbers Mirta? mirta

Speaker 4: Thank you, Bill, and good afternoon, everyone. I will now review our first quarter 2026 financial results. Total revenue for the three months ended March 31st, 2026 was $12.8 million, an increase of 5.2% from $12.2 million in the prior year same quarter. Our operating loss was $2.1 million for the first quarter of 2026 compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million for the same period in 2025. Operating expenses for Q1 2026 were $14.9 million. As Bill noted, this included unusual items, specifically $900,000 in legal and professional fees, as well as a one-time direct cost of $700,000 related to a distribution guarantee for Youngblood. Thank you, Bill, and good afternoon, everyone. thank you bill and good afternoon everyone I will now review our first quarter 2026 financial results. i will now review our first quarter 2026 financial results Total revenue for the three months ended March 31st, 2026 was $12.8 million, an increase of 5.2% from $12.2 million in the prior year same quarter. total revenue for the three months ended march 31st 2026 was $12.8 million an increase of 5.2% from $12.2 million in the prior year same quarter Our operating loss was $2.1 million for the first quarter of 2026 compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million for the same period in 2025. our operating loss was $2.1 million for the first quarter of 2026 compared to an operating loss of $1.8 million for the same period in 2025 Operating expenses for Q1 2026 were $14.9 million. operating expenses for q1 2026 were $14.9 million As Bill noted, this included unusual items, specifically $900,000 in legal and professional fees, as well as a one-time direct cost of $700,000 related to a distribution guarantee for Youngblood. as bill noted this included unusual items specifically $900,000 in legal and professional fees as well as a one-time direct cost of $700,000 related to a distribution guarantee for youngblood This compares to operating expenses of $13.9 million in Q1 2025, which included acquisition costs of approximately $400,000. Both periods included non-cash depreciation and amortization expenses of roughly $500,000 and $600,000, respectively. Net loss for Q1 2026 was $2.7 million compared to a net loss of $2.3 million in Q1 of 2025. Basic and diluted loss per share for Q1 2026 was $0.22 based on 12.3 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared to a basic and diluted loss per share of $0.21 in Q1 2025 based on 11.2 million weighted average shares outstanding. Finally, turning to adjusted EBITDA. This compares to operating expenses of $13.9 million in Q1 2025, which included acquisition costs of approximately $400,000. this compares to operating expenses of $13.9 million in q1 2025 which included acquisition costs of approximately $400,000 Both periods included non-cash depreciation and amortization expenses of roughly $500,000 and $600,000, respectively. both periods included non-cash depreciation and amortization expenses of roughly $500,000 and $600,000 respectively Net loss for Q1 2026 was $2.7 million compared to a net loss of $2.3 million in Q1 of 2025. net loss for q1 2026 was $2.7 million compared to a net loss of $2.3 million in q1 of 2025 Basic and diluted loss per share for Q1 2026 was $0.22 based on 12.3 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared to a basic and diluted loss per share of $0.21 in Q1 2025 based on 11.2 million weighted average shares outstanding. basic and diluted loss per share for q1 2026 was $0.22 based on 12.3 million weighted average shares outstanding compared to a basic and diluted loss per share of $0.21 in q1 2025 based on 11.2 million weighted average shares outstanding Finally, turning to adjusted EBITDA. finally turning to adjusted ebitda After adding back non-cash items like depreciation and amortization, as well as the one-time Youngblood guarantee and the unusually high legal fees related to outstanding litigation, our adjusted EBITDA loss for Q1 2026 was approximately $467,000. This represents a 25% improvement compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $625,000 in Q1 2025, reflecting the underlying strength of our core operations. With that, I'll now turn it back to the operator to open the floor for questions. Operator, would you please poll for questions? After adding back non-cash items like depreciation and amortization, as well as the one-time Youngblood guarantee and the unusually high legal fees related to outstanding litigation, our adjusted EBITDA loss for Q1 2026 was approximately $467,000. after adding back non-cash items like depreciation and amortization as well as the one-time youngblood guarantee and the unusually high legal fees related to outstanding litigation our adjusted ebitda loss for q1 2026 was approximately $467,000 This represents a 25% improvement compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of $625,000 in Q1 2025, reflecting the underlying strength of our core operations. this represents a 25% improvement compared to an adjusted ebitda loss of $625,000 in q1 2025 reflecting the underlying strength of our core operations With that, I'll now turn it back to the operator to open the floor for questions. with that i'll now turn it back to the operator to open the floor for questions Operator, would you please poll for questions? operator would you please poll for questions

Speaker 5: Certainly. The floor is now open for questions. If you wish to join the queue to ask a question at this time, please press star one on your telephone keypad. We do ask, if listening on speakerphone today, that you pick up your handset while asking your question to provide optimal sound quality. Once again, please press star one on your keypad at this time if you wish to join queue to ask a question. Please hold a moment while we poll for questions. We have a question from Derek Greenberg from Maxim Group. Derek, your line is live. Please go ahead. Certainly. certainly The floor is now open for questions. the floor is now open for questions If you wish to join the queue to ask a question at this time, please press star one on your telephone keypad. if you wish to join the queue to ask a question at this time please press star one on your telephone keypad We do ask, if listening on speakerphone today, that you pick up your handset while asking your question to provide optimal sound quality. we do ask if listening on speakerphone today that you pick up your handset while asking your question to provide optimal sound quality Once again, please press star one on your keypad at this time if you wish to join queue to ask a question. once again please press star one on your keypad at this time if you wish to join queue to ask a question Please hold a moment while we poll for questions. please hold a moment while we poll for questions We have a question from Derek Greenberg from Maxim Group. we have a question from derek greenberg from maxim group Derek, your line is live. derek your line is live Please go ahead. please go ahead

Speaker 2: Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. I wanted to start with just the DealMaker partnership. At the beginning of the call, Bill, you had mentioned you expect to announce your first deal from that later this year. I was wondering if you could just update us. I think on the last call, you had said that deals should generate around 6-figure fees per deal. I was wondering, A, if that math is still correct, if that's what you're seeing. Then, B, as we move forward, kind of just what your expectations are with that partnership in terms of like maybe deals per year or just how you think about how that can contribute to the business overall. Hey, guys. hey guys Thanks for taking my questions. thanks for taking my questions I wanted to start with just the DealMaker partnership. i wanted to start with just the dealmaker partnership At the beginning of the call, Bill, you had mentioned you expect to announce your first deal from that later this year. at the beginning of the call bill you had mentioned you expect to announce your first deal from that later this year I was wondering if you could just update us. i was wondering if you could just update us I think on the last call, you had said that deals should generate around 6-figure fees per deal. i think on the last call you had said that deals should generate around 6-figure fees per deal I was wondering, A, if that math is still correct, if that's what you're seeing. i was wondering a if that math is still correct if that's what you're seeing Then, B, as we move forward, kind of just what your expectations are with that partnership in terms of like maybe deals per year or just how you think about how that can contribute to the business overall. then b as we move forward kind of just what your expectations are with that partnership in terms of like maybe deals per year or just how you think about how that can contribute to the business overall

Speaker 1: Sure. Thanks, Derek, for the question. We had a very nice, let's say vetting call with DealMaker at the end of April, sourcing or sharing the source deals that we have, to evaluate and talk about what we like, what they like, which ones we think are ready for market. It gives me the confidence to believe we'll be able to announce our first deal, maybe even before our next earnings call, but certainly have a deal in market by the end of the year. We have a couple that we're all very excited about. With that said, I do believe that each of these deals will result in 6 figures per year to Dolphin in marketing revenue. Sure. sure Thanks, Derek, for the question. thanks derek for the question We had a very nice, let's say vetting call with DealMaker at the end of April, sourcing or sharing the source deals that we have, to evaluate and talk about what we like, what they like, which ones we think are ready for market. we had a very nice let's say vetting call with dealmaker at the end of april sourcing or sharing the source deals that we have to evaluate and talk about what we like what they like which ones we think are ready for market It gives me the confidence to believe we'll be able to announce our first deal, maybe even before our next earnings call, but certainly have a deal in market by the end of the year. it gives me the confidence to believe we'll be able to announce our first deal maybe even before our next earnings call but certainly have a deal in market by the end of the year We have a couple that we're all very excited about. we have a couple that we're all very excited about With that said, I do believe that each of these deals will result in 6 figures per year to Dolphin in marketing revenue. with that said i do believe that each of these deals will result in 6 figures per year to dolphin in marketing revenue I also believe that we'll be able to get to multiple deals per year in the market. We're gonna test with the first one, go through the process together, have that deal in market alone, not try and do two deals at once to start, but get the rhythm down and go from there. It'll impact later this year in a positive way, then it'll be a real driver for us in 2027. I also believe that we'll be able to get to multiple deals per year in the market. i also believe that we'll be able to get to multiple deals per year in the market We're gonna test with the first one, go through the process together, have that deal in market alone, not try and do two deals at once to start, but get the rhythm down and go from there. we're gonna test with the first one go through the process together have that deal in market alone not try and do two deals at once to start but get the rhythm down and go from there It'll impact later this year in a positive way, then it'll be a real driver for us in 2027. it'll impact later this year in a positive way then it'll be a real driver for us in 2027

Speaker 2: Okay, great. Then on one of the other catalysts you had mentioned, with today's announcement of the partnership with Copper Books, you had said you expect to get 15% of revenue with 0 capital. I was wondering, is that in relation to, like, a publishing deal, or is that, like, book sales, how you think about that revenue? Just overall, your expectations for that partnership, and then kind of getting your pipeline of talent activated within that partnership. Okay, great. okay great Then on one of the other catalysts you had mentioned, with today's announcement of the partnership with Copper Books, you had said you expect to get 15% of revenue with 0 capital. then on one of the other catalysts you had mentioned with today's announcement of the partnership with copper books you had said you expect to get 15% of revenue with 0 capital I was wondering, is that in relation to, like, a publishing deal, or is that, like, book sales, how you think about that revenue? i was wondering is that in relation to like a publishing deal or is that like book sales how you think about that revenue Just overall, your expectations for that partnership, and then kind of getting your pipeline of talent activated within that partnership. just overall your expectations for that partnership and then kind of getting your pipeline of talent activated within that partnership

Speaker 1: Yeah. This is a real nice to have for us. We have many clients across most of our companies, quite frankly, that have either published books already, they're established authors or want to. The ability to offer this service to guide them to a national distribution deal through Simon & Schuster is something that really separates us, gives us a little bit of extra reason for the clients to want to either sign with us as a business development tool or retain our clients because we can offer services like this. We'll see the uptake. It's all net positive, as you can see, no investment from Dolphin in this relationship. From that sense, it's anything is additive. We'll see how many take us up on it and how much it grows over time. Yeah. yeah This is a real nice to have for us. this is a real nice to have for us We have many clients across most of our companies, quite frankly, that have either published books already, they're established authors or want to. we have many clients across most of our companies quite frankly that have either published books already they're established authors or want to The ability to offer this service to guide them to a national distribution deal through Simon & Schuster is something that really separates us, gives us a little bit of extra reason for the clients to want to either sign with us as a business development tool or retain our clients because we can offer services like this. the ability to offer this service to guide them to a national distribution deal through simon & schuster is something that really separates us gives us a little bit of extra reason for the clients to want to either sign with us as a business development tool or retain our clients because we can offer services like this We'll see the uptake. we'll see the uptake It's all net positive, as you can see, no investment from Dolphin in this relationship. it's all net positive as you can see no investment from dolphin in this relationship From that sense, it's anything is additive. from that sense it's anything is additive We'll see how many take us up on it and how much it grows over time. we'll see how many take us up on it and how much it grows over time The publishing industry in general, the book world, is something that we have a couple of irons in the fire on that we think can be very additive to Dolphin. It's entertainment, right? It's something that our companies are already experienced at promoting and marketing. Each of our marketing companies have helped launch books or clients with books or held events for book launches. It's a natural extension for us, and Copper Books is a trusted source. Allison Trowbridge that founded Copper Books is a dear friend of many of us within the company. She has a fabulous business, and Simon & Schuster is obviously one of the big publishers. We're excited for it and looking forward to seeing where it will go. The publishing industry in general, the book world, is something that we have a couple of irons in the fire on that we think can be very additive to Dolphin. the publishing industry in general the book world is something that we have a couple of irons in the fire on that we think can be very additive to dolphin It's entertainment, right? it's entertainment right It's something that our companies are already experienced at promoting and marketing. it's something that our companies are already experienced at promoting and marketing Each of our marketing companies have helped launch books or clients with books or held events for book launches. each of our marketing companies have helped launch books or clients with books or held events for book launches It's a natural extension for us, and Copper Books is a trusted source. it's a natural extension for us and copper books is a trusted source Allison Trowbridge that founded Copper Books is a dear friend of many of us within the company. allison trowbridge that founded copper books is a dear friend of many of us within the company She has a fabulous business, and Simon & Schuster is obviously one of the big publishers. she has a fabulous business and simon & schuster is obviously one of the big publishers We're excited for it and looking forward to seeing where it will go. we're excited for it and looking forward to seeing where it will go

Speaker 2: Okay, great. Just on that 15% revenue, if you could just clarify if that was like publishing deal between author and the publisher, if it's book sales, just with that number? Okay, great. okay great Just on that 15% revenue, if you could just clarify if that was like publishing deal between author and the publisher, if it's book sales, just with that number? just on that 15% revenue if you could just clarify if that was like publishing deal between author and the publisher if it's book sales just with that number

Speaker 1: Sure. Sure. sure

Speaker 2: How to think about revenue. How to think about revenue. how to think about revenue

Speaker 1: Yeah. That'll be 15% of the author's keep. Any consulting fees that are required to get the book into market. That's what that represents. Yeah. yeah That'll be 15% of the author's keep. that'll be 15% of the author's keep Any consulting fees that are required to get the book into market. any consulting fees that are required to get the book into market That's what that represents. that's what that represents

Speaker 2: Okay, great. I wanted to ask about the Youngblood movie. I had two questions there. First, if there is just any revenue from this quarter that was related to the premiere and box office run for Youngblood. My other question is just if there's been any updates on a potential streaming deal or your expectations there. Okay, great. okay great I wanted to ask about the Youngblood movie. i wanted to ask about the youngblood movie I had two questions there. i had two questions there First, if there is just any revenue from this quarter that was related to the premiere and box office run for Youngblood. first if there is just any revenue from this quarter that was related to the premiere and box office run for youngblood My other question is just if there's been any updates on a potential streaming deal or your expectations there. my other question is just if there's been any updates on a potential streaming deal or your expectations there

Speaker 1: Sure. Yeah. The, we recognized $450,000 of revenue in this quarter, from U.S. sales of Youngblood, which is nice. In terms of the streaming sale, I'll go to the middle part, if I could. Sorry. After the theatrical release, we put a movie out for pay-per-view. It did enter pay-per-view through a sub-distribution deal with Universal. We've been told that the first month was looking good, a few hundred thousand in sales. We'll get a full report in the next 30 days, which I could share, of course, on the second quarter earnings call. We're gonna try and use that positive result from the pay-per-view sales to help drive a favorable streaming deal for ourselves. Sure. sure Yeah. yeah The, we recognized $450,000 of revenue in this quarter, from U.S. sales of Youngblood, which is nice. the we recognized $450,000 of revenue in this quarter from u.s sales of youngblood which is nice In terms of the streaming sale, I'll go to the middle part, if I could. in terms of the streaming sale i'll go to the middle part if i could Sorry. sorry After the theatrical release, we put a movie out for pay-per-view. after the theatrical release we put a movie out for pay-per-view It did enter pay-per-view through a sub-distribution deal with Universal. it did enter pay-per-view through a sub-distribution deal with universal We've been told that the first month was looking good, a few hundred thousand in sales. we've been told that the first month was looking good a few hundred thousand in sales We'll get a full report in the next 30 days, which I could share, of course, on the second quarter earnings call. we'll get a full report in the next 30 days which i could share of course on the second quarter earnings call We're gonna try and use that positive result from the pay-per-view sales to help drive a favorable streaming deal for ourselves. we're gonna try and use that positive result from the pay-per-view sales to help drive a favorable streaming deal for ourselves We're waiting on that report, and then hopefully we'll have something to share about a streaming sale on the Q2 earnings call. We're waiting on that report, and then hopefully we'll have something to share about a streaming sale on the Q2 earnings call. we're waiting on that report and then hopefully we'll have something to share about a streaming sale on the q2 earnings call

Speaker 2: Okay, great. That's super helpful. Could you touch on just how the revenue share for the pay-per-view works? Okay, great. okay great That's super helpful. that's super helpful Could you touch on just how the revenue share for the pay-per-view works? could you touch on just how the revenue share for the pay-per-view works

Speaker 1: Typically, in this case, we'll receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 40%-50% of that revenue when there's a sub-distributor like that of Universal Pictures, after they take their fee for doing that. That could be offset by marketing costs and from the first month or two of revenue. As a general rule of thumb, I think you could probably expect something like that in that range. Typically, in this case, we'll receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 40%-50% of that revenue when there's a sub-distributor like that of Universal Pictures, after they take their fee for doing that. typically in this case we'll receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 40%-50% of that revenue when there's a sub-distributor like that of universal pictures after they take their fee for doing that That could be offset by marketing costs and from the first month or two of revenue. that could be offset by marketing costs and from the first month or two of revenue As a general rule of thumb, I think you could probably expect something like that in that range. as a general rule of thumb i think you could probably expect something like that in that range

Speaker 2: Okay. Got it. I wanted to turn to another initiative you guys had, I think towards the end of last year, just on the Dolphin Intelligence and your marketing initiatives. I was wondering just how that's progressing and what you're seeing. Okay. okay Got it. got it I wanted to turn to another initiative you guys had, I think towards the end of last year, just on the Dolphin Intelligence and your marketing initiatives. i wanted to turn to another initiative you guys had i think towards the end of last year just on the dolphin intelligence and your marketing initiatives I was wondering just how that's progressing and what you're seeing. i was wondering just how that's progressing and what you're seeing

Speaker 1: Yeah. That is run by Mark Anderson, who has spoken on a few panels in the last two months, I think, on this topic and is as big a, and I say this with love, as big a geek on this topic as anybody I know, and certainly in the broader industry that we work in. The clients have expressed a strong interest in this service. I think we have signed our first two clients to do what we call the audit, where we go in and effectively audit the results when people search in the general area that that client works in to show them if they are showing up on AI searches, and if not, why not? So that we can take remedial action. Yeah. yeah That is run by Mark Anderson, who has spoken on a few panels in the last two months, I think, on this topic and is as big a, and I say this with love, as big a geek on this topic as anybody I know, and certainly in the broader industry that we work in. that is run by mark anderson who has spoken on a few panels in the last two months i think on this topic and is as big a and i say this with love as big a geek on this topic as anybody i know and certainly in the broader industry that we work in The clients have expressed a strong interest in this service. the clients have expressed a strong interest in this service I think we have signed our first two clients to do what we call the audit, where we go in and effectively audit the results when people search in the general area that that client works in to show them if they are showing up on AI searches, and if not, why not? i think we have signed our first two clients to do what we call the audit where we go in and effectively audit the results when people search in the general area that that client works in to show them if they are showing up on ai searches and if not why not So that we can take remedial action. so that we can take remedial action It started, and we think the momentum will pick up. Mark will be with me, and we'll have about eight of our team members across Dolphin Entertainment at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. It's in Cannes, France, at the end of June. Not to be confused with the Cannes Film Festival that started today. But the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, I would say that AI is AI and influencer marketing are the two twin topics that probably are between them, 90% of the conversation in marketing today. The use of AI and the continued growth of influencer marketing. We have members of our influencer marketing team going to that conference. We have members of our consumer products team. We have Mark from our Dolphin Intelligence team. I'll be there. It started, and we think the momentum will pick up. it started and we think the momentum will pick up Mark will be with me, and we'll have about eight of our team members across Dolphin Entertainment at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. mark will be with me and we'll have about eight of our team members across dolphin entertainment at the cannes lions international festival of creativity It's in Cannes, France, at the end of June. it's in cannes france at the end of june Not to be confused with the Cannes Film Festival that started today. not to be confused with the cannes film festival that started today But the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, I would say that AI is AI and influencer marketing are the two twin topics that probably are between them, 90% of the conversation in marketing today. but the cannes lions international festival of creativity i would say that ai is ai and influencer marketing are the two twin topics that probably are between them 90% of the conversation in marketing today The use of AI and the continued growth of influencer marketing. the use of ai and the continued growth of influencer marketing We have members of our influencer marketing team going to that conference. we have members of our influencer marketing team going to that conference We have members of our consumer products team. we have members of our consumer products team We have Mark from our Dolphin Intelligence team. we have mark from our dolphin intelligence team I'll be there. i'll be there Our chief of staff will be there. It'll be a good conference for us, and I would expect we'll have some more momentum behind Dolphin Intelligence coming out of that, the biggest conference of the year. Our chief of staff will be there. our chief of staff will be there It'll be a good conference for us, and I would expect we'll have some more momentum behind Dolphin Intelligence coming out of that, the biggest conference of the year. it'll be a good conference for us and i would expect we'll have some more momentum behind dolphin intelligence coming out of that the biggest conference of the year

Speaker 2: Great. Guess just my last question. I was curious how you think about potential M&A from here. Obviously, it was a huge part of your past and history, but I was wondering now that you view the platform as largely built out, if you still plan to opportunistically pursue M&A or just if you had any thoughts on that front. Great. great Guess just my last question. guess just my last question I was curious how you think about potential M&A from here. i was curious how you think about potential m&a from here Obviously, it was a huge part of your past and history, but I was wondering now that you view the platform as largely built out, if you still plan to opportunistically pursue M&A or just if you had any thoughts on that front. obviously it was a huge part of your past and history but i was wondering now that you view the platform as largely built out if you still plan to opportunistically pursue m&a or just if you had any thoughts on that front

Speaker 1: Sure. Yeah, I guess you will never say never, right? I don't know of a single acquisition in a pipeline today. If something comes across our desk or if there's a skill set that, you know, who knows where the world's going, right? If there's a skill set we determine that we need, we could go back into the market. We certainly haven't forgotten how to acquire companies, but we're more focused today on our DealMaker partnership, on our venture, so to speak, that can create disproportionate upside for us along with our organic growth, of course. That has always been the mousetrap that we were trying to build that was a, you know, a better mousetrap, so to speak, right? Sure. sure Yeah, I guess you will never say never, right? yeah i guess you will never say never right I don't know of a single acquisition in a pipeline today. i don't know of a single acquisition in a pipeline today If something comes across our desk or if there's a skill set that, you know, who knows where the world's going, right? if something comes across our desk or if there's a skill set that you know who knows where the world's going right If there's a skill set we determine that we need, we could go back into the market. if there's a skill set we determine that we need we could go back into the market We certainly haven't forgotten how to acquire companies, but we're more focused today on our DealMaker partnership, on our venture, so to speak, that can create disproportionate upside for us along with our organic growth, of course. we certainly haven't forgotten how to acquire companies but we're more focused today on our dealmaker partnership on our venture so to speak that can create disproportionate upside for us along with our organic growth of course That has always been the mousetrap that we were trying to build that was a, you know, a better mousetrap, so to speak, right? that has always been the mousetrap that we were trying to build that was a you know a better mousetrap so to speak right If we could build this group to a certain scale and have it grow organically so our profits are growing every year, both revenue and profits, but that we could once the group was finished, so we had enough horizontal scale across earned media to provide a suite of marketing services that would influence the outcome of ventures that we pursue, that we could take ownership stakes in, then that's the, that's the better mousetrap, right? Some of these DealMaker type opportunities or some of these ventures that we're evaluating now, they're 10 X's, maybe more. That's what we want to pursue, and quite frankly, a better use of our opportunity cost than incremental acquisitions would be, in our view. If we could build this group to a certain scale and have it grow organically so our profits are growing every year, both revenue and profits, but that we could once the group was finished, so we had enough horizontal scale across earned media to provide a suite of marketing services that would influence the outcome of ventures that we pursue, that we could take ownership stakes in, then that's the, that's the better mousetrap, right? if we could build this group to a certain scale and have it grow organically so our profits are growing every year both revenue and profits but that we could once the group was finished so we had enough horizontal scale across earned media to provide a suite of marketing services that would influence the outcome of ventures that we pursue that we could take ownership stakes in then that's the that's the better mousetrap right Some of these DealMaker type opportunities or some of these ventures that we're evaluating now, they're 10 X's, maybe more. some of these dealmaker type opportunities or some of these ventures that we're evaluating now they're 10 x's maybe more That's what we want to pursue, and quite frankly, a better use of our opportunity cost than incremental acquisitions would be, in our view. that's what we want to pursue and quite frankly a better use of our opportunity cost than incremental acquisitions would be in our view

Speaker 2: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks for taking my question. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. yeah that makes a lot of sense Thanks for taking my question. thanks for taking my question

Speaker 1: Oh, sure. Oh, sure. oh sure

Speaker 5: Thank you. There are no further questions in queue at this time. I would now like to hand the call back to CEO Bill O'Dowd for closing remarks. Thank you. thank you There are no further questions in queue at this time. there are no further questions in queue at this time I would now like to hand the call back to CEO Bill O'Dowd for closing remarks. i would now like to hand the call back to ceo bill o'dowd for closing remarks

Speaker 1: Well, sure. Thank you. The closing remarks after Q1 usually start with, I know we just spoke six weeks ago. We have the short span here and nothing major to report since we last spoke after our phenomenal Q4 to end 2025. We'll get back into our normal rhythm now of speaking again in 90 days. I think in that type of timeframe, we may have something exciting to talk about, one or two things, and certainly an update on our DealMaker partnership. As I had mentioned, those are the huge opportunities that we see in our future, big catalyst for us coming out of that. Well, sure. well sure Thank you. thank you The closing remarks after Q1 usually start with, I know we just spoke six weeks ago. the closing remarks after q1 usually start with i know we just spoke six weeks ago We have the short span here and nothing major to report since we last spoke after our phenomenal Q4 to end 2025. we have the short span here and nothing major to report since we last spoke after our phenomenal q4 to end 2025 We'll get back into our normal rhythm now of speaking again in 90 days. we'll get back into our normal rhythm now of speaking again in 90 days I think in that type of timeframe, we may have something exciting to talk about, one or two things, and certainly an update on our DealMaker partnership. i think in that type of timeframe we may have something exciting to talk about one or two things and certainly an update on our dealmaker partnership As I had mentioned, those are the huge opportunities that we see in our future, big catalyst for us coming out of that. as i had mentioned those are the huge opportunities that we see in our future big catalyst for us coming out of that In the meantime, the blocking and tackling of just incrementally doing better per quarter, year-over-year, and each quarter gets us one quarter closer to those cash savings that I've really talked quite a bit about on our last couple of calls with the leases expiring and the term loan being paid off. It's gonna free up a lot of cash flow for us, and that's always exciting too. Thank you, everybody, for the time, and look forward to talking to you in 90 days. In the meantime, the blocking and tackling of just incrementally doing better per quarter, year-over-year, and each quarter gets us one quarter closer to those cash savings that I've really talked quite a bit about on our last couple of calls with the leases expiring and the term loan being paid off. in the meantime the blocking and tackling of just incrementally doing better per quarter year-over-year and each quarter gets us one quarter closer to those cash savings that i've really talked quite a bit about on our last couple of calls with the leases expiring and the term loan being paid off It's gonna free up a lot of cash flow for us, and that's always exciting too. it's gonna free up a lot of cash flow for us and that's always exciting too Thank you, everybody, for the time, and look forward to talking to you in 90 days. thank you everybody for the time and look forward to talking to you in 90 days

Speaker 5: Thank you. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect at this time. Have a wonderful day. Thank you once again for your participation. Thank you. thank you This does conclude today's conference call. this does conclude today's conference call You may disconnect at this time. you may disconnect at this time Have a wonderful day. have a wonderful day Thank you once again for your participation. thank you once again for your participation