The Trade Desk Posts $736 Million Q3 Revenue, Authorizes $1 Billion Buyback

The Trade Desk reported third-quarter revenue of $736 million, down 0.5% from $739 million a year earlier, and its board authorized a fresh $731 million buyback increase that brings the company's total repurchase capacity to $1 billion.

The numbers land as a mixed report card. Revenue slipped slightly year over year, yet the advertising technology company said results beat its own expectations entering the quarter. Customer retention stayed above 95%. Growth, however, remained below management's internal targets — the second sobering note in an otherwise stable print.

"Q3 represented meaningful progress, with results well ahead of our expectations entering the quarter, but we are still operating below the level of growth we expect from ourselves," said Jeff Green, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Trade Desk.

How deep did profitability fall?

The profit compression outpaced the revenue dip. GAAP net income fell to $38 million from $116 million a year earlier, while diluted earnings per share dropped to $0.08 from $0.23.

Adjusted EBITDA came in at $266 million, a 36% margin, down from $317 million and a 43% margin in the prior-year quarter. Non-GAAP net income was $155 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, versus $221 million and $0.45 a year ago.

In plain terms: the company still prints strong adjusted margins, but it's earning meaningfully less on essentially flat sales.

What does the $1 billion buyback signal?

The board raised the share repurchase authorization by $731 million. Combined with $269 million remaining at quarter-end, The Trade Desk now has $1 billion available for future Class A share repurchases.

Management framed the authorization as capital-allocation flexibility while it works to improve the company's growth trajectory. A buyback of this size — roughly 1.4% of annualized revenue per quarter at current run rates — signals the board sees better value in its own shares than in near-term expansion spending.

Where is the company still investing?

Despite the profit decline, The Trade Desk kept pouring money into its product stack during the quarter:

• Kokai Zuma and Audience Unlimited platform development
• Agentic artificial intelligence capabilities
• New measurement offerings
• Expanded data, healthcare, and connected-television integrations, including additional capabilities with Netflix and other premium media environments

The Netflix tie-up and broader CTV push matter most here — connected TV remains the highest-growth corner of ad tech, and deepening integrations with premium streaming environments is how The Trade Desk defends its demand-side positioning.

What's the fourth-quarter bar?

For Q4, The Trade Desk guided to revenue of at least $755 million and adjusted EBITDA of at least $280 million. Hitting that outlook would return the company to modest year-over-year growth while preserving a substantial adjusted margin.

The guidance implies sequential improvement of about $19 million in revenue and $14 million in adjusted EBITDA versus Q3's results. It's a deliberately modest bar — enough to flip the growth narrative positive without stretching on margin.

What's the so-what?

Retention above 95% and sustained platform investment remain The Trade Desk's strategic advantages. But a quarterly revenue decline plus sharply lower profitability make clear that the company needs better execution with large advertisers and must translate product innovation into faster client spending.

The $1 billion buyback buys time and signals confidence. Turning Q4 guidance into a sustained growth reacceleration is what investors will actually price in from here.