Key Highlights

  • Third-quarter Revenue rose 13% to $20.7 million, and Net Income reached $4.8 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA was $5.0 million, marking seven consecutive quarters of positive adjusted EBITDA.
  • Gross Margin fell to 48.8% from 58.7%, reflecting higher revenue share expense on AI licensing.
  • The board declared a $0.085 per share Dividend payable December 15, 2026.

CuriosityStream Inc. (NASDAQ:CURI), a global factual entertainment company, reported third-quarter 2026 results that included 13% revenue growth, a swing to positive net income and a fourth-quarter dividend declaration. Revenue was $20.7 million and net income was $4.8 million, compared with a net loss a year earlier. The board declared a Cash Dividend of $0.085 per share, payable December 15, 2026, to holders of record on December 3. Factual streaming and content libraries are increasingly used as Training material for AI developers, a source of licensing income that has grown alongside traditional distribution deals.

Revenue and Profitability

Revenue rose 13% from $18.4 million a year earlier. Gross Profit was $10.1 million, with a gross margin of 48.8%, down from $10.8 million and 58.7% in the same quarter of 2025. The company attributed the decline to higher revenue share expense on AI licensing.

Net income improved by $8.6 million, but that figure includes a $0.9 million non-cash gain tied to remeasuring a previously held interest in the Spiegel Venture. Excluding that gain, the improvement is smaller than the headline figure suggests.

Licensing income can be lumpy, because deals depend on the timing of content deliveries and the terms negotiated. A growing share of revenue from licensing can improve top-line growth while also carrying higher costs, as the revenue share expense in this quarter shows.

Adjusted EBITDA and Cost Control

Adjusted EBITDA was $5.0 million, up $2.0 million from $3.0 million, and the company described it as the seventh consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA. Operating expenses fell $5.8 million, or 25%, from the third quarter of 2025.

Lower costs and higher revenue lifted the profit measures, but the gross margin decline shows that a larger share of revenue went to licensing partners. The trend in that cost line will shape whether profit gains hold.

Net income is affected by one-time items as well as by operations. The non-cash gain on the Spiegel Venture interest shows how a single accounting adjustment can change the reported result for a period.

Cash, Dividend and Balance Sheet

Net cash from Operating Activities was $1.5 million for the nine months, compared with $9.1 million a year earlier. The company paid an ordinary dividend of $0.085 per share, totaling $5.1 million, and held $10.0 million in cash, restricted cash and held-to-maturity securities at quarter end.

The company has no debt, and its $10.0 million revolving Credit Facility remains undrawn. The $5.1 million dividend total is larger than nine-month operating cash flow, which shows that the payout depends on existing cash reserves.

A dividend equal to the company's per-share Earnings in a quarter is a policy choice that depends on cash reserves. With Operating Cash Flow lower than dividends paid in the nine months, the company's payout relies on its existing balance.

Content, Licensing and Strategy

Chief Executive Clint Stinchcomb said the company's premium video, audio and proprietary operational data are attracting interest from traditional media and AI developers, and that the company aims to turn that interest into recurring revenue. The company reported licensing thousands of hours of scripted entertainment during the quarter.

AI licensing is both a growth source and a cost driver in the quarter, since revenue share expense on those agreements rose. The durability of that revenue will depend on the terms and Volume of future AI deals, which the update does not detail.

Investors will look for whether the operating improvements continue, whether gross margins stabilize and whether AI licensing becomes a repeatable revenue stream rather than a one-time contribution.

Final Word

CuriosityStream grew revenue and returned to positive net income, but part of the net income gain came from a non-cash item and gross margin narrowed as AI licensing costs rose. The dividend and the cash position will remain under watch as the company seeks Recurring Revenue from its content and data assets. The durability of earnings and the dividend will depend on how these licensing trends develop.