Earnings Q1 Snapshot: FiscalNote Reports Strength in EBITDA, Innovation with PolicyNow, and Clear Path to Growth

Fintech emerger FiscalNote Holdings Inc. (NOTE) reported strong Q1 operational performance, providing better-than-expected earnings and reaffirming full-year guidance despite ongoing portfolio streamlining. In the company's Q1 2025 earnings call, FiscalNote's CEO Josh Resnik and CFO Jon Slabaugh highlighted disciplined execution, early traction with the company's new PolicyNow platform, and continued momentum toward achieving positive free cash flow.

Key Financial Highlights

Q1 Revenue was $27.5M which beat guidance of $26M-$27M. This figure includes revenue contributions from divested businesses, Dragonfly and Oxford Analytica. Adjusted EBITDA was posted at $2.8M (10% margin), marking the seventh straight quarter of positive performance and exceeding the $2M forecast. Net Loss was $4.3M, impacted by prior-year gains from asset sales with a Cash Position of $46.9M in cash and short-term investments, boosted by recent divestitures and strong operating discipline. The Debt Reduction: of its senior term loan balance was reduced by $27M since year-end 2024, and is now standing at $62M million. An additional $3 million is expected from the sale of Australian subsidiary TimeBase to further reduce debt.

Operational Progress and Growth Strategy

CEO Josh Resnik outlined the company's three strategic priorities which are consistent expansion of adjusted EBITDA, prudent debt reduction and cash flow improvement and long-term, sustainable revenue growth

Q1's EBITDA improvement reflects these priorities, driven by efficiency measures, cost reductions, and a simplified product portfolio. Operating expenses fell 5% year-over-year, with deeper cuts in R&D and sales and marketing.

Despite a slow start to revenue growth which is attributed to late-2024 execution issues, Resnik emphasized that pipeline activity has surged in recent weeks. Inbound demand rose 20% year-over-year, especially in Europe, and early feedback on PolicyNow is fueling optimism for a second-half rebound.

PolicyNow Gaining Traction

Launched in January, the PolicyNow platform represents a significant leap forward for the company's product offering. Designed to unify local-to-global policy data with AI-powered insights, the platform is already showing impressive engagement. Among a high-risk cohort migrated to PolicyNow, 75% are now "healthy" accounts, with 1 in 3 becoming "power users." Customers are conducting more frequent searches and engaging deeply with the platform's AI tools. Key new features include an executive orders widget, intelligent alert management, and a tariff tracker launched just two weeks after the announcement of new U.S. trade restrictions.

The rapid pace of product innovation--15 major new features in Q1 alone--is being matched by tighter go-to-market execution. Resnik noted an April 16 launch of the tariff tracker led to nearly 200 meetings and generated close to $1M million in new pipeline on launch day alone.

Outlook and Guidance

Despite portfolio divestitures, FiscalNote reaffirmed its full-year 2025 guidance with Revenue between $94-$100M and Adjusted EBITDA between $10-$12M.

For Q2 2025, the company expects revenue of $22-$24M and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $2M. The slight sequential decline in revenue is attributed to the absence of contributions from the recently divested Oxford and Dragonfly units.

Investor Confidence and Multi-Year Contracts

A major confidence signal comes from the uptick in multi-year deals. New corporate customers committed to multi-year agreements at more than double the rate of Q1 2024. These agreements were not driven by discounting, but rather by customer conviction in the product roadmap and platform value.

Analyst Q&A Highlights

Pipeline Composition: Primarily driven by new logo opportunities across verticals, with particularly strong momentum in Europe.

Federal Sector: Despite political volatility, FiscalNote sees long-term opportunity in federal sales, aided by AI-driven efficiency tools and advisory support from former Palantir leadership.

Customer Migration to PolicyNow: Full migration is targeted for 2026, with early platform deprecations planned for late 2025.

The post Earnings Q1 Snapshot: FiscalNote Reports Strength in EBITDA, Innovation with PolicyNow, and Clear Path to Growth appeared first on PRISM MarketView.

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