Creative Realities (NASDAQ:CREX) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Creative Realities (NASDAQ:CREX) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by ($0.14), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $23.92 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.27 million. Creative Realities had a negative return on equity of 10.24% and a negative net margin of 20.64%.

Here are the key takeaways from Creative Realities’ conference call:

• The CDM acquisition (closed Nov.) more than doubled CRI’s size, helped Q4 revenue jump to $23.9M (including $13.6M from CDM), lifted ARR to $20.1M, and management reiterates 2026 revenue > $100 million with mid‑teens adjusted EBITDA margin guidance.
• Management expects at least $10M of annualized synergies in 2026 (already >60% realized) and reported a much stronger adjusted EBITDA of $5.2M in Q4 versus $0.5M a year ago, indicating early margin improvement and cash‑flow potential.
• The acquisition materially increased leverage—gross/net debt rose to about $43.3M/$41.7M (financed by a $36M term loan and $30M convertible preferred), while cash was only about $1.6M at year‑end, raising near‑term interest and balance‑sheet risk.
• Commercial momentum and scale gains include a secured $8M stadium project, a $6M AMC lobby media rollout (1,200+ screens with revenue share), the 10‑year $54M North Carolina Lottery deployment, and an expanded 40+ person salesforce to pursue large enterprise and retail‑media opportunities.
• Severe Jan–Feb weather delayed roughly $4M of Q1 revenue into Q2/Q3 (construction suspensions), creating near‑term timing volatility for quarterly results despite management saying the revenue is not lost.

Creative Realities Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of CREX opened at $3.77 on Thursday. Creative Realities has a 12 month low of $1.28 and a 12 month high of $4.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $3.47 and its 200-day moving average is $3.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.66 million, a PE ratio of -4.65 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Creative Realities by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 34,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 6,122 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Creative Realities by 5.1% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 331,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after acquiring an additional 16,000 shares during the last quarter. Rothschild Wealth LLC bought a new position in Creative Realities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $587,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Creative Realities in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Finally, Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Creative Realities in the third quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 41.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CREX. Alliance Global Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Creative Realities in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Creative Realities in a report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

About Creative Realities

Creative Realities, Inc (NASDAQ: CREX) is a technology company specializing in digital engagement solutions for retail, restaurant, corporate and public-facing environments. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, the company develops and delivers integrated hardware and software platforms designed to create dynamic, interactive experiences. Its offerings include digital signage networks, interactive kiosks and video training systems, all powered by an enterprise-grade content management system that enables clients to deploy, schedule and monitor multimedia content across multiple locations.

The company’s flagship software platform provides real-time analytics, remote asset management and customizable user interfaces that support both touchscreen and traditional display formats.