Strong Start to 2026 for NIQ

Global consumer intelligence firm NIQ has announced revenue of $1,072.7 million for the first quarter, a reported increase of 11.1% increase, with organic growth of 5.1% at constant currency. Adjusted EBITDA rose 19.1% to $224.8 million.

Organic growth was led by the Americas (up 9.3%) and EMEA, up 4.6%. Growth was similar in the firm's two key segments, with reported revenue up 10.9% for Intelligence and 12.0% for Activation. The company says it landed 17 seven-figure business wins during the quarter, including renewals, upsells, and competitive win-backs.

Executive Chairman and CEO Jim Peck (pictured) comments: 'Q1 was a solid start to 2026, with growth, margin expansion and free cash flow improvement - all while we continued to accelerate our AI investments. We believe NIQ is well positioned to win in AI because our advantage goes beyond scaled, permissioned data to the context layer we build on top of it - the semantic framework, product intelligence and vertical expertise that make our data decision-grade and increasingly essential to how commerce operates. As AI agents begin to influence discovery and transactions, NIQ is extending its role from measurement and analytics toward Commerce Intelligence - helping clients win on the agentic shelf, deepen workflow embedment and unlock new monetization opportunities over time.'

In February, the company approved a restructuring program which aims to generate additional annualized cost savings of c.$70-80m by the end of fiscal year 2026. For the full year, it is forecasting revenue of $.466bn - $4.479bn, and adjusted EBITDA of $1.05bn to $1.067bn.

Web site: www.niq.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.