On Tuesday afternoon, adtech company The Trade Desk (TTD 3.35%) put to rest concerns about whether it's seeing the same weakness in demand that many other digital advertising companies are seeing. The tech company not only posted standout results but also guided for strong third-quarter growth. Its momentum contrasts with the figures seen in many other major digital advertising peers' recent earnings reports.
Here's a closer look at the results -- and why they're so impressive.
The Trade Desk Q2 Update: The raw numbers
The digital ad-buying platform provider's second-quarter revenue surged 35% year over year, easily overcoming both management's guidance and analyst's consensus forecast for the period. Even better, Trade Desk provided strong guidance. Management said it expected third-quarter revenue to grow at a high rate of about 28% year over year.
Image source: Getty Images.
The stellar results essentially put the company in a league of its own this quarter -- at least in comparison with many advertising companies. Its growth is "significantly outpacing worldwide programmatic advertising growth," said Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green in the company's second-quarter earnings release. And it wasn't just programmatic advertising the company outperformed. Digital advertisers of all shapes and sizes have been struggling in this macro environment as some companies are limiting their ad budgets.
Green continued:
More of the world's leading brands are signing major new or expanded long-term agreements with The Trade Desk, which speaks to the innovation and value that our platform provides compared to the limitations of walled gardens. This trend also gives us confidence that we will continue to gain market share in any market environment.
Why this was a wildcard quarter
There was significant uncertainty going into Trade Desk's earnings report on Tuesday.
Worries started mounting in late May, when social network Snap (SNAP -2.72%) said weakness in ad spend on its platform meant the company wouldn't hit its second-quarter guidance after all. But The Trade Desk attempted to calm investors days later, filing a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), saying it still expected to hit its guidance -- and its guidance was for 30% year-over-year growth or greater.
Nevertheless, concerns mounted again recently following some digital advertising companies' second-quarter earnings reports.
Streaming-TV platform Roku (ROKU 0.15%) recently missed analyst estimates. The company's second-quarter revenue increased 18% year over year, with its platform revenue rising 26% year over year. Even worse, the streaming service specialist's guidance for just 3% growth in Q3 put Roku's previous view for full-year revenue to grow 35% virtually out of reach. "In Q2, there was a significant slowdown in TV advertising spend due to the macro-economic environment, which pressured our platform revenue growth," management said in the company's second-quarter letter to shareholders.
Facebook parent Meta (META -0.52%) flopped, too. After reporting a 1% year-over-year decline in second-quarter revenue, management guided for revenue in Q3 to fall from about $29 billion in the year-ago period to between $26 billion and $28.5 billion.
So when The Trade Desk reported 35% growth for Q2 and guided for about 28% growth in Q3, it's no wonder investors were pleased, sending shares sharply higher in after-hours trading on Tuesday.
