Global-E Online Ltd. (GLBE) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Access earnings results, analyst expectations, report, slides, earnings call, and transcript.
Overview
The earnings call summary and Q&A reveal strong financial performance, optimistic guidance, and strategic advancements, particularly in AI and global expansion. Achieving GAAP profitability and positive feedback on new solutions like duty clawback are notable. Despite some unclear management responses, the overall sentiment is positive, with expectations of continued growth and efficiency gains. The absence of market cap data limits prediction precision, but the positive indicators suggest a stock price increase in the 2% to 8% range.
Key Financial Performance
GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) for Q4 2025 $2.36 billion, a 37% year-over-year increase. This growth was driven by strong consumer demand, favorable FX tailwinds, and trading volumes of new merchants.
Revenue for Q4 2025 $337 million, a 28% year-over-year increase. This was supported by strong GMV growth and favorable FX tailwinds.
Non-GAAP Gross Profit Margin for Q4 2025 46.8%, up 80 basis points from the same quarter last year. This increase was attributed to operational efficiencies and cost control.
Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2025 $87.2 million, a 53% year-over-year increase, representing a 25.9% margin. This growth was driven by strong top-line growth and operational leverage.
GMV for Full Year 2025 $6.57 billion, a 35% year-over-year increase. This growth was attributed to new merchant launches and existing merchant relationships.
Revenue for Full Year 2025 $962 million, a 28% year-over-year increase. This was driven by strong GMV growth and operational efficiencies.
Adjusted EBITDA for Full Year 2025 $198.5 million, a 41% year-over-year increase, representing a 20.6% margin. This growth was driven by top-line growth, operational leverage, and AI deployment.
Free Cash Flow for Full Year 2025 $281 million, a 68% year-over-year increase, reflecting a 29% margin. This was driven by strong operating cash flow and favorable working capital dynamics.
GAAP EPS for Full Year 2025 $0.39, marking the first full year of GAAP profitability. This milestone was achieved through strong growth and reduced Shopify warrant-related amortization expenses.
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Operating Highlights
Shopify Managed Markets version 2.0: Launched a new iteration of the white-label self-service merchant of record solution on Shopify, fully integrated into Shopify Payments. This enables harmonization between global and domestic financial flows, faster payouts, and enhanced control over global product availability and compliance.
Duty drawback offering: Expanded to allow U.S.-based merchants to reclaim import duties on exported goods and tariffs on returned goods, providing cost optimization in a changing tariff environment.
AI-driven full-site localization: Launched a new service allowing merchants to translate entire website content into different languages, ensuring coherency across the customer journey.
Geographic expansion: Launched with numerous brands across North America, Europe, and APAC, including prominent names like Nadine Merabi, Stella McCartney, and Tuttio.
TikTok Shop integration: Logitech became the first brand to launch on a new integration with the TikTok Shop marketplace.
AI deployment: Leveraged AI for R&D efficiencies, customer service chatbots, product classification, and sales efforts, resulting in faster turnaround times, reduced R&D spend, and enhanced merchant acquisition.
Operational leverage: Achieved significant cost control and efficiencies of scale, contributing to a 41% growth in adjusted EBITDA and a 20.6% margin for 2025.
Strategic acquisitions and share buybacks: Reinvested cash into growth through acquisitions and returned $72 million to shareholders via share buybacks.
Focus on AI and agentic commerce: Integrated AI into operations and sales, enhancing efficiency and supporting emerging trends like AI-based chats and agentic commerce.
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Risk or Challenges
Global Tariff Changes: The rapidly changing global tariff landscape, including U.S. tariff changes and EU de minimis removal, poses challenges for merchants, potentially impacting trading volumes and creating short-term pressures.
Dynamic Regulatory Environment: The evolving regulatory landscape, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, adds complexity to trade compliance and operational processes for merchants.
Supply Chain and Operational Costs: Merchants face challenges in optimizing costs due to the dynamic tariff environment and the need for compliance with changing trade regulations.
AI Integration and Efficiency: While AI is being leveraged for operational efficiencies, there is a risk of over-reliance on AI tools, which may not always deliver the expected results or could face technical challenges.
Merchant Acquisition and Retention: The company’s growth depends on acquiring and retaining merchants, which could be impacted by competitive pressures or market dynamics.
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Guidance & Outlook
Revenue Growth: Acceleration in revenue growth from 27.8% in 2025 to close to 30% in 2026, with full-year revenue expected to be in the range of $1.21 billion to $1.27 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin: Expansion of adjusted EBITDA margin to 21.9% in 2026, with adjusted EBITDA expected to be in the range of $259 million to $284 million, representing almost 37% growth.
GMV Growth: GMV for 2026 is expected to be in the range of $8.45 billion to $8.80 billion, representing an annual growth rate of over 31%.
Q1 2026 Guidance: GMV expected to be in the range of $1.705 billion to $1.745 billion, revenue in the range of $247 million to $254 million, and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $46.5 million to $49.5 million.
Long-Term Strategic Plan: The company is slightly ahead of its multiyear plan, with expectations to continue delivering against financial targets through 2028, supported by market opportunities and business momentum.
AI Integration: AI-driven efficiencies are expected to contribute to adjusted EBITDA margin expansion through 2028, with no significant increase in R&D headcount planned for 2026 despite growth in activity.
Market Trends: Dynamic global tariff landscape and growing complexity in global trade are expected to increase demand for the company's services, particularly its merchant of record trade compliance and optimization capabilities.
New Product Launches: Shopify Managed Markets version 2.0 and other AI-driven solutions are expected to gain traction and contribute to growth in 2026.
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Shareholder Return Plan
Share Buyback Program: We continue to be a highly cash-generative business. We are reinvesting this cash to drive growth both organically and through strategic acquisitions as well as returning excess cash to shareholders via our share buyback program. As part of which we have already completed $72 million in share repurchases within Q4 of 2025.
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Key Q&A
Q:What factors contributed to the outperformance in the fourth quarter and the beginning of the first quarter?
A:The outperformance was driven by strong GMV results, new merchants launched in 2025 (especially in the second half), strong same-store sales above multiyear averages, strong demand, large merchants performing well, and FX tailwinds due to the USD strengthening versus most currencies towards the end of 2024. FX tailwinds are expected to normalize for the rest of 2026.
Q:What are the growth drivers for the business in 2026?
A:The booking pipeline looks stronger than in 2025, with a record contribution to growth from new merchants. AI-led sales tools are driving more deals and demos, and there is increased demand due to global tariff changes and the removal of de minimis in Europe.
Q:How does AI impact the company's value proposition and existing merchants?
A:AI accelerates optimization by leveraging Global-E's unique data assets, enhancing trading models, duty drawbacks, and local registration. AI is seen as a driver rather than a replacement for existing infrastructure, benefiting merchants' trading.
Q:What is the guidance on GMV and revenue take rates for 2026?
A:Service fee take rates are expected to remain stable, while fulfillment take rates are expected to be slightly lower due to the growth of the multi-local model. Overall revenue is expected to grow slightly lower than GMV growth.
Q:What is the impact of Marks & Spencer and value-added services on service fee take rates?
A:Marks & Spencer did not affect service fee take rates. The mix of clients remains stable, and value-added services like borderfree.com and trade compliance are contributing to revenue growth, narrowing the gap between GMV and revenue growth.
Q:What changes have been made to the managed markets implementation?
A:The new iteration integrates all services and financial flows through Shopify Payments, allowing merchants to operate their stores using familiar processes. This harmonization simplifies operations and enhances visibility and control for merchants.
Q:What are the early observations on agentic commerce?
A:Agentic commerce is growing as a discovery channel, with significant traffic increases from AI chats. While transaction numbers are still small, the infrastructure supports cross-border transactions, and the market is expected to grow over time.
Q:What drove the acceleration in net dollar retention (NRR) from 2024 to 2025?
A:The acceleration was due to improved gross dollar retention, healthy trading with leading merchants, and the absence of the Ted Baker impact from the previous year. NRR is expected to remain stable in 2026.
Q:What are the investment priorities for 2026?
A:Priorities include trade compliance infrastructure to reduce global e-commerce costs, AI investments for data optimization and operational efficiency, and fulfillment network optimization to offer cost-effective services.
Q:How did multi-local GMV perform in 2025, and what is the outlook for 2026?
A:Multi-local GMV was approximately 15% of total GMV in 2025, meeting expectations. It is expected to grow in 2026 but not outpace the overall business significantly.
Q:What is the outlook for GAAP EPS growth and efficiency gains from AI?
A:GAAP EPS profitability is expected to continue, with growth aligned with adjusted EBITDA. Efficiency gains from AI are contributing to R&D, sales, marketing, and operational improvements.
Q:What is the expected impact of AI on adjusted EBITDA margin expansion in 2026?
A:AI is expected to significantly contribute to margin expansion by improving R&D efficiency, lead generation, fraud handling, trade compliance, and other operational areas. Scale and AI are interdependent, with data fueling AI models.
Q:What differentiates Global-E from potential AI-driven competitors?
A:Global-E's differentiation lies in its scale, expertise, unique data assets, trade compliance infrastructure, and global operational and payment infrastructure. These factors create a competitive moat that AI models cannot replicate.
Q:What is the feedback on the duty clawback solution, and how does it impact 2026 guidance?
A:The duty clawback solution has received positive feedback, reducing trading costs for U.S. clients. Adoption levels are high, and the solution is expected to contribute to 2026 revenue, though conservatively embedded in the guidance.
Q:Review of Unclear Management Responses
A:Management avoided providing specific details on the exact contribution of AI to adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, the precise impact of duty clawback on 2026 revenue, and the exact growth rate of multi-local GMV in 2026. Responses were general and lacked numerical specificity.
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Earnings Word Cloud
The most frequently occurring keywords in this quarter's earning call
AI chat
Group
KPIs
LLM tool
Ofer result
agent
basis point
challenge
channel
chatbot
content
control
customer
discovery
duty drawback
effort
enhancement
feature
feedback
house
import
iteration
language
margin basis
margin expansion
merchant acquisition
merchant opportunity
merchant record
parameter
regard
result merchant
revenue
service merchant
set
site
system
tariff change
tariff landscape
trade compliance
trading volume
use case
GLBE Transcript
Global-E Online Ltd. (GLBE) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Positive2-18
The earnings call summary and Q&A reveal strong financial performance, optimistic guidance, and strategic advancements, particularly in AI and global expansion. Achieving GAAP profitability and positive feedback on new solutions like duty clawback are notable. Despite some unclear management responses, the overall sentiment is positive, with expectations of continued growth and efficiency gains. The absence of market cap data limits prediction precision, but the positive indicators suggest a stock price increase in the 2% to 8% range.
Global-E Online Ltd. (GLBE) Presents at UBS Global Technology and AI Conference 2025 Transcript
Neutral12-5
Global-E Online Ltd. (GLBE) Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Positive11-19
The earnings call summary indicates a generally positive outlook with strong financial performance and optimistic guidance. The company anticipates GAAP profitability for the full year 2025, and the ReturnGo acquisition is expected to positively impact revenue. The Q&A section highlights stable same-store sales growth and a confident new merchant pipeline. While there are slight weaknesses in specific regions, the overall sentiment is optimistic. The $200 million repurchase plan and the absence of significant negative factors further support a positive sentiment rating. However, the lack of specific guidance for 2026 and some regional weaknesses temper the outlook slightly.
Global-E Online Ltd. (GLBE) Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
Positive8-13
The earnings call summary and Q&A indicate strong financial performance with significant growth in GMV and revenue guidance, a strategic partnership with Shopify, and new offerings like 3B2C. The Q&A reveals positive sentiment towards the Shopify partnership and new initiatives like Shop Pay. Despite some uncertainties, such as the success rate of cross-selling ReturnGo's client base and competitive impacts, the overall outlook is optimistic, supported by strong guidance and strategic partnerships, suggesting a positive stock price reaction.
GLBE Report
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