Rumble Q1 Earnings Call Highlights
Rumble (NASDAQ:RUM) executives said the company is nearing a major expansion into cloud infrastructure and AI services as its pending acquisition of Northern Data moves toward an expected June closing.
Founder, Chairman and CEO Chris Pavlovski said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call that Rumble has secured approximately 81% of Northern Data’s outstanding shares and has received all required regulatory approvals for the business combination. He said the transaction remains on track to close this quarter.
“Cloud will become a pillar alongside video,” Pavlovski said, adding that early indications suggest cloud “should be the largest generator of revenue” for the company following the deal.
Pavlovski cited Northern Data’s recently reported first-quarter revenue of roughly EUR 43 million, which he said was driven by higher utilization of its GPU estate, rising from 62% in December 2025 to approximately 85% in March 2026. He also noted Northern Data reaffirmed its full-year 2026 revenue outlook of EUR 130 million to EUR 150 million.
Cloud and AI Expansion Takes Center Stage
Rumble executives positioned the Northern Data acquisition as central to the company’s shift toward cloud and AI infrastructure. Pavlovski said Rumble is in negotiations with multiple customers for GPU-as-a-service offerings and is evaluating several non-dilutive GPU financing offers.
He said Rumble is also investing in CPU-as-a-service as part of its broader cloud strategy, particularly as AI moves toward edge and agentic AI applications. As an example, Pavlovski pointed to the recent launch of one-click OpenClaw deployment on Rumble Cloud, which he said makes it easier for developers and enterprises to deploy AI agents.
Pavlovski also highlighted opportunities in crypto infrastructure and agentic payments, citing Rumble’s partnership with Tether and the selection of Rumble Cloud by Anchorage Digital as an infrastructure partner.
In response to an analyst question about Northern Data’s infrastructure, Pavlovski said Northern Data has around 22,000 GPUs across about nine data centers, along with properties including Maysville, which he said has energized capacity of up to 180 MW. He said more detailed information would be available after the transaction closes.
First-Quarter Revenue Rises 7%
Chief Financial Officer Mike Masci, who recently joined Rumble after a career at Intel, said first-quarter revenue rose to $25.5 million, up approximately 7% from $23.7 million in the prior-year quarter.
The year-over-year increase was driven by a $2.6 million rise in audience monetization revenue, partially offset by an $800,000 decline in other initiatives revenue, Masci said.
Cost of services fell 10% to $27 million, reflecting a $2.3 million decrease in programming and content costs and a $700,000 reduction in other cost of services. General and administrative expenses declined 37% to $10.4 million, mainly due to lower payroll-related expenses and reduced professional fees.
Research and development expenses increased 20% to $5.7 million, while sales and marketing expenses rose 134% to $8.5 million. Masci said the increase in sales and marketing reflected deliberate investment in Rumble’s brand, products and sales operations as the company approaches a midterm election year and expands Rumble Cloud’s commercial efforts.
Adjusted EBITDA loss improved to $21 million from a loss of $22.7 million a year earlier. Net loss widened to $30.3 million, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million in the first quarter of 2025. Masci said the change was primarily driven by non-cash items, including lower benefits from changes in fair value of warrant liabilities and derivatives, acquisition-related transaction costs tied to Northern Data and a higher charge related to changes in fair value of digital assets.
Rumble ended the quarter with total liquidity of $233.4 million, consisting of $219 million in cash and cash equivalents and 210.82 Bitcoin valued at $14.4 million as of March 31. Net cash used in operating activities was $16.6 million.
Video Platform Shows User Growth
Pavlovski said Rumble’s video platform reached 56 million monthly active users, marking another quarter of sequential growth. He attributed the increase to marketing efforts, international expansion and Rumble Shorts.
Rumble Shorts set a new record in May with roughly 2 million unique video views in a single day, Pavlovski said. He added that Shorts is contributing to monthly active user growth and could eventually support the long-form side of the platform.
However, Pavlovski said Shorts is not yet monetized, which negatively affected average revenue per user. The company plans to begin monetizing Shorts in the second half of 2026 and hopes that will lift ARPU.
Rumble also launched Rumble Wallet in partnership with Tether. Pavlovski said Tether’s $100 million advertising commitment has already begun in the current quarter, though it is being scaled slowly as Rumble tests the product and prepares promotional efforts. He said the company expects to scale the commitment more materially in the second half of the year.
Advertising Push and Election Cycle
During the question-and-answer portion of the call, Pavlovski said Rumble has seen progress under Greg Sherrill, the company’s President of Sales for Rumble Advertising, including opening programmatic channels. He said he does not expect meaningful advertising numbers from those efforts until late 2026 and into 2027.
Pavlovski said Rumble is also developing new functions in the Rumble Advertising Center that would allow creators and users to advertise within the platform, similar to boosting features on other social platforms. He said Rumble expects to release that capability this summer.
Asked about the midterm election cycle, Pavlovski said Rumble is in a stronger advertising position than in prior cycles and expects the midterms to be important for monetization. He said the company has historically seen advertising budgets arrive in the fourth quarter during election periods and expects something similar for the upcoming midterms.
Masci also addressed financial projections included in transaction-related filings, saying those forecasts were internal in nature and “are not guidance.” He said Rumble may evaluate whether to provide guidance for the combined company after the Northern Data transaction is completed.
About Rumble (NASDAQ:RUM)
Rumble Inc operates a video-sharing platform designed to offer creators and audiences an alternative to traditional social media and streaming services. The company's primary business activities include hosting, distributing and monetizing user–generated and professional video content. Through its platform, Rumble enables content creators to retain a higher share of advertising revenue and maintain greater control over their intellectual property, while offering viewers open access to a wide range of videos spanning news, sports, entertainment and educational programming.
In addition to its core video platform, Rumble provides cloud–based video hosting and delivery services via Rumble Cloud, a content–delivery network (CDN) designed to support high–volume streaming and storage.
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