The Trade Desk shares jumped sharply on Monday after the advertising technology company reported third-quarter results that beat Wall Street forecasts and gave stronger guidance for the final three months of the year. The stock closed 15.5 per cent higher at $14.93 on 9 November, after trading as high as $15.29 during the session.

The company reported revenue of $735.97 million for the quarter ended September 2026, ahead of the $651 million analysts had expected. Adjusted earnings came in at $0.33 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 per share. The figures were reported by Zacks, which put the revenue beat at 13.10 per cent and the earnings surprise at 26.92 per cent.

Profit fell even as revenue beat forecasts

The headline beat came with weaker profitability underneath. Net income fell to $38 million from $116 million in the same quarter a year earlier, while adjusted core profit, known as adjusted EBITDA, declined to $266 million from $317 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin narrowed to 36 per cent from 43 per cent a year ago.

Chief executive Jeff Green said the quarter represented meaningful progress and came in well ahead of expectations entering the period, while acknowledging that the company was still operating below the level of growth it expects from itself. Green has also pointed to artificial intelligence as a force creating more data, more choices and more complexity for advertisers, a theme the company says its platform is built to handle.

Guidance, buyback and job cuts

Investors focused on what comes next. For the fourth quarter, The Trade Desk expects revenue of at least $755 million and adjusted EBITDA of at least $280 million, both above analyst estimates. The company also increased its share repurchase authorisation by $731 million, taking the total available for future buybacks to $1 billion.

Management paired the stronger outlook with a cost reset, including a workforce reduction of roughly 15 per cent and planned savings aimed at protecting profitability while still funding product development and AI-driven tools. The shares have still had a difficult year, falling about 60 per cent since the start of 2026, so Monday's jump recovers only part of that decline. The test now is whether the fourth-quarter guidance turns into the faster growth the company says it expects from itself.