Advertising Software Stocks Q3 Recap: Benchmarking The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD)

Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q3 behind us, let’s have a look at The Trade Desk and its peers.

The digital advertising market is large, growing, and becoming more diverse, both in terms of audiences and media. As a result, there is a growing need for software that enables advertisers to use data to automate and optimize ad placements.

The 7 advertising software stocks we track reported a strong Q3. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.8% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 1.1% below.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 3.6% on average since the latest earnings results.

The Trade Desk

Built as an alternative to "walled garden" advertising ecosystems, The Trade Desk provides a cloud-based platform that helps advertisers and agencies plan, manage, and optimize digital advertising campaigns across multiple channels and devices.

The Trade Desk reported revenues of $739.4 million, up 17.7% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 2.8%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and EBITDA guidance for next quarter topping analysts’ expectations.

“Q3 was another strong quarter for The Trade Desk, with revenue growing to $739 million, representing 18% year-over-year growth,” said Jeff Green, CEO and Co-Founder of The Trade Desk.

Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 15.7% since reporting and currently trades at $38.76.

We think The Trade Desk is a good business, but is it a buy today? Read our full report here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Best Q3: AppLovin

Sitting at the crossroads of the mobile advertising ecosystem with over 200 free-to-play games in its portfolio, AppLovin provides software solutions that help mobile app developers market, monetize, and grow their apps through AI-powered advertising and analytics tools.

AppLovin reported revenues of $1.41 billion, up 17.3% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 4.5%. The business had an exceptional quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 8.5% since reporting. It currently trades at $663.00.

Is now the time to buy AppLovin? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free for active Edge members.

Weakest Q3: DoubleVerify

Using advanced analytics to evaluate over 17 billion digital ad transactions daily, DoubleVerify provides AI-powered technology that verifies digital ads are viewable, fraud-free, brand-suitable, and displayed in the intended geographic location.

DoubleVerify reported revenues of $188.6 million, up 11.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 0.8%. It was a slower quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter slightly missing analysts’ expectations and a slight miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.

DoubleVerify delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 1.8% since the results and currently trades at $10.77.

Read our full analysis of DoubleVerify’s results here.

Integral Ad Science

Processing over 280 billion digital ad interactions daily through its AI-powered technology, Integral Ad Science provides a cloud-based platform that measures and verifies digital advertising across devices, channels, and formats to ensure ads are viewable, fraud-free, and brand-safe.

Integral Ad Science reported revenues of $154.4 million, up 15.6% year on year. This print topped analysts’ expectations by 3.4%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter as it also produced a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The stock is flat since reporting and currently trades at $10.28.

Read our full, actionable report on Integral Ad Science here, it’s free for active Edge members.

LiveRamp

Serving as the digital middleman in an increasingly privacy-conscious world, LiveRamp provides technology that helps companies securely share and connect their customer data with trusted partners while maintaining privacy compliance.

LiveRamp reported revenues of $199.8 million, up 7.7% year on year. This number beat analysts’ expectations by 1%. It was a strong quarter as it also logged a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a narrow beat of analysts’ annual recurring revenue estimates.

LiveRamp achieved the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 5 enterprise customers paying more than $1 million annually to reach a total of 132. The stock is up 6.4% since reporting and currently trades at $29.19.

Read our full, actionable report on LiveRamp here, it’s free for active Edge members.