ElsewherePPC Land: Trade Desk revenue drops 0.5%, its first decline since its 2016 IPO
The Trade Desk Says It Beat Expectations. Revenue Fell for the First Time Since 2016.
By Pesach Lattin,
The Trade Desk reported third-quarter revenue of $736 million on Monday, against $739 million a year earlier. That is a 0.5% decline, and PPC Land's Luís Rijo notes it is the company's first since its 2016 IPO. A year ago the same quarter grew 18%. Net income fell to $38 million from $116 million. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $266 million, down from $317 million.
Jeff Green called the quarter "well ahead of our expectations entering the quarter." True, and that is the trick. In August the company guided to at least $650 million. PPC Land's arithmetic puts the beat at about $86 million. Clearing a bar you lowered is not the same as growing. The release also books $44.3 million in restructuring charges, mostly severance, kept out of adjusted EBITDA. Fourth-quarter guidance is at least $755 million, which PPC Land puts 11% below the same quarter of 2025. The board added $731 million to the buyback, for $1 billion available.
The line to circle is about Netflix. The release says an expanded integration starts this month, bringing Netflix's first-party and third-party data into Kokai, with measurement to follow. ADOTAT reported Tuesday, on one person's account, that The Trade Desk is trying to recruit Nicolle Pangis, Netflix's U.S. and Canada ad sales chief, to run its CTV sales, and wants to use her to push Netflix toward exclusivity. ADOTAT has not confirmed talks. But Netflix also sells through Amazon's DSP, the deal that sent Trade Desk shares sliding in 2025.
So the quarter tells you where The Trade Desk thinks growth lives now: in someone else's premium inventory. ADOTAT's Nov. 6 Wire flagged that guidance implied the first decline as a public company. The decline arrived, smaller than feared. The question for buyers is whether "open internet" still describes a company courting one streamer for an exclusive.
Revenue, net income, adjusted EBITDA, restructuring charges, fourth-quarter guidance, the buyback and the Netflix integration come from The Trade Desk's Nov. 9 results release, filed with the SEC as Exhibit 99.1. Green's quote, the first-decline-since-IPO framing, the roughly $86 million beat and the 11% comparison with the fourth quarter of 2025 come from Luís Rijo's Nov. 9 article at PPC Land; the beat and the comparison are PPC Land's arithmetic, and the 2025 fourth-quarter figure was not checked against filings here. Neither source read for this item reported the stock's reaction. The Pangis recruiting account rests on one unnamed person, as ADOTAT's Nov. 10 piece states; ADOTAT has not confirmed any talks, title or exclusivity proposal and has no financial relationship with Netflix or The Trade Desk. This is commentary, not investment advice.