What happened
Share of The Trade Desk (TTD 0.53%), a provider of a data-driven ad-tech platform, went through the roof Friday. As of 8:35 a.m. EST, the stock was up more than 25%.
The growth stock's huge move higher follows The Trade Desk's third-quarter earnings report, which included revenue and earnings per share that crushed analyst estimates as marketers dialed up their programmatic ad spend significantly.
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So what
The Trade Desk's third-quarter revenue jumped 32% year over year to $216 million. Not only was this a massive acceleration from a 13% decline in the second quarter, but total revenue obliterated analysts' average forecast for revenue of $180.9 million. This top-line momentum combined with The Trade Desk's scalable business model meant adjusted earnings per share increased from $0.75 in the year-ago period to $1.27. Analysts, on average, were expecting adjusted earnings per share of just $0.43.
Notably, connected TV ad spend on The Trade Desk's platform soared 100% year over year. Marketers are taking advantage "of the mass consumer shift to streaming TV," explained The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green in the company's third-quarter earnings call.
Two other standout ad channels on The Trade Desk's platform were mobile video and audio, which both saw 70% year-over-year growth in spend.
Now what
The company said that, as long as there are no major unexpected economic or COVID-19 related setbacks in the fourth quarter, it expects a modest acceleration in its revenue growth rate during the important period.
Its guidance for record fourth-quarter revenue between $287 million and $291 million was far ahead of the consensus analyst estimate for $253 million.
