Zeta Global Holdings Co. (NYSE: ZETA) is a data-driven marketing technology company that provides an artificial intelligence (AI) powered customer intelligence and marketing automation platform. The stock has taken a meteoric rise, up 234% year-to-date (YTD). This relatively obscure computer and technology sector company boasts many A-list clients serving 40% of the Fortune 100 companies, including American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP), Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR), United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL), T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ). The big question is how a little-known company is bagging major clients and why these major brands are attracted to Zeta and its AI-powered, all-on-one unified marketing platform.
Zeta’s Competitive Advantage is Data, Data, and More Data
“AI-powered” is a term that gets tossed around a lot, especially with marketing companies. However, the Zeta Customer Data Platform (CDP), a core component of the Zeta Marketing Platform, is unique in the massive oceans of data it collects around the clock. Its platform processes data from 12.7 billion global identifiers, over 1 trillion content consumption signals monthly, over 950 interest and intent audiences, and more than 250 million people in the United States.
Ingesting, analyzing, and distilling its massive datasets leveraging AI is done to turn strangers into customers and predict customers’ intent. It provides smarter analysis and intelligence, providing real-time reports and insights. The Zeta Marketing Platform is an all-in-one platform to manage and automate marketing campaigns. Zeta’s clients are major marketers and agencies that have major brand customers.
Zeta CDP ingests data by collecting it from numerous sources, including marketing automation platforms, social media, website analytics, offline channels, and CRM systems. Zeta CDP ingests and unifies the data to construct a single customer profile providing a holistic view of each customer with no silos.
Zeta Media Engine provides Zeta’s Intelligence, audience modeling, media activation, and ID resolution to marketers and agencies using Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW).
Zeta Leverages AI in a Useful and Quantifiable Way
The Zeta Messaging component of the Zeta Marketing Platform leverages AI to make email segmentation and targeting seamless and personalized. Customers can automate campaigns based on factors like transactions, events, and audiences using the knowledge of past purchases, real-time interest, channel preferences, and predictive intent. It's been able to increase the average order value by 9% with 51% less email volume and a 587% increase in revenues. Zeta was recognized as a leader in the Forrester Wave Email Marketing Services Providers of 2024, receiving the highest possible score of 13 out of 22 criteria, including process and workflow automation, personalization, AI and vision.
Zeta Growth Accelerating Also with Clients
Zeta reported its second quarter of 2024 EPS loss of 16 cents, matching consensus estimates. Revenues climbed 32.6% YoY to a record $227.8 million, beating $212.44 million consensus analyst estimates. Zeta grew quarterly scaled customer average revenue per user (ARPU) 22% YoY to $479,000, twice as fast as Q1 2024.
Zeta’s AI-powered personas and chatbots and over 400 AI-powered "Intelligent Agents" helped drive strong customer retention, enabling clients to show 3X revenue improvement over initial deployment levels.
Zeta Issues Upside Q3 and Full Year 2024 Guidance
Zeta Global provides upside Q3 2024 revenue guidance of $237.2 million to $241.2 million versus $230.52 million consensus estimates. The company increased adjusted EBITDA guidance from $46.8 million to $47.3 million, up from the previous guidance of $45.3 million. Full-year 2024 revenues are expected to be between $920 million and $930 million, crushing analyst consensus estimates of $900.49 million. Adjusted EBITDA was raised by $4.5 million to $174.5 million to $176.5 million from previous guidance of $171 million. Free cash flow is expected to be between $80 million and $90 million.
Zeta Global CEO David Steinburg commented, “Artificial Intelligence is disrupting legacy marketing clouds, which, in some cases, are even shutting down parts of their business, creating a large opportunity for more innovative, agile, and AI-powered marketing technology companies like Zeta.
Steinburg emphasized, “As I have stated before, AI has moved from science fiction to a boardroom conversation. Boards are asking CEOs what is their AI strategy. In turn, CEOs are asking their CTOs, CMOs, and CIOs for their plans. And they are turning to us because we turn AI into real-world results for marketers.”
ZETA Stock Forms a Parabolic Arc
A parabolic arc is a topping pattern comprised of a swing high followed by a rounding bottom that rips back up through the swing high in a steep, surging manner. As the stock makes a blow-off top, it forms a market structure high (MSH) trigger following its highest high candle.
ZETA formed its initial swing high at $25.53 below, falling back down to $19.90, forming a rounding bottom that rose back up through its $35.53 swing high and proceeded to accelerate to $32.11. The daily market structure high (MSH) sell triggers under $28.91. The daily anchored VWAP support is at $26.01. The daily relative strength index (RSI) peaked and fell below the 70-band. Fibonacci (Fib) pullback support levels are at $27.37, $24.76, $31.64 and $19.39.
Zeta Global’s average consensus analyst price target is $32.50, and its highest analyst price target sits at $37.00. Analysts have given it 13 Buy ratings and one Hold rating.
Actionable Options Strategies: ZETA stock is up 234% in 2024, and a daily MSH sell triggers under $28.91. Bullish investors should be patient and may consider buying on pullbacks using cash-secured puts at the lower Fib pullback support levels to buy the dip and write covered calls to execute a wheel strategy for income.
