Buzzfeed has ‘substantial doubt’ it can stay in business

By CNN Newsource

Published March 12, 2026 5:50 PM

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN

New York (CNN) — Buzzfeed, the digital media company that took the mid-2010s by storm, said on Thursday it has “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a business.

In an earnings report released Thursday, Buzzfeed said it has engaged in “strategic conversations” about relieving its liquidity issues.

“We believe there is a gap between the value of our individual assets and our market capitalization that suggests significant unrecognized upside,” founder and CEO Jonah Peretti said.

The company was $165 million in debt three years ago; that’s been slashed by more than 65%, Buzzfeed said. But Matt Omer, Buzzfeed’s chief financial officer, said the company is still burdened by legacy commitments. Alongside its namesake, Buzzfeed also owns news site Huffpost and online food network Tasty.

“We’re exploring strategic options to complete the work we started years ago and position the Company to operate profitably on a sustainable basis,” Omer said in the earnings statement.

Peretti gave a hint of what that could look like in the statement: “In 2026, our focus is demonstrating the value of our brands, Studio IP, and new AI apps to the market.”

In 2025, Buzzfeed had a net loss of $57.3 million, according to its earning report. The company noted it did not have enough resources to fund its cash obligations for the next year.

The decline of Buzzfeed’s digital empire, synonymous with viral videos and online quizzes, has been playing out since its IPO in 2021.

Two years later, in 2023, Peretti announced that the Pulitzer-prize winning Buzzfeed News would shut down.

Buzzfeed has gone through several rounds of layoffs and cost-cutting measures, and it sold Complex Networks in 2024.

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