Shutterstock posts $197.8 million loss as revenue falls 33%

Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), the New York stock-media marketplace, reported a third-quarter 2026 net loss of $197.8 million, against net income of $13.4 million a year earlier, as revenue fell 33% to $173.9 million from $260.1 million, according to the company's release published November 5, 2026 for the quarter ended September 30, 2026. The Associated Press snapshot carries the same loss and revenue figures.

The loss includes a $195.6 million non-cash, after-tax goodwill impairment charge. The release explains the charge rather than leaving it open: Shutterstock said it recorded $203.3 million of goodwill impairment after identifying a triggering event from the impact of the dividend suspension it announced on July 22, 2026. The company also cited further revenue declines with operating costs not falling at a similar rate, $0.5 million of costs tied to its proposed merger with Getty Images, $2.6 million of strategic advisory and other fees, and $4.3 million of workforce optimization expenses. The release does not connect the impairment to generative AI.

Revenue split along the company's two product lines. Content revenue fell $36.4 million, or 19%, to $158.1 million, which Shutterstock said was driven primarily by weakness in new customer acquisition; Content was 91% of third-quarter revenue. Data, Distribution and Services revenue fell $49.8 million, or 76%, to $15.8 million, and the company noted: "Revenue recognition in our data offering may vary from quarter-to-quarter based on the delivery timing of metadata licensed assets."

On adjusted measures, net income was $16.7 million against $36.4 million, earnings per diluted share were $0.45 against $0.99, and adjusted EBITDA was $41.8 million against $79.4 million, a 47% decline. Investing.com reported that the $0.45 adjusted earnings per share beat a consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.37, while the $173.9 million in revenue came in under a consensus estimate of $195 million. In the same November 5, 2026 report, Investing.com said the stock had closed at $4.36, down 80.15% over the prior 12 months.

The operating metrics moved the same direction. Subscribers fell to 890,000 from 1,060,000, subscriber revenue fell to $95.1 million from $107.2 million, and paid downloads fell to 90.9 million from 111.7 million. Cash and cash equivalents were $110.5 million at September 30, 2026, down from $133.2 million at June 30, 2026.

Shutterstock has been cutting to match. Chief Executive Officer Jon Oringer said the company reduced third-quarter product development and selling, general and administrative expenses by 30% year over year to $96 million, a $39 million quarterly saving, and cut total headcount by 16% year to date. He said the company is on target for the $60 million in annualized run-rate operating expense reductions it committed to in its second-quarter earnings announcement.

The release also announced a chief financial officer transition. Rik Powell departs from his role effective immediately and from the company on November 13, 2026; Scott Grossman, senior vice president and global head of finance, becomes interim chief financial officer effective immediately.

Shutterstock has been building on the other side of the shift it is now navigating. On April 15, 2026, it announced an AI Video Generator that brings together leading text- and image-to-video models in one unified solution, with access to models from Google, Runway and others and two free generations included. Oringer addressed the same transition in the release: "AI is fundamentally changing how creative content is produced and consumed, creating new opportunities for Shutterstock to build on its content library, data capabilities, and relationships across the creative ecosystem."

For creators, the quarter is a reading on the market under their feet, not a verdict on it. A stock library that is shrinking while its data-licensing business and AI video tools expand could mean fewer traditional footage sales to compete with, and a supplier increasingly selling its library as training data. The release ties the write-down to the dividend suspension, not to AI, so how much of the decline belongs to generative video remains unstated by the company.

Shutterstock gave no fourth-quarter guidance in the release; the next scheduled update is its fourth-quarter 2026 results.