David A. Sternberg, the chief executive of Zeta Global, gestures toward a slide that highlights his company's standout achievement. It shows an average return on marketing spend of 600% for Zeta’s customers. That number represents exceptional performance in the world of business. Yet, the company's stock, which trades under the symbol ZETA on the NYSE, has only climbed 8% in 2025. The gap between the company's financial performance and the market’s reaction remains puzzling to many.
Marketing Returns Outpace Share Performance
Zeta has positioned itself as a leader in AI-powered marketing cloud technology. Its platform enables companies to create highly data-informed advertising campaigns. A key part of the system, called Athena, uses past campaign data to identify the most profitable strategies moving forward. For Zeta’s top clients, this approach results in returns as high as six times the amount they initially invested in marketing. Despite that, the company's shares remain up by less than 10% this year.
The company claims customers see, on average, a 600% return from the marketing budgets they put into the platform. A statistic that significant should drive significant investor interest. However, Zeta's stock is still near what many consider to be a low point. The company counts 189 major clients, defined as enterprises spending over $1 million per year. Combined, these clients bring in roughly $321.3 million annually.
Zeta has now reached a milestone of 19 consecutive quarters in which it exceeded earnings estimates and raised its guidance. That kind of track record is unusual and shows strong, consistent performance. In its latest quarter, revenue more than doubled compared to the same period in 2024. A large portion of that gain came from these key clients. As companies see the effectiveness of the platform, they tend to upgrade their plans — and Zeta’s clients appear to be doing just that.
Recent news includes a partnership with Palantir, a major player in big data analytics. That deal is expected to generate over $100 million a year in recurring revenue for Zeta. Such a partnership is a powerful signal of confidence from a top-tier firm. Palantir doesn’t form major deals with just any company, so the value of this collaboration is clear.
Profitability on the Horizon, Not Here Yet
Zeta’s revenue is growing quickly, but it still hasn’t turned a profit. Net profit margins remain in the negative range, although the company is close to achieving a positive result. Management has set a target of reporting GAAP profitability by 2026. That would be a major step forward for a firm in the early stages of its growth. Once Zeta can prove it can expand its top line and then turn that into profit, investor attention could quickly grow.
Until 2026, though, Zeta continues to run at a small loss. That fact might be holding back stronger gains in the stock. At the moment, the current valuation doesn’t fully reflect the company's strong customer results or the impressive revenue growth. The situation could change quickly, but only if Zeta hits the profitability goal it has outlined.
Analysts at The Motley Fool Stock Advisor recently evaluated the best stocks to buy. Zeta Global wasn’t included in their top 10 list. However, their past picks, like Netflix and Nvidia, delivered huge returns for investors who acted early. Their overall performance beat the S&P 500 by a large margin. While Zeta may not be the current favorite, its strong execution and strategic moves could position it for a significant run in the future.
The marketing technology market is also expected to grow rapidly, reaching $2.38 trillion by 2033, according to Grand View Research. If Zeta captures a larger share of this expanding industry, its potential to outperform broader market benchmarks could become much clearer.
Zeta’s ability to maintain its streak of outperforming expectations and its strategic alliances, like the one with Palantir, suggest it is on a strong path. The combination of recurring revenue from high-value clients, a growing customer base, and the promise of future profitability may be enough to turn investor skepticism into support — and drive the stock higher in the coming years.