As Digital Ad Spend Hits a High, These Firms Could Reap Rewards

Key Points

• Digital ad spending could roughly triple over the next decade, and AI and other innovations may open up a range of new investment opportunities.
• Capitalizing on the growth of connected TV ad sales, Magnite shares could more than double according to estimates.
• DoubleVerify and Zeta Global offer crucial tools including verification and analytics services, making them essential players in the growing digital ad industry as well.

The digital ad spending market could roughly triple to about $1.6 trillion in the next decade or so, potentially creating ample new opportunities for companies in this fast-growing space. Indeed, the world of digital advertising that was once dominated by major tech players like Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOG has given way to one in which AI-driven targeting and other innovations have made space for a number of smaller competitors to gain traction. Three companies in particular stand out for their unique positions in this industry—and for posting demonstrable growth while also trading at a discount relative to Wall Street's expectations.

Magnite's CTV Dominance Could Yield Continued Strong Growth

Magnite Inc. NASDAQ: MGNI is a sell-side advertising platform that allows publishers to monetize inventory via programmatic advertising across media channels. The company reported a strong final quarter of 2025, with total revenue reaching $205 million—up 6% year-over-year (YOY)—and net income that more than tripled YOY to $123 million. As a bonus, Magnite management announced a $200-million stock buyback program.

Driving Magnite's performance was CTV, or connected television, advertising, which grew sales at a rate of 32% (excluding political advertisements). Indeed, the company is positioning itself to be an industry leader in the CTV space, which is all the more helpful given its strong partnerships with key streaming platform providers like Netflix NASDAQ: NFLX and Roku NASDAQ: ROKU.

Further, Magnite's services are sticky, with customers preferring to maintain their business rather than face the high cost of switching to new providers.

Besides the strength of its earnings, Magnite offers a price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio of just 0.66, suggesting that the company could be undervalued relative to its future growth potential. Analysts are certainly optimistic about this growth, suggesting more than 51% in earnings gains could be in store in the year to come, on top of over 100% in possible upside based on a consensus price target above $24 per share.

A Critical Security Procedure Helps to Ensure DoubleVerify's Value

Operating outside of the ad sales space directly but still essential to advertisers, DoubleVerify Inc. NYSE: DV provides a platform for digital media analytics, ad fraud detection, and other verification procedures. The rise in overall digital ad spending has been good for DoubleVerify's business, yielding 14% YOY improvement in full-year 2025 revenue to $748 million and an adjusted EBITDA margin of 38% for the final quarter of 2025. Like Magnite, the company's products are sticky—it noted no new deactivations among its top 100 customers as well as strong net revenue retention.

CTV measurement impression volumes are climbing rapidly alongside social activation, signaling two rapidly developing corners of the advertising market that are likely to continue to fuel growth. Management has guided revenue of $810 million to $826 million for 26, representing YOY improvement of 8% to 10%, and has also authorized a major share repurchase program of up to $300 million.

DoubleVerify may continue to offer a critical service for advertisers if the proliferation of AI-generated content continues to increase. More AI content may mean more ad fraud and, as a result, greater demand for independent verification of the kind that DoubleVerify offers. Analysts see more than 60% in upside potential as shares face a consensus price target of $16.

Zeta's Durable Growth Suggests Very Stable Demand

Zeta Global NYSE: ZETA is one of the most exciting up-and-coming names in the AI market cloud space, utilizing a massive database of consumer information to help advertisers build their customer bases. In its latest earnings, it demonstrated why it is an ascendant name in this industry, with more than 17% in returns in the last year, despite a slump at the start of 2026.

Specifically, revenue surged by 25% YOY to $395 million in the final quarter of 2025, while full-year revenue climbed at an even faster rate of 30%. Free cash flow is strengthening, reaching $165 million (an increase of 78% YOY), and the number of super-scaled customers climbed by almost a quarter over the same period.

Zeta stands out for its consistency: it has more than four years of sequential beat-and-raise quarterly periods, an indicator that demand for its products is very solid.

Profitability remains a concern, but the company expects to achieve positive GAAP net income in full-year 2026 for the first time ever, with a midpoint revenue guidance of $1.8 billion, suggesting 35% YOY improvement. Analysts also expect major share price gains as well, with more than 80% in potential upside predicted. The launch of the company's new AI platform could be the catalyst that drives growth to this level.