Trade Desk Revenue Turns Negative After Two Growth Quarters

The Tip Desk · November 9, 2026 · 2 min read

Third-quarter sales were $736 million, down 0.5% from a year earlier, and the company booked $44.3 million of restructuring charges.

The Trade Desk, Inc. (TTD), a provider of a global technology platform for buyers of advertising, reported third-quarter revenue of $736 million, a 0.5% year-over-year decline that reversed two consecutive quarters of growth.

The year-over-year growth turn was the quarter’s defining result. Sales had risen 3% in the second quarter and 12% in the first, so the third quarter marked the first negative year-over-year print in the three-quarter run. Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Green said the quarter 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.”

GAAP net income fell to $38 million, or $0.08 a share, from $116 million, or $0.23 a share, a year earlier. The net income margin was 5%. Income from operations was $92.6 million. Total operating expenses were $643.4 million. Platform operations expense was $200.2 million and sales and marketing expense was $170.8 million. Stock-based compensation expense was $95.1 million, including $2 million of long-term CEO performance grants.

The company recorded $44.3 million of restructuring charges under a 2026 Restructuring Plan, which it said primarily include severance and other termination benefit costs for affected employees. Those charges were excluded from Adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP net income. There was no comparable restructuring plan in the corresponding prior periods.

Adjusted EBITDA was $266 million, a 36% margin. Non-GAAP net income was $155 million, or $0.33 a share. Customer retention remained over 95%, matching the prior two quarters.

Green said the company is “moving with greater urgency across the company, strengthening how we engage with our largest customers, improving the platform through innovations such as Zuma, Audience Unlimited, agentic AI, and advancing a new approach to measurement.” The company introduced Kokai Zuma, expanded healthcare measurement integrations with Veeva Crossix and IQVIA Digital, and said Netflix would enable advertisers beginning in November to use first-party and third-party data to target audiences on Netflix through Kokai.

Cash and cash equivalents were $1.23 billion as of September 30, 2026. The company had about $269 million available and authorized for repurchases at quarter-end. The board then approved an additional $731 million under the share-repurchase program, bringing total remaining capacity for Class A common stock to $1 billion.

For the fourth quarter of 2026, The Trade Desk expects revenue of at least $755 million and Adjusted EBITDA of at least $280 million. The company has not provided an outlook for GAAP net income.