The Trade Desk beats Q4 expectations, continues winning streak

The technology platform announced that it's also rolling out Kokai, which allows advertisers to leverage AI in their media buying process.

The Trade Desk, a provider of a global technology platform for buyers of advertising, announced its Q4 earnings in a call with investors yesterday. The company beat expectations and showed growth for the eighth quarter in a row, while continuing to track over 95% customer retention.

The company reported $1.95 billion in annual revenue and $9.6 billion in digital advertising spend across its platform, said Jeff Green, founder and CEO of The Trade Desk.

“At the same time, we continue to generate significant profitability and cash flow, which allows us to remain at the bleeding edge of our industry,” said Green. “More and more of the world’s leading advertisers are gravitating to channels and partnerships that offer precision and premium value at scale, such as Connected TV and retail media. More companies across the advertising ecosystem are leveraging new tools, such as UID2, OpenPath and OpenPass, which allow them to build the new identity and authentication fabric of the open internet.”

Revenue for Q4 was up 23% at $606 million, which outpaced estimates of $582 million. The company’s projections for the future are similarly rosy with at least $478 million in revenue, and an adjusted EBITDA of approximately $130 million.

To reach those numbers, the company is releasing Kokai, its largest upgrade to date. According to a company spokesperson, “It represents a completely new way to understand and score the relevance of every ad opportunity, across all channels. It allows advertisers to use an audience-first approach to their campaigns and leverage AI to enhance every aspect of the media buying process.”