For three years, critics of artificial intelligence treated it as an existential threat that would dismantle Getty Images Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:GETY). On Monday, a single licensing deal with OpenAI turned that threat into the company’s most valuable asset.
Shares of Getty Images ended last week at about 61 cents, barely above the all-time low of 58 cents it set on June 18. They have since more than doubled, spiking as much as 115%.
The catalyst comes from Getty signing a multi-year display agreement that will surface its licensed image library in OpenAI’s search and discovery experiences within ChatGPT.
The force that nearly buried Getty is now the one saving it.
“High-quality, licensed visual content makes AI-powered search and discovery more useful and more trustworthy,” said Getty Images CEO Craig Peters.
“This partnership with OpenAI reflects a shared recognition of that, and together we will deliver richer visual experiences to ChatGPT users.”
The Enemy That Almost Killed It Is Now Its Lifeline
Creating AI images from a text prompt has been the technology that gutted Getty’s investment case.
If a model can produce a usable picture for free, the logic went, who pays to license one?
Getty fought it.
The company banned AI-generated art from its platform in September 2022, then sued Stability AI for copyright infringement, a case dismissed late last year.
GETY’s Journey To A Penny Stock With Delisting Clock
Getty returned to public markets through a merger with the blank-check vehicle CC Neuberger Principal Holdings II, beginning trading on July 25, 2022, at roughly $9.35 a share. The transaction valued the company at nearly $5 billion.
What the market believed then was that a thin post-listing float and a marquee content brand justified a stampede.
The stock ran to an intraday high of $37.88 on August 2, 2022. Its market value briefly topped $10 billion.
What proved wrong came within months. Generative image tools went mainstream, Getty’s revenue stalled, and the stock surrendered more than 98% of its value over the following three years.
In the first quarter, Getty reported revenue of $226.6 million, missing the Wall Street estimate of $238.8 million.
That figure sits below what the company generated in the same quarter four years earlier.
Monday’s move lands on a company under pressure from its own exchange.
Getty Faces Dual Test: NYSE Compliance And AI-Fueled Turnaround
Getty disclosed on March 17 that it had received written notice from the New York Stock Exchange regarding trading below $1 for 30 consecutive sessions.
It was given a six-month window to cure the shortfall.
A single session above $1 does not close that gap. Getty still has to satisfy both the closing-price and 30-day-average thresholds inside the cure period.
There is a second overhang. Getty’s pending $3.7 billion acquisition of rival Shutterstock remains under regulatory review, with conditional clearance granted in the United Kingdom.
One deal does not reverse three years of erosion.
The question Wall Street cannot yet answer is whether OpenAI just bought Getty a turnaround or only a reprieve.
Price Action
Getty’s stock price hovered at $1.26 per share, up more than 107% at last check on Monday.
Image: Shutterstock
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