CRTO

Criteo is quietly executing a credible margin turnaround at a giveaway valuation. FY2025 revenue was essentially flat at $1.94B (+0.6% YoY), but the quality of earnings underneath improved sharply: operating income jumped 33.9% to $203M, net income rose 29.6% to $145M, and diluted EPS climbed 38.9% to $2.64 — a 6.8x P/E and 0.5x P/S on a business throwing off $311M of operating cash flow (+20.6%). Gross margin of 54% and ROE of 12.6% are healthy for ad-tech, and the balance sheet is a fortress: $342M cash, near-zero debt (long-term debt of just $1.5M per the data), and liabilities/equity of 0.88x that actually fell 14.3% YoY.

The MD&A confirms management received a clean audit opinion from Deloitte with effective internal controls as of December 31, 2025 — no accounting overhang. More importantly, the capital-return story is real and ongoing. The Risk Factors disclosure shows the Board expanded the buyback authorization from $630M to $805M in January 2025, and Criteo spent $152M repurchasing ADSs in 2025 (with $67M still authorized at year-end after retiring 1.75M shares in Q4 alone at an average ~$21 — above today's $17.84). Share count fell 8.3% YoY, mechanically amplifying EPS growth, and management has explicit room to keep buying since the credit facility only restricts dividends above 2.0x net-debt/EBITDA — a constraint Criteo is nowhere near with effectively no debt.