NIQ Global Intelligence (NYSE:NIQ) reported second-quarter 2026 results that exceeded the top end of its guidance across key metrics, led by 5.8% organic constant-currency revenue growth, a 21.9% increase in adjusted EBITDA and a 270-basis-point expansion in adjusted EBITDA margin to 23.3%.
Executive Chairman and CEO Jim Peck said the quarter marked NIQ’s fifth consecutive period of outperforming its guidance across major measures. Adjusted earnings per share reached $0.27, while levered free cash flow turned positive at $74.1 million. The company ended the quarter with net leverage of approximately 3.1 times, down from 3.4 times at the end of the first quarter.
Revenue Growth Spans Regions and Products
Second-quarter reported revenue rose 8% to $1.1 billion. The company said growth was driven by retention, pricing, cross-selling and upselling across both its intelligence and activation offerings.
The Americas led regional performance with 8.3% organic constant-currency growth, while EMEA accelerated to 4.9%. APAC returned to growth, rising 1.9% on the same basis, which management described as a meaningful sequential improvement from the first quarter.
Peck cited several client wins and expansions, including a U.S. coffee manufacturer that consolidated work with NIQ from two incumbent providers, and a global convenience retailer that expanded its renewal into SKU-level analytics, pricing and promotion, and category management across more than a dozen countries. The latter expansion added more than $5 million of incremental value, according to the company.
NIQ’s intelligence revenue grew 5.7% organically in constant currency, its 10th straight quarter above 5% growth. Annualized intelligence subscription revenue increased 5.8% and exceeded $3 billion. The company reported net dollar retention of 105% and gross dollar retention of 99% in the quarter.
Activation revenue grew 6.1% organically in constant currency, accelerating for a second consecutive quarter. Analytics and innovation-based offerings accounted for nearly 60% of year-to-date activation revenue and grew at a low-double-digit rate, management said.
During the question-and-answer session, CFO Mike Burwell said e-commerce and consumer panel offerings were each growing at rates above 30%, contributing to intelligence growth. He also said demand for analytics offerings, including the company’s BASES AI Screener, remained strong.
AI Products, Data Access and Commercial Expansion
Management emphasized AI as both a product-growth opportunity and a source of operational efficiency. Revenue from AI-native solutions grew 34% in the second quarter, and more than 80% of that revenue came from recurring clients, Peck said. About 51% of NIQ’s top 100 clients now use at least one AI-native solution, while the total number of clients using those offerings increased 64% year to date.
The company introduced or advanced several AI-related products, including the Optiq Suite of insight assistants, NIQ Cadence marketing-effectiveness platform, Optiq Bridge and Connect AI Suite. Peck said these offerings are designed to embed NIQ intelligence into customers’ AI-powered workflows and enterprise environments while retaining NIQ’s underlying methodologies, models and permission layers.
Connect AI has 49 live opportunities in its pipeline, including charter clients and active discussions, according to management. The initial charter-client group includes Purina, a global personal hygiene company, a beauty company and two global beverage companies. Troy Treangen, NIQ’s Chief AI and Product Officer, said each charter client receives dedicated engineers and data scientists to integrate NIQ intelligence into its workflows.
Treangen also said Optiq Bridge, which is designed for model context protocol, or MCP, consumption, was in beta and expected to launch in full product mode in early September. The initial data availability is primarily U.S.-focused, with additional releases planned through the rest of the year to add global retail measurement and consumer panel data.
NIQ plans to launch an agentic commerce measurement product later this year. Treangen said the offering is expected to measure the emerging channel along with metrics including share of prompt, share of discovery, accuracy, clicks and conversion.
Peck said the company expects its AI initiatives to generate some revenue in 2026, but the increased full-year outlook does not assume a material contribution from those products. NIQ expects to begin scaling the initiatives commercially in 2027 and beyond.
Margins, Cash Flow and Balance Sheet Progress
Adjusted EBITDA rose to $262 million in the quarter. Burwell said roughly half of the 270-basis-point margin improvement stemmed from restructuring actions and other productivity efforts, with the remainder coming from revenue growth against what he described as a largely fixed cost base.
NIQ completed the vast majority of actions under its 2026 restructuring program during the first half and expects $70 million to $80 million in run-rate savings. The company said the program is tracking toward a $75 million cost-to-achieve target, with less than a one-year payback.
One-time restructuring costs totaled approximately $36 million in the second quarter, including $15 million related to the 2026 program. Burwell said the company incurred $20 million of related cash outlays during the first half and expects most of the remaining payments to occur in the second half.
Cash flow from operations was $140.1 million, compared with a use of $80.6 million in the year-earlier period. Capital expenditures totaled $66 million, reflecting investments in AI capabilities, technology platforms and data assets. NIQ ended June with $417 million in cash and cash equivalents and approximately $1.2 billion in total available liquidity, including revolver capacity.
Raised 2026 Outlook
For the third quarter, NIQ forecast reported revenue growth of approximately 4.9% to 5.3% and organic constant-currency growth of 5.2% to 5.5%. The company expects adjusted EBITDA growth of 15% to 17%, adjusted EBITDA margin of 23% to 23.5%, and adjusted EPS of $0.22 to $0.24.
For the full year, NIQ raised its outlook to:
- Reported revenue growth of 7.1% to 7.4%.
- Organic constant-currency revenue growth of 5.2% to 5.6%.
- Adjusted EBITDA growth of 15% to 17%.
- Adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.5% to 23.9%.
- Adjusted EPS of $1.08 to $1.12.
- Levered free cash flow of $245 million to $255 million.
- Net leverage below three times by year-end.
Peck said NIQ is focused on maintaining core growth while expanding its AI capabilities, improving operating efficiency and continuing to deleverage its balance sheet.
About NIQ Global Intelligence (NYSE:NIQ)
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