The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who not so much). Let’s take a look at how advertising software stocks fared in Q2, starting with The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD).

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 6 advertising software stocks we track reported a mixed Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.3% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 0.7% above.

The Fed cut its policy rate by 50bps (half a percent) in September 2024, the first in roughly four years. This marks the end of its most pointed inflation-busting campaign since the 1980s. While CPI (inflation) readings have been supportive lately, employment measures have bordered on worrisome. The markets will be assessing whether this rate cut's timing (and more potential ones in 2024 and 2025) is ideal for supporting the economy or a bit too late for a macro that has already cooled too much.

Luckily, advertising software stocks have performed well with share prices up 16.5% on average since the latest earnings results.

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD)

Founded by former Microsoft engineers Jeff Green and Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) offers cloud-based software that uses data to help advertisers better plan, place, and target their online ads.

The Trade Desk reported revenues of $584.6 million, up 25.9% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 1.1%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with a meaningful improvement in its gross margin and strong sales guidance for the next quarter.

“Q2 was another strong quarter for The Trade Desk, with revenue of $585 million, representing 26% year-over-year growth,” said Jeff Green, Co-founder and CEO of The Trade Desk.

Interestingly, the stock is up 23.5% since reporting and currently trades at $108.90.

Read why we think that The Trade Desk is one of the best advertising software stocks, our full report is free.

Best Q2: Zeta (NYSE:ZETA)

Co-founded by former Apple CEO John Scully, Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) provides software and data analytics tools that help companies market their products to billions of customers.

Zeta reported revenues of $227.8 million, up 32.6% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 7.2%. The business had an exceptional quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ billings estimates and optimistic revenue guidance for the next quarter.

Zeta pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat and highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 38.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $29.65.

Is now the time to buy Zeta? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q2: PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM)

Founded in 2006 as an online ad platform helping ad sellers, Pubmatic (NASDAQ: PUBM) is a fully integrated cloud-based programmatic advertising platform.

PubMatic reported revenues of $67.27 million, up 6.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 4.1%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.

PubMatic delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates, slowest revenue growth, and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 27.2% since the results and currently trades at $14.26.

Read our full analysis of PubMatic’s results here.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

Co-founded by Adam Foroughi, who was frustrated with not being able to find a good solution to market his own dating app, AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) is both a mobile game studio and provider of marketing and monetization tools for mobile app developers.

AppLovin reported revenues of $1.08 billion, up 44% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations. More broadly, it was a strong quarter as it underperformed in other aspects of the business.

AppLovin pulled off the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is up 89% since reporting and currently trades at $126.98.

Read our full, actionable report on AppLovin here, it’s free.

DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV)

When Oren Netzer saw a digital ad for US-based Target while sitting in his Tel Aviv apartment, he knew there was an unsolved problem, so he started DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV), a provider of advertising solutions to businesses that helps with ad verification, fraud prevention, and brand safety.

DoubleVerify reported revenues of $155.9 million, up 16.6% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 1.4%. Overall, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also recorded a meaningful improvement in its gross margin.

The stock is down 19.8% since reporting and currently trades at $17.33.

Read our full, actionable report on DoubleVerify here, it’s free.

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