PubMatic NASDAQ: PUBM reported first-quarter 2026 results that topped its guidance, with management pointing to growth in its underlying business, adoption of AI tools and expansion in connected TV, mobile app and emerging revenue streams.
Co-Founder and CEO Rajeev Goel said the company delivered “an exceptional first quarter,” citing revenue and adjusted EBITDA ahead of guidance and 13% year-over-year growth in the company’s underlying business. CFO Steve Pantelick said first-quarter revenue was $62.6 million, while adjusted EBITDA was $2.6 million, both above preliminary figures shared in April and above the high end of the company’s guidance range.
Pantelick said the underlying business, excluding revenue tied to a legacy demand-side platform buyer discussed in mid-2025, represented 83% of total revenue and grew 13% from a year earlier. PubMatic also generated $10.7 million in free cash flow, equal to a 17% free cash flow margin, and repurchased 1 million shares of Class A common stock during the quarter.
AI and AgenticOS Remain Central to Growth Strategy
Management devoted much of the call to PubMatic’s AI strategy, particularly its AgenticOS platform. Goel described agentic advertising as a “structural shift” in digital advertising, comparing its potential impact to prior market transformations such as real-time bidding and the shift to mobile consumption.
Goel said PubMatic now has AI embedded across its platform and has more than 20 operational AI agents available for media buyers and publishers, with additional agents being introduced monthly. He said more than 1,000 AI-powered deals have been transacted to date, generating “millions of dollars” in publisher monetization.
The company also said adoption of fully autonomous agentic campaigns has expanded since a January launch at CES. Goel said PubMatic has scaled from one campaign to more than 30 live, fully agentic campaigns from independent agencies, buying platforms and global brands across the United States, France, the Netherlands, Australia and India.
Goel said agencies and partners including Butler/Till, MiQ, Brkthru, Amnet and Abovo Maxlead are seeing reduced fees, more dollars shifted into working media, improved KPIs and 80% to 90% time savings in campaign setup. In response to an analyst question, Goel said he was positively surprised by the improvement in advertising effectiveness from AI, not only workflow efficiency.
CTV, Mobile App and Emerging Revenue Streams Grow
Pantelick said revenue from connected TV, mobile app and emerging revenues grew more than 20% year-over-year combined and represented the majority of total revenue. Emerging revenue streams grew more than 80% year-over-year and accounted for 14% of total revenue, driven by increased adoption of new AI products, including AgenticOS.
CTV strength was led by the Americas, where revenue grew 13% year-over-year and represented about 80% of total CTV revenue, according to Pantelick. Excluding the legacy DSP buyer, global CTV revenue increased 18% year-over-year. Goel said PubMatic works with 28 of the top 30 global streamers and expects the FIFA World Cup to bring more than 100 million high-value impressions per day to its platform.
Mobile app revenue rose more than 25% year-over-year. Goel said PubMatic is now live with the three leading global mediation platforms: AppLovin MAX, Google AdMob and Unity LevelPlay. He said PubMatic now has access to more than 90% of global SDK inventory.
The company also highlighted new commerce media partnerships. Goel said PubMatic recently announced a partnership with Walmart Connect that integrates first-party shopper audiences with media on PubMatic’s platform, particularly for CTV. He also said PubMatic has integrated the PayPal Ads ID, bringing data tied to more than 25 billion transactions across 400 million verified PayPal and Venmo accounts to the platform.
DSP Diversification and Regional Trends
Management said PubMatic continues to diversify its demand-side platform mix. Goel said activity from mid-market and performance DSPs grew more than 20% year-over-year in the quarter, reflecting growth in ad spending outside the largest advertisers. In the question-and-answer session, he said PubMatic added more than 50 DSPs over the past year and expects mid-market DSPs to grow as a share of the business over time.
Pantelick said total company monetized impressions grew by double digits year-over-year. He also said PubMatic now processes more than 1 trillion impressions per day. The number of impressions processed increased 26% year-over-year, while cost of revenue rose 2%, helped by optimization efforts, targeted capital expenditures and AI-driven efficiencies.
Regionally, APAC revenue grew 25% year-over-year and EMEA revenue grew 10%, offsetting a 12% decline in the Americas. Pantelick said the Americas decline was primarily due to anticipated spending declines from the legacy DSP buyer. He said the company expects to fully lap that impact by mid-quarter in the third quarter.
Outlook Calls for Second-Half Acceleration
For the second quarter, PubMatic expects revenue of $68 million to $70 million and adjusted EBITDA of $8 million to $10 million. Pantelick said the outlook includes continued momentum in high-value formats and channels, expanded use of AI tools and AgenticOS, and the ongoing effect of the legacy DSP buyer, which the company expects to lap in the third quarter.
Pantelick said April trends were healthy, with continued growth in monetized impressions and healthy ad spending across the company’s top 10 ad verticals. He said the company expects to return to reported revenue growth beginning in the third quarter and accelerate through the second half of the year, supported by revenue growth, targeted investments, expense discipline and AI-driven cost efficiencies.
PubMatic projected full-year capital expenditures of approximately $16 million to $19 million, with most of that spending directed toward AI capabilities and advanced computing infrastructure.
Balance Sheet, Buybacks and Leadership Changes
PubMatic ended the quarter with $145 million in cash and no debt. Pantelick said the company has generated more than $429 million in net cash from operations and more than $232 million in free cash flow since the beginning of 2021 through the first quarter of 2026.
Since launching its repurchase program in February 2023 through the end of the first quarter, PubMatic has repurchased 13.5 million Class A common shares for $190 million. The company has $85 million remaining under the authorization through the end of 2026.
During the Q&A session, Goel also addressed leadership changes. He said Chief Growth Officer Paulina Klimenko is leaving for health reasons and Americas CRO Kyle Dozeman is leaving to pursue an entrepreneurial opportunity. Both remain in their roles during a transition period. Goel said PubMatic has engaged Heidrick & Struggles to conduct a global CRO search and expects to appoint the right person “in the next couple of months.”
In closing remarks, Goel said PubMatic expects to return to double-digit revenue growth in the second half of the year, along with margin expansion, and said agentic advertising is changing workflow, automation and the industry value chain.
About PubMatic NASDAQ: PUBM
PubMatic is a cloud-based digital advertising technology company that provides a supply-side platform (SSP) enabling publishers to automate and optimize the sale of their ad inventory across display, mobile, video and connected TV channels. Its core offerings include real-time bidding infrastructure, header bidding solutions under the OpenWrap brand and data analytics tools that deliver actionable insights on audience engagement and monetization performance. By facilitating seamless auctions and providing transparent reporting, PubMatic helps publishers maximize yield while improving buyer experiences.
Founded in 2006 by Rajeev Goel and a team of ad-tech veterans, PubMatic grew from an early entrant in programmatic selling to a publicly traded company, listing on the Nasdaq symbol: PUBM in December 2020.
Further Reading
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.
Before you consider PubMatic, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and PubMatic wasn't on the list.
While PubMatic currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
With the proliferation of data centers and electric vehicles, the electric grid will only get more strained. Download this report to learn how energy stocks can play a role in your portfolio as the global demand for energy continues to grow.
Get This Free Report
