CMO TLDR: AppLovin Soars on AI Strength as Magnite, TTD Reposition

Q3 Earnings

Magnite Shrugs Off Trade Desk Turbulence With CTV Surge

Magnite posted third-quarter revenue of $179.5 million, with its connected TV business jumping 18% as the ad tech firm deepened ties with Netflix, Roku, and major agencies while absorbing a hit from The Trade Desk's recent OpenPath changes that prioritized direct publisher connections. The company acknowledged short-term pressure in its display and video business from the Trade Desk software update but said it has reconnected with major agency holding companies that rely on Magnite's marketplace infrastructure. CEO Michael Barrett emphasized the firm's value in an increasingly competitive landscape while projecting at least 11% growth in 2026, banking on live sports expansion, small business adoption through its new Streamer AI acquisition, and potential market share gains from Google antitrust remedies expected in the second half of next year.

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MNTN Surges on Connected TV Bet

MNTN reported third-quarter revenue jumped 31% to $70 million as the company continues converting small and midsize businesses into first-time TV advertisers through its connected TV platform. The performance marketing firm swung to a $6.4 million profit from a year-ago loss while its customer base grew 67% to more than 3,300 active users, with 97% being newcomers to television advertising. The company expects fourth quarter revenue between $85.5 million and $86.5 million, riding momentum from new AI-powered ad creation tools and expanded agency partnerships.

MNTN Investor Relations

AppLovin's AI Engine Mints Cash as Revenue Soars 68%

AppLovin reported third-quarter revenue surged 68% to $1.41 billion, with net income jumping 93% to $836 million, delivering a remarkable 59% profit margin as its AI-powered advertising platform continues to dominate mobile app marketing. The company generated $1.05 billion in free cash flow during the quarter and boosted its share buyback authorization by $3.2 billion to $3.3 billion, reflecting management's confidence in sustained momentum. Fourth quarter revenue is projected to reach as much as $1.6 billion with adjusted EBITDA margins climbing to 83%, cementing AppLovin's position as one of the most profitable players in digital advertising as its machine learning algorithms optimize ad placements across its network.

AppLovin Investor Relations

Trade Desk Posts Steady Growth as Kokai Drives Market Share

The Trade Desk reported third-quarter revenue climbed 18% to $739 million, with adjusted EBITDA reaching $317 million at a 43% margin, as CEO Jeff Green credited the company's Kokai platform and AI-powered innovations for strengthening its position across connected TV and retail media. The demand side platform announced an additional $500 million share repurchase authorization and projected fourth quarter revenue of at least $840 million, maintaining momentum despite industrywide concerns about its OpenPath initiative that prioritizes direct publisher connections over traditional supply side platforms. Customer retention remained above 95% for the 11th consecutive year while the company expanded partnerships across streaming services and launched new products, including a pharma advertising marketplace and OpenAds transparency initiative.

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Quick Links

The Trade Desk And PubMatic Are Done Pretending Deal IDs Work

The Trade Desk and PubMatic launched a new API integration to automate programmatic deal negotiations after acknowledging that only one in 10 current deal IDs achieves meaningful scale because most campaigns rely on informal phone calls and email chains rather than binding commitments.

Alt Identity Provider ID5 Buys TrueData, Marking Its First-Ever Acquisition

ID5 acquired TrueData to consolidate fragmented identity solutions in digital advertising, combining their identity graphs to recognize 1.5 billion users across 665 million households as the industry moves beyond its fixation on Google's now-abandoned cookie deprecation plans.

People Inc. strikes Microsoft AI licensing deal as Google's AI Overviews hit programmatic ad revenue

People Inc. joined Microsoft's pay-per-usage AI content marketplace while its advertising revenue slipped 3% to $161 million as Google's AI Overviews cut the publisher's search referral traffic from 60% at the time of its 2021 merger to just 24% today.

How U.K. news group Reach is diversifying traffic sources amid zero-click threat

British publisher Reach is pivoting away from Google search by distributing content across news aggregators like MSN and Apple News while earning five figures daily from Meta's content monetization program that pays for engagement on photos and videos.

Google's First AI Ad Avoids the Uncanny Valley by Casting a Turkey

Google created its first entirely AI-generated commercial using its Veo 3 tool, featuring a plush turkey rather than humans to sidestep the unsettling "uncanny valley" effect that plagued earlier AI ads from brands like Toys "R" Us and Coca-Cola.

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