Marti (MRT) Q1 2026 earnings review
Subscription Shift Ignites Hyper-Growth and Profitability
Marti is successfully executing a massive pivot. By monetizing ride-hailing through driver subscriptions and intentionally shrinking its capital-intensive two-wheeled EV fleet, revenue skyrocketed 156% YoY. Even more impressive: Gross Margin exploded from 37% to 72%, proving the new software-centric model has extreme operating leverage. Adjusted EBITDA reached near-breakeven at $(0.5)M. While the balance sheet remains a glaring risk—cash sits at just $4.8M against nearly $88M in debt—the operational trajectory is sharply accelerating toward management's target of a fully profitable FY26.
🐂 Bull Case
Gross margin expanded 3,510 basis points to 72%. Subscription-based revenue flows almost entirely to the bottom line, radically transforming Marti's unit economics.
Unique platform consumers grew 89% YoY to 2.06 million, and ride-hailing drivers reached 496,000. The marketplace density is now fueling organic growth and cross-selling into delivery.
🐻 Bear Case
The company holds just $4.8 million in cash against $87.7 million in total financial liabilities. While they have access to an undrawn $100M convertible note facility, the cost of capital is highly dilutive.
The legacy two-wheeled EV business is shrinking rapidly, with daily deployed vehicles down 20% YoY. If ride-hailing adoption stalls, there is no backup growth engine.
⚖️ Verdict: 🟢
Bullish. The core thesis—transitioning from a heavy-asset scooter rental company to a high-margin mobility software platform—is playing out perfectly in the financials. Liquidity is the primary headwind, but the operational leverage is undeniable.
Key Themes
Subscription Model Validation
Accelerating. The decision to introduce driver subscription packages in late 2024 is paying off massively. Revenue grew 156% to $15.4M, while Cost of Revenues only increased 14%. This disconnect between top-line growth and cost of delivery is exactly what investors want to see in a platform business.
Marketplace Density and Delivery Expansion
Accelerating. Trips jumped 93% YoY to 16.2 million. More importantly, Marti is successfully cross-selling services to its driver base. In Q1, 51% of motorcycle-hailing drivers and 23% of car-hailing drivers in Istanbul also provided delivery services, increasing driver retention and platform stickiness.
Operating Leverage in SG&A
Accelerating. General and administrative expenses fell from a bloated 111% of revenue in 25Q1 to 49% in 26Q1. Stripping out share-based compensation, core G&A was only $5.3M. This cost discipline is the primary reason Adjusted EBITDA improved by $3.1M YoY.
Planned Contraction of Legacy EV Fleet
Decelerating. Average daily two-wheeled electric vehicles deployed fell 19.9% YoY to 20,422. Management is gradually retiring older 2021 fleet units and explicitly stated they will not pursue fleet expansion until at least summer 2026. This deliberate contraction sacrifices top-line growth to save on capex and depreciation.
Bleeding Balance Sheet in a Volatile Macro Environment
Stable but critical. Cash dropped from $7.8M at year-end to $4.8M. Despite the massive improvement in margins, operating cash flow was still negative $5.7M for the quarter. With the Turkish macroeconomic environment (historical high inflation) and massive $87M convertible debt load, the company relies entirely on outside funding (like the recent $13M note issuance) to survive until it turns cash-flow positive.
Zoba AI Optimization Engine
Stable. Since acquiring Zoba's AI-powered fleet optimization software in early 2024, Marti has managed to squeeze better unit economics out of a shrinking two-wheeled fleet. Historical data showed Zoba-equipped vehicles producing 2.4x higher daily rides, validating the strategy to favor tech-driven efficiency over raw fleet expansion.
Other KPIs
Reversing. A 26% improvement from the $(10.1)M loss a year ago. When backing out $2.2M in share-based compensation, the core operational loss narrows to $(5.2)M, indicating the business is getting substantially closer to self-funding.
Stable. Cost of revenues increased only 13.8% despite a 93% surge in total trips and 156% revenue growth. This demonstrates that the new ride-hailing matching software incurs virtually zero marginal cost compared to the legacy asset-heavy scooter business.
Guidance
Accelerating. Reaffirmed guidance implies a massive 106% YoY growth compared to the estimated $34.0M in FY25. With $15.4M already booked in Q1, the company needs to average ~$18.2M per quarter for the rest of the year, which is highly achievable given the current growth trajectory.
Reversing. Reaffirmed guidance targets the company's first-ever full year of positive Adjusted EBITDA, representing a multi-million dollar swing from prior years. Q1's near-breakeven result (-$0.5M) provides strong confidence they can hit this target.
Stable. The company hit 3.89M by Q1, meaning they only need to add ~400k new riders in Q2 to meet this target. Given they added nearly 2 million riders over the past 12 months, this looks highly conservative.
Key Questions
Driver Subscription Churn
With the massive revenue growth coming from driver subscriptions, what is the monthly churn rate among these paying drivers, and what pricing power do you have to raise subscription fees moving forward?
Liquidity Runway
Operating cash flow was negative $5.7M this quarter, and cash balances sit at $4.8M. Under what conditions do you plan to draw from the $100M convertible note facility established in October 2025?
Two-Wheeled Fleet Floor
As the 2021 vintage two-wheeled EVs are retired, at what fleet size do you expect to hit the absolute floor before restarting capital expenditures in Summer 2026?