Trade Desk NASDAQ: TTD reported first-quarter 2026 revenue growth of 12% year over year, as management highlighted continued strength in connected TV, audio, retail data and international markets while acknowledging a more complex macroeconomic environment for large advertisers.
The advertising technology company posted revenue of $689 million for the quarter, according to Interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer Tahnil Davis. Adjusted EBITDA was $206 million, representing a 30% margin. Net income was $40 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, while adjusted net income was $134 million, or $0.28 per diluted share.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Jeff Green said the company remains “solidly profitable” as it approaches its 10-year anniversary as a public company. He said the core business remains resilient despite global economic pressures, geopolitical tensions, wars and tariffs affecting some brand categories.
“The most sophisticated brands in the world are using these moments to get more deliberate and more data-driven,” Green said. “When marketers get more data-driven, The Trade Desk tends to add more value and as a result grow.”
Connected TV and Audio Drive Growth
Davis said first-quarter growth was driven by strong trends across connected TV and audio. Video, including connected TV, represented a “low 50s%” share of the business and continued to grow as part of the company’s channel mix. Mobile represented a “high 20s%” share, display accounted for a low double-digit percentage and audio represented around 6% of the business.
Audio grew year over year at a higher rate than any other channel in the quarter, Davis said. Green also pointed to Spotify, Pandora and other audio platforms as areas where he sees a significant gap between consumer time spent and advertising budgets.
Geographically, the U.S. accounted for about 82% of revenue, while international markets represented roughly 18%. Davis said momentum in EMEA and APAC reflected investments made in those regions and growing connected TV adoption.
Among verticals representing at least 1% of the business, Davis said medical health, automotive and events showed particularly strong growth. However, she said home and garden and food and drink remained under pressure as consumer packaged goods brands dealt with geopolitical uncertainty, consumer softness and input cost inflation. Automotive remained strong, though Davis said it could be growing faster without the impact of tariffs.
Management Cites Macro Headwinds in Q2 Outlook
For the second quarter, Davis said The Trade Desk expects revenue of at least $750 million and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $260 million. The company expects full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin to be at least 40%, approximately in line with 2025.
During the question-and-answer session, Susquehanna analyst Shyam Patil asked about factors driving deceleration in the second-quarter outlook. Green said The Trade Desk is especially exposed to large companies and Fortune 500 brands, which can respond differently to macroeconomic pressures than smaller businesses or local advertisers.
“Some of the fast-growing verticals, we believe would be growing even faster if they were absent the current macro uncertainty,” Green said, citing geopolitical instability, tariffs and broader consumer pressures.
Green said he remained confident in the company’s long-term structural drivers, including measurement improvements, retail data, artificial intelligence, connected TV and the open internet. Responding to RBC Capital Markets analyst Matthew Swanson, Green said re-acceleration is “not really about reinventing ourselves” but about executing against a larger opportunity.
Retail Data, AI and Measurement Highlighted as Priorities
Green devoted much of the call to The Trade Desk’s view of the open internet, saying that advertisers and publishers are increasingly aligned around more efficient supply chains and better measurement. He argued that last-touch and last-click attribution have overcredited lower-funnel advertising and undervalued awareness-building channels such as connected TV and audio.
The company is also investing in retail media and data-driven products. Green said The Trade Desk has created what it believes is “the world’s largest and richest marketplace of retail data,” with retailers in its data marketplace representing more than 80% of sales from top U.S. retailers. He contrasted that with Amazon, which he said represents less than 15% of U.S. retail spend.
Green cited a test by a travel brand using the company’s Audience Unlimited product, saying it delivered 30% lower media CPMs, 38% lower data costs, a 75% more efficient cost per acquisition and a 2.7-times increase in conversion rate compared with a control group.
The company also discussed early work in sponsored listings and on-site retail media, including integrations with Kevel and Dollar General. Green said The Trade Desk expects more retailers to enable programmatic access to sponsored listings in 2026. He also said Lyft Ads selected the company to power its off-site rider experience, which Lyft calls mobility media.
Agency Talks and Leadership Change Addressed
Patil also asked about discussions with Publicis. Green said there had been “a lot said about conflict,” but that he believed the situation had been overdramatized. He said The Trade Desk has done billions of dollars of business with Publicis since 2018 under its agreement and continues to have “a great dialogue” about the next chapter of the partnership. Green said negotiations are ongoing and declined to provide further detail.
Cannonball Research analyst Vasily Karasyov asked about an Adweek report that Chief Strategy Officer Samantha Jacobson is leaving for OpenAI. Green confirmed that Jacobson is taking a role at OpenAI and said she will remain on The Trade Desk’s board of directors and continue to provide strategic advice.
Green said the company has been assembling a senior leadership team with operational experience and expressed optimism about recent recruiting efforts.
Cash Flow, Buybacks and Investment Discipline
The Trade Desk generated $392 million in net cash provided by operating activities and $276 million in free cash flow in the first quarter. The company ended the period with about $1.4 billion in cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Davis said the company used $164 million of cash in the quarter to repurchase Class A common stock through its share repurchase program. She said the company plans to continue opportunistic repurchases while offsetting dilution from employee stock issuances.
Operating expenses were $622 million, up 11% from a year earlier. Excluding stock-based compensation, operating expenses were $513 million, up 18%. Davis said the company continued to invest in its team and platform, including platform operations and AI-powered tools.
In response to KeyBanc analyst Justin Patterson, Davis said 2026 is a year of “disciplined reinvestment” and that headcount growth is expected to remain below revenue growth. She said the company will prioritize investments supporting revenue growth and AI-driven innovation, particularly in platform innovation, AI, retail media and measurement.
Green said maintaining profitability has long been part of the company’s culture and remains especially important during periods of cyclical pressure.
About Trade Desk NASDAQ: TTD
The Trade Desk, Inc NASDAQ: TTD is a technology company that provides a demand-side platform (DSP) for programmatic digital advertising. Its platform enables advertisers, agencies and other buyers to plan, purchase and measure ad inventory across digital channels, including display, video, mobile, audio, native and connected TV. By centralizing real‑time bidding, audience targeting and inventory access, the company aims to help clients optimize media spend and reach audiences at scale across publishers and ad exchanges.
Founded in 2009 by Jeff Green and Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk grew from a focus on programmatic display into a global ad‑tech provider.
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