The Trade Desk yesterday reported on its second-quarter earnings results, which were well received by investors, causing its shares to jump.
Aug. 10, 2022
The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) recorded second-quarter revenues of $377 million, representing a growth rate of 35% over the previous year. This significantly outpaced worldwide advertising growth. More leading brands are signing major new or expanded long-term agreements with the company, driving growth. Co-founder and CEO Jeff Green declared:
"This trend also gives us confidence that we will continue to gain market share in any market environment. At the same time, we continue to invest to drive future growth in key areas".
These are strong words, but do the company's results back this up?
What were the key results from The Trade Desk's earnings release?
The Trade Desk's revenue increased year-over-year (YoY) by $97 million, or 35%, during the second quarter. In the six months to June 30th, revenue increased by $193 million or 39% compared to the previous year. This was primarily due to increases in gross spending, which was driven by an expansion in the number of advertising campaigns executed per client. In the earnings call, Green claimed three macro trends benefitted The Trade Desk: the worldwide shift to an advertising-fueled connected television, the downgrading in priority of walled gardens like Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) ad network, and finally, the increased worldwide regulatory pressure on Google.
The Trade Desk continues to gather support for Unified ID 2.0 (UID2), an upgraded alternative to third-party cookies. Disney (NYSE: DIS) recently announced it will integrate the product, equipping advertisers with the ability to leverage UID2 when making programmatic buys on Disney properties. Amazon Web Services announced it will support UID2 on its platform, providing customers with a turnkey identity solution. Finally, Vox Media also announced its integration with UID2 and its first-party data solution as they debut their supply side platform. Green even claimed that he was confident that almost all of the Trade Desk's customers will be transacting on UID2 by the end of the year.
The company forecasts third-quarter revenue to be at least $385 million, representing a growth rate of 28% when compared to the previous year. EBITDA is anticipated to reach $140 million, or a YoY increase of 14.1%. Management also forecasts that spending from the U.S. midterm elections will represent a low single-digit share as a percentage of the business's revenue.
How did investors react to the Trade Desk's earnings release?
Investors had a positive reaction to The Trade Desk's excellent earnings report. This sent the company's share price up over 16% in pre-market trading. The company has proven that it can continue to grow, even in an environment when other digital advertisers and tech stocks are struggling or giving downward revisions on earnings.
The company's outperformance, compared to the rest of the advertising market, renewed investors' hope in its ability to continue to expand as current macroeconomic headwinds are putting a strain on consumer spending. However, the increase in consumer credit is acting as a short-term fix, which is benefitting The Trade Desk. How long this debt-financed spending lasts and its impact on the company continues to draw question marks.
