Reddit ads jump 64 per cent as Huffman pitches "the antidote to an automated web"

Reddit reported second quarter revenue of US$805 million on Thursday morning AEST, up 61 per cent year on year and its eighth consecutive quarter of growth above 60 per cent. Advertising did the heavy lifting, rising 64 per cent to US$762 million on what the company called broad strength across the full funnel and across industry verticals. Other revenue, which includes data licensing, grew 24 per cent to US$43 million.

The profit line moved faster than the top line. Net income of US$253 million more than doubled year on year, adjusted EBITDA of US$343 million was up 106 per cent, and adjusted EBITDA margin reached 42.6 per cent, from 33.4 per cent a year earlier. Daily active uniques grew 18 per cent to 130.3 million. The growth is increasingly international: revenue outside the US rose 84 per cent to US$166.8 million, and international daily actives grew 28 per cent to 77.1 million while US daily actives grew just 6 per cent.

Founder and CEO Steve Huffman framed the result as proof of a contrarian position. "In an increasingly automated web, the value of real human perspective has never been higher," he said in the results release. In his letter to shareholders he went further: "We are the antidote to an automated web. AI compresses the internet into summaries. Reddit delivers the opposite: deep discussions, passionate debates, and lived experiences. People don't want a summary of Reddit; they want Reddit."

The company guided to third quarter revenue of US$860 million to US$870 million, ahead of analyst expectations, with adjusted EBITDA of US$385 million to US$395 million. Even so, Investing.com reported the shares fell around 12.5 per cent after the call, a reminder that investors are pricing in dependence on Google search referrals and an eventual slowdown in a growth rate that cannot compound at 60 per cent forever.

Why it matters for Australian marketers: Reddit's international line is where Australia sits, and it is the fastest growing part of the business by a wide margin. Local media buyers weighing Reddit against Meta's premium-priced inventory (Meta reported average ad prices up 12 per cent this week) now have a platform argument built precisely for the moment: contextual, community-led placements pitched as brand-safe distance from AI-generated slop. For Australian publishers, Huffman's "people don't want a summary" line is also the sharpest articulation yet of the case they are making against AI answer engines, and it is coming from a company that licenses its data to the same AI labs.

AdNews covered the result locally on Thursday afternoon.