Opera revenue jumps 25%, but OPRA shares slide as investors look past the Q2 beat

Opera Limited (Nasdaq: OPRA) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $178.1 million, up 25% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA increased 32% to $42.4 million and net income climbed 76% to $27.6 million. Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA finished above the high end of Opera’s own guidance, and the browser company raised its full-year outlook for a second consecutive quarter. Yet Opera shares were trading around $18.12 during the August 19 session, down about 7.1%, showing that another earnings beat was not enough to satisfy a market that had already priced in continued upside. The more important investment question is therefore whether Opera can keep expanding monetization from its existing user base as artificial intelligence changes how people search, browse and interact with the web.

The details underneath the headline beat explain part of that tension. Opera had previously guided for second-quarter revenue of $176 million to $178 million and adjusted EBITDA of $40 million to $42 million. Actual revenue of $178.068 million exceeded the top of that range by only about $68,000, while adjusted EBITDA of $42.429 million came in roughly $429,000 above the upper end. The company unquestionably delivered against its targets, but the absolute size of the guidance beat was small, meaning the stronger part of the story lies in the underlying 25% revenue growth, improved margins and increased full-year outlook rather than a dramatic quarterly surprise.

Why did Opera Limited shares fall even though second-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA beat guidance?

Opera’s results created one of those earnings-day situations where both statements can be true: the company performed well, and investors were disappointed.

Revenue exceeded the roughly $177.1 million FactSet consensus cited by Investor’s Business Daily, while reported earnings per share of $0.30 were above the publication’s cited consensus of $0.26. Opera also guided for third-quarter revenue of $181 million to $183 million, putting the midpoint at $182 million versus a cited analyst consensus of about $179.7 million. On a purely near-term basis, those numbers were constructive.

The apparent problem was the full-year outlook. Opera increased 2026 revenue guidance from $727 million to $740 million previously to $734 million to $742 million, while adjusted EBITDA guidance moved from $170 million to $174 million to a new range of $172 million to $175 million. At the respective midpoints, annual revenue expectations increased from $733.5 million to $738 million, an improvement of only $4.5 million, while adjusted EBITDA increased from a midpoint of $172 million to $173.5 million.

The revised $738 million revenue midpoint was also slightly below the roughly $739.1 million full-year consensus cited by Investor’s Business Daily. That difference is small, but markets trade relative to expectations rather than press-release adjectives. Opera had already exceeded guidance in the first quarter and had built a track record of delivering above its own ranges, so investors may have expected a larger increase to the full-year forecast after another strong quarter.

Opera’s management said the updated forecast remained deliberately prudent around year-end seasonality while incorporating the second-quarter outperformance. That leaves room for further upside if current trends continue, but it also means the market must decide whether management is conservatively guiding or whether growth naturally becomes harder to accelerate from the present level.

How did Opera grow revenue 25% when its total monthly active user base remained flat from the first quarter?

This may be the most important operating question in the quarter.

Opera averaged 288 million monthly active users across its products and services in the second quarter, exactly the same rounded figure it reported for the first quarter. Yet second-quarter revenue increased 25% year over year to $178.1 million, and annualized average revenue per user rose 25% to $2.46. First-quarter annualized ARPU had been $2.43.

In other words, Opera’s current growth engine is not simply adding hundreds of millions of new users. It is becoming better at monetizing the users it already attracts while shifting the audience toward geographies and products carrying greater commercial value.

That distinction matters for the business model. A browser with 288 million monthly active users does not necessarily need double-digit total user growth to maintain double-digit revenue growth if engagement rises, higher-value users become a larger part of the mix and advertising and query monetization improve.

Opera has explicitly focused on attracting users in higher-ARPU Western markets. Its August investor materials show approximately 61 million monthly active users in Western markets, while annualized company-wide ARPU has increased about 2.6 times over the past four years, from $0.93 in the second quarter of 2022 to $2.46 in the latest quarter.

There are also pockets of substantial audience expansion inside the flat group-level figure. Opera said in July that combined monthly active users across its Android and iOS browsers increased 40% year over year in the United States and 66% in the United Kingdom during the second quarter. Opera GX averaged 37 million monthly active users globally during Q2, increasing by two million sequentially and 10% year over year.

The implication is that user quality and geographic mix increasingly matter more than the headline MAU total. If Opera can replace or outweigh lower-value traffic with more monetizable users, a relatively stable aggregate audience can still produce substantial financial growth.

The risk is equally clear. ARPU cannot increase indefinitely without corresponding improvements in user engagement, advertiser demand, query economics or new paid services. Eventually, maintaining revenue growth around 20% will become easier if both audience size and monetization contribute rather than relying heavily on monetization gains.

Why is advertising now more important than traditional search revenue to Opera’s growth story?

Opera generated $115.4 million of second-quarter advertising revenue, an increase of 27% year over year and approximately 65% of total revenue. Query revenue increased 21% to $62.1 million and represented roughly 35% of revenue, while other revenue remained below $1 million.

That revenue mix is strategically important because Opera is sometimes viewed primarily through the economics of browser search partnerships. Search remains substantial, but advertising is now clearly the larger revenue engine.

Opera said e-commerce partners remained its fastest-growing advertising vertical during the quarter. Advertising products include premium placements such as browser Speed Dials alongside the company’s broader Opera Ads infrastructure. Query revenue, meanwhile, includes revenue-sharing arrangements linked to searches as well as broader commercial opportunities connected with user queries.

The diversification helps as artificial intelligence begins to alter traditional search behavior. If users increasingly ask an AI assistant to synthesize information instead of typing a conventional query into a search box, browser companies may eventually need monetization models extending beyond the familiar search-revenue-share structure.

Opera appears to be preparing for exactly that possibility rather than betting that browsing behavior will remain unchanged.

The company’s challenge is preserving the economic value of user intent even if the interface through which that intent is expressed changes. Traditional search monetizes a typed query. An AI browser could potentially monetize a much broader sequence of actions involving research, recommendations, shopping, navigation and task execution.

That opportunity is potentially larger, but it is also less mature and its commercial structure is still evolving.

Can Opera turn ChatGPT, Claude and agentic browsing into revenue rather than simply adding expensive AI features?

Opera’s AI strategy is relevant to the earnings story precisely because its existing advertising and query businesses are already producing strong growth.

Opera Neon supports agentic browsing, while the company’s Model Context Protocol-based Connector allows external AI services to interact with a user’s live browser environment. Opera has enabled services including ChatGPT and Claude to access approved browser context such as open tabs and active page content, and its more advanced Opera Neon implementation can allow connected AI clients to perform browser actions.

The strategic decision is unusual compared with browser strategies built around locking users into one proprietary artificial intelligence system. Opera is attempting to make the browser an execution layer into which multiple AI services can connect.

That could strengthen Opera’s role even if users develop stronger loyalty to a particular AI provider than to a search engine. Instead of competing directly with every AI model, Opera can attempt to own the environment where those models interact with the open web.

The commercial thesis depends on engagement. If AI integration causes users to spend more time inside Opera, perform more commercially valuable queries or use the browser for more complex tasks, Opera may be able to monetize that additional utility through advertising, commercial partnerships, search relationships and premium services.

Management linked increased browser engagement to the 25% rise in annualized ARPU during the quarter. That is encouraging, but it does not establish how much of the improvement was directly generated by AI features rather than advertising execution, geographic mix, e-commerce demand or existing search economics.

That distinction will become increasingly important. Investors should not automatically treat every dollar of Opera’s current growth as “AI revenue” simply because the company is investing heavily in AI browsers. The evidence today is stronger for a profitable browser business successfully improving monetization while simultaneously building an AI strategy.

The more demanding proof point will be demonstrating that agentic browsing itself creates incremental revenue pools.

What do Opera GX and MiniPay add to a browser business still dominated by advertising and queries?

Opera’s portfolio provides additional growth options outside the flagship browser.

Opera GX, its gaming-focused browser, averaged 37 million monthly active users in Q2, up 10% year over year and two million sequentially. Opera describes GX as its highest-ARPU product, which makes continued audience expansion disproportionately useful compared with adding users in lower-value segments.

MiniPay is developing along a different axis. The self-custodial stablecoin wallet reached 18 million cumulative activated wallets by June 30, up 121% year over year, compared with 15 million at the end of March. Opera’s investor presentation also reported more than 518 million cumulative MiniPay transactions and availability across more than 60 countries.

MiniPay is therefore growing much faster than the group’s browser MAU base, although activated wallets should not be equated directly with active monthly users or current revenue-generating customers.

The strategic value is optionality. Opera can potentially use its distribution and brand to establish adjacent products without acquiring customers entirely from scratch. GX applies that strategy to gaming, while MiniPay takes it into financial services and stablecoin infrastructure in emerging markets.

For investors, however, the financial statement still makes clear where the business earns its money today. Advertising and query revenue together represented more than 99% of second-quarter revenue. MiniPay, Neon and other newer products matter as potential future growth engines, but Opera’s near-term earnings remain overwhelmingly dependent on monetizing browser activity.

That is not a weakness if the core engine continues growing above 20%. It simply places the emerging businesses in the correct valuation context.

Is Opera’s margin expansion keeping pace with 25% revenue growth?

Opera’s second-quarter operating profit increased 43% to $25.9 million, lifting operating margin from 13% to 15%. Adjusted EBITDA increased 32% to $42.4 million, and adjusted EBITDA margin expanded from 22% to 24%. Net income rose 76% to $27.6 million, although the quarter also included a $6.3 million fair-value gain on long-term investments.

That combination of revenue growth and margin expansion is one of the strongest features of the results.

Operating expenses increased 22%, slower than the 25% increase in revenue. Personnel expense excluding share-based compensation rose 24% to $23.1 million, while marketing and distribution expense increased only 6% to $36.2 million. The relatively modest marketing increase is particularly notable because it suggests Opera generated substantially faster revenue growth without requiring a matching increase in customer-acquisition spending.

Costs of revenue rose to $67.5 million, equivalent to 38% of revenue, while other operating expenses increased 53% to $12.2 million, mainly because of impairments of non-financial assets. Those increases did not prevent overall operating leverage from improving.

Opera now expects full-year adjusted EBITDA of $172 million to $175 million on revenue of $734 million to $742 million, implying approximately a 24% adjusted EBITDA margin at the midpoint. Management expects that margin to be roughly 25 to 40 basis points higher than in 2025.

That margin profile gives Opera room to continue investing in AI product development and marketing without abandoning shareholder returns. The real test is whether AI infrastructure and product costs eventually rise faster than the incremental monetization they produce.

Why did Opera’s second-quarter free cash flow fall even as profit increased sharply?

The cash-flow line provides an important counterweight to the otherwise strong earnings picture.

Second-quarter operating cash flow fell 33% year over year to $22.2 million, while free cash flow from operations declined 42% to $16.9 million. Free cash flow represented only 40% of adjusted EBITDA for the quarter, down from 91% in the year-earlier period.

The six-month picture is considerably healthier. Operating cash flow for the first half increased 31% to $64.3 million, while free cash flow from operations increased 28% to $52.4 million. Year-to-date operating cash conversion remained at 76% of adjusted EBITDA, matching the comparable 2025 period.

That suggests the weak second-quarter cash conversion should not automatically be interpreted as deterioration in the underlying earnings model, but it is worth monitoring because Opera’s investment proposition combines growth with cash generation and shareholder distributions.

Opera ended June with $145.2 million in cash and cash equivalents. Its investor materials also valued its 9.5% stake in OPay at approximately $300.9 million as of June 30, giving the company about $446 million of disclosed cash and OPay investment value.

The balance sheet supports both product investment and capital returns. Opera paid a $0.40-per-share semiannual dividend in July, costing $35.6 million, and has continued repurchasing shares under a $300 million authorization announced earlier this year.

Does the OPRA share-price drop create a new valuation question after Opera’s earnings beat?

Opera shares were trading around $18.12 during the August 19 session, down about 7.1% from the previous close, with the stock moving as low as roughly $17.70 intraday. The 52-week range is approximately $11.71 to $21.06, leaving the shares about 14% below the annual high but roughly 55% above the 52-week low.

The earnings-day drop has also reversed much of the stock’s recent momentum. Relative to the August 12 closing price of $19.90, the latest intraday price is down roughly 8.9%. Compared with the July 20 close of $19.58, it is lower by approximately 7.5%.

Using Opera’s roughly 89 million outstanding shares as a reference, the current equity value is approximately $1.6 billion. That places the market value at only a little above twice the midpoint of Opera’s new 2026 revenue guidance, although an enterprise-value comparison would need to account for cash and other investment assets rather than simply using market capitalization.

Opera itself has been an active buyer of its shares. During the second quarter, it repurchased about 640,000 shares for $11.1 million at an average price of $17.44. Through June 30, cumulative repurchases under the current $300 million authorization totaled approximately 1.78 million shares for $28.1 million at an average price of $15.79.

That does not establish a floor for the stock, but it creates an interesting capital-allocation backdrop if shares remain near the prices at which Opera was already repurchasing equity.

Investor sentiment after Q2 therefore looks more skeptical about expectations than about operating performance. Revenue growth accelerated from 23% in the first quarter to 25% in the second, advertising and query revenue both expanded above 20%, adjusted EBITDA margin reached 24%, and full-year guidance moved higher. The market response suggests investors wanted a bigger translation of those trends into the annual forecast.

What will determine whether Opera can keep compounding revenue near 20% as AI reshapes browsing and search?

Opera’s third-quarter guidance provides the next measurable test. Revenue of $181 million to $183 million would represent approximately 19% to 20% year-over-year growth, while adjusted EBITDA of $41 million to $43 million implies a margin near 23% at the midpoint.

That would represent some deceleration from the second quarter’s 25% revenue growth, although the company still expects full-year growth of roughly 19% to 21%.

The more important indicators will sit underneath revenue. Opera needs ARPU growth to remain strong without damaging user engagement, advertising momentum to continue beyond the current e-commerce strength and query monetization to remain resilient as artificial intelligence changes search behavior.

Audience composition will also matter more than the headline 288 million user figure. Continued expansion of Opera GX and Western-market mobile users would strengthen the monetization mix even if total monthly active users remain broadly stable.

Finally, Opera must demonstrate that its AI strategy moves from engagement narrative to economic evidence. Browser Connector, Opera Neon and support for external agents such as ChatGPT and Claude create a plausible architecture for keeping Opera relevant as users migrate toward AI-assisted workflows. What has not yet been demonstrated separately is how much incremental revenue those technologies generate.

The second-quarter results show that Opera does not need speculative AI revenue to grow quickly today. Its existing advertising and query businesses are already delivering more than 20% growth while margins expand. That is also why the next phase becomes harder: with expectations elevated and the stock reacting negatively even to another guidance beat, Opera increasingly needs to prove that AI can extend the economics of the browser rather than merely modernize its interface.

What are the key takeaways from Opera Limited’s second-quarter 2026 results?

• Opera Limited reported second-quarter revenue of $178.1 million, up 25% year over year and marginally above the top of its guidance range.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased 32% to $42.4 million, producing a 24% adjusted EBITDA margin.
• Operating profit increased 43% to $25.9 million, while net income climbed 76% to $27.6 million.
• Advertising revenue rose 27% to $115.4 million and represented approximately 65% of total revenue.
• Query revenue increased 21% to $62.1 million and represented roughly 35% of revenue.
• Total monthly active users remained at 288 million sequentially, while annualized ARPU increased 25% year over year to $2.46.
• Opera GX reached 37 million average monthly active users, while MiniPay increased cumulative activated wallets to 18 million.
• Opera raised full-year revenue guidance to $734 million to $742 million and adjusted EBITDA guidance to $172 million to $175 million.
• OPRA shares fell roughly 7% intraday on August 19 as the market focused on a full-year revenue midpoint slightly below prevailing consensus expectations.
• The next strategic test is whether Opera can maintain strong advertising and query monetization while turning its agentic-browser and AI integrations into identifiable new economics.