Operator

Good afternoon, and welcome. Thank you for joining us to discuss Fluent’s Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2025 earnings results. With me today are Fluent’s Chief Executive Officer; Don Patrick, Chief Financial Officer; Ryan Perfit; and Chief Strategy Officer, Ryan Schulke.

Our call today will begin with comments from Don and Ryan Perfit, followed by a question-and-answer session. I would like to remind you that this call is being webcast live and recorded. Additionally, there is a slide presentation that accompanies today’s remarks, which can be accessed via the webcast and is also available on Fluent’s website. A replay of the event will also be made available following the call on Fluent’s website.

To access the webcast and slide presentation, please visit the Investor Relations page at www.fluentco.com. Before we begin, I would like to advise listeners that certain information discussed by management during this conference call will contain forward-looking statements covered under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Any forward-looking statements made during this call only speak as of the date hereof. Actual results could differ materially from those stated and implied by such forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with the company’s business. These statements may be identified by words such as expects, plans, projects, could, will, estimates and other words of similar meaning. The company takes no obligation to update information provided on this call. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties associated with Fluent’s business, we encourage you

ET Intelligence Group: Nifty 50 has fallen nearly 9% in 2026 amid fears that surging crude oil prices could weigh on the broader economy. Yet, an ETIG analysis of past instances of sharp oil spikes shows that equities typically recover within two months once crude prices begin to cool.

In July 2008, for instance, crude surged 27% in just two months to a record $147.5 a barrel during the Global Financial Crisis, dragging Nifty down 25%. Two months later, crude had eased 17%, and Nifty rebounded 12%.

A similar pattern emerged in October 2018. As crude rose 18% over two months on strong demand and geopolitical risks, Nifty slipped more than 4%. But over the next two months, the index stabilised while Brent prices collapsed nearly 39%.

The trend repeated in March 2022 when Russia-Ukraine conflict pushed Brent up 58% in two months and Nifty dropped 11%. Within the following two months, oil prices fell 20% and Nifty regained all lost ground, rising 11%.
Over a 25-year period, Nifty and Brent show a moderately positive correlation of 0.3. A periodic analysis, however, reveals that this relationship has shifted meaningfully over time. The coefficient has declined to around 0.38 since 2020 from 0.87 between 2000 and 2010, indicating a weakening linkage in recent years.

Crude’s impact extends beyond equities as higher prices affect input costs thereby affecting the broader economy. The Consumer Price Index shares a strong correlation of 0.64 with Brent, underscoring the effect of energy prices on inflation.
With Brent crude up 72% so far in 2026, the rise is set to increase energy and feedstock costs, potentially squeezing corporate margins and widening the fiscal deficit.

The federal budget deficit topped $1 trillion in the first five months of fiscal year 2026, as the U.S. government is on pace to record another massive deficit.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that the federal budget deficit was just over $1 trillion through five months of fiscal year 2026, with the size of the deficit down $142 billion or 14% when compared with the same period in fiscal year 2025.

CBO noted that federal spending was just over $3.1 trillion in the first five months of fiscal year 2026, up $64 billion, or 2%, from the same period a year ago. Federal tax revenue collected jumped $206 billion, or 11%, when compared with last year and totaled nearly $2.1 trillion.

The rise in federal tax receipts was attributed to higher collections from individual income taxes and payroll taxes, with CBO noting those accounted for about two-thirds of the increase, while higher tariff rates also increased the amount of import taxes collected.

US DEBT SET TO CRUSH WORLD WAR II RECORD AS ANNUAL DEFICITS EXPLODE TO $3T WITHIN DECADE

CBO said that from October through February, individual income tax collections were up $99 billion, or 10%, when compared with the same period in the prior fiscal year, while payroll tax collections rose $34 billion, or 5%.

Customs duties, a category which includes tariffs, totaled $144 billion in the first five months of fiscal year 2026 – up $109 billion, or 308%, from the same period in the prior fiscal year. 

Some of those tariffs collected may ultimately be refunded to the businesses and individuals who paid them after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration’s tariffs imposed under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) were unconstitutional. 

Tariff refunds would lower federal tax revenue and thereby increase the deficit, and while the Trump administration has moved to implement replacement tariffs, those may face similar legal challenges and collections could face delays.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST BUDGET DEFICITS IN US HISTORY?

Corporate income tax collections were down $33 billion, or 23%, in the first five months of the year due to provisions in the 2025 reconciliation bill that increased the tax deductions available to companies making certain eligible investments.

Federal spending increased the most for Social Security and Medicare, the mandatory spending programs that have seen enrollment surge in recent years amid the aging of America’s population.

Spending on Social Security totaled $676 billion in the first five months of fiscal year 2026 – an increase of $48 billion, or 8%, from the same period last year. CBO noted the annual cost-of-living adjustment boosted benefit amounts, while the Social Security Fairness Act’s expansion of benefits eligibility to previously non-covered professions accounted for about $7 billion of the increase.

Medicare spending jumped $34 billion, or 9%, from a year ago to a total of $475 billion in that period, which CBO attributed to higher enrollment and increased payment rates for services.

SOCIAL SECURITY’S MAIN TRUST FUND FACES DEPLETION IN 2032, TRIGGERING BENEFIT CUTS

Another significant mandatory program saw a similar rise in spending as outlays on Medicaid also increased by $22 billion, a rise of 8%, to a total of $285 billion in the five-month period.

Interest expenses on the national debt also saw a notable jump, with net interest costs totaling $433 billion in the first five months of the fiscal year. That’s a jump of $31 billion, or 8%, from the previous year and was due to the larger national debt and higher interest rates.

While spending on the Department of War rose $14 billion, or 4%, and the Department of Veterans Affairs increased $11 billion, or 7%, in the first five months of fiscal year 2026 compared with last year, several agencies saw notable decreases.

Spending by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decreased by $20 billion, or 74%, though that decrease was due to a $20 billion expenditure in November and December 2024 under a clean energy grant program and no comparable outlay was made in 2025.

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A similar dynamic played out with the Department of Homeland Security, which saw spending decline by $12 billion, or 23%, due to a relative decrease in spending on disasters when compared with the prior year despite being partially offset by higher spending on immigration enforcement.

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Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

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Zevra Therapeutics, Inc. (ZVRA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call March 9, 2026 4:30 PM EDT

Company Participants

Nichol Ochsner – Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Neil McFarlane – President, CEO & Director
Joshua Schafer – Chief Commercial Officer
Justin Renz – Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

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Kristen Kluska – Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Research Division
Jason Butler – Citizens JMP Securities, LLC, Research Division
Eddie Hickman – Guggenheim Securities, LLC, Research Division
Sumant Kulkarni – Canaccord Genuity Corp., Research Division
Brandon Folkes – H.C. Wainwright & Co, LLC, Research Division
Lachlan Hanbury-Brown – William Blair & Company L.L.C., Research Division

Presentation

Operator

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Good afternoon, and thank you for joining Zevra’s Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results and Corporate Update Conference Call. Today’s call is being recorded and will be available via the Investor Relations section of the company’s website later today. The host for today’s call is Nichol Ochsner, Zevra’s Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications.

Nichol Ochsner
Vice President of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

Thank you, and welcome to those who are joining us. Today, we will provide an overview of our recent accomplishments, followed by a review of our fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results. I encourage you to read the financial results news release, which was distributed this afternoon, and is available in the Investors section of our website.

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Before we begin the call, please note that certain information shared today will include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied by forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties associated with Zevra’s business. Forward-looking statements are not promises or guarantees and are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may lead to actual results differing materially from the projections made, and should be evaluated together with the Risk Factors section in