Trustpilot reports 18% bookings growth, raises margin targets

Trustpilot reported 2025 bookings growth of 18% in constant currency to $291 million, with revenue of $261 million and adjusted EBITDA up 69% to $40.7 million, lifting margin to 15.6% from over 4 points lower a year ago. Active reviews rose 20% to 361 million, while AI click-throughs to the platform increased nearly fifteen-fold year on year. The company returned $71.6 million via buybacks, authorized an additional $30 million repurchase, and raised its medium-term EBITDA margin targets to 25% by 2028 and 30% by 2030.

Analysis

TRST is starting to look less like a cyclical SaaS recovery and more like an AI-discovery beneficiary with operating leverage. The key second-order effect is that generative-search traffic can create a low-cost, high-intent acquisition channel that compounds over time: if AI referrals keep scaling, incremental bookings should convert with better unit economics than paid search, which is typically the company’s most fragile growth lever. That makes the margin step-up potentially more durable than the market will assume, because traffic quality, not just volume, is improving.

The market may still be underestimating how powerful the buyback is at this stage of the story. A business with expanding EBITDA margins, cash generation, and a shrinking share count can re-rate quickly if it delivers even modest execution against the upgraded targets; the combination effectively lowers the growth hurdle for the equity. The flip side is that any deceleration in AI-driven traffic would hit sentiment disproportionately, because the valuation case increasingly depends on the narrative that Trustpilot is becoming a destination layer in AI search rather than a commodity review site.

The main risk is not near-term earnings noise; it is concentration risk in a new traffic source and the possibility that AI platforms eventually capture more of the user journey themselves. Over 3-12 months, the stock likely trades on whether management can show that AI click-throughs are turning into durable conversion and not just vanity traffic. If that link weakens, the market will quickly compress the multiple back toward a slower-growth software name despite the buyback support.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Go long TRST into the next trading update on July 16, 2026, with a 3-6 month horizon; the setup favors a re-rating if management confirms that AI-sourced traffic is converting into bookings, with downside cushioned by ongoing buybacks.
• Use a call spread rather than outright equity for TRST over the next 2-4 months; the cleaner risk/reward is to express upside from margin and traffic momentum while limiting exposure if AI referral growth proves non-linear or noisy.
• Pair trade: long TRST / short a slower-growing consumer internet or software name with weaker operating leverage over the next quarter; the thesis is that capital returns plus margin expansion should outperform businesses relying solely on top-line growth.
• If TRST rallies sharply into the update, take partial profits and keep a core position; the market may front-run the AI-discovery story faster than fundamentals, but the buyback and margin roadmap should support a multi-quarter hold.
• Watch for any weakness in traffic quality metrics or conversion commentary as an exit trigger over 1-2 quarters; if AI click-throughs rise but bookings do not, the multiple expansion case should be reduced quickly.