As the Q4 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the advertising software industry, including PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM) and its peers.

The digital advertising market is large, growing, and becoming more diverse, both in terms of audiences and media. As a result, there is a growing need for software that enables advertisers to use data to automate and optimize ad placements.

The 6 advertising software stocks we track reported a satisfactory Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.9% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.

In light of this news, share prices of the companies have held steady as they are up 3.9% on average since the latest earnings results.

Best Q4: PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM)

Powering billions of daily ad impressions across the open internet, PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM) operates a technology platform that helps publishers maximize revenue from their digital advertising inventory while giving advertisers more control and transparency.

PubMatic reported revenues of $80.05 million, down 6.4% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 6.2%. Overall, it was an exceptional quarter for the company with EBITDA guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and an impressive beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

PubMatic pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat but had the slowest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is up 22.2% since reporting and currently trades at $8.64.

Is now the time to buy PubMatic? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP)

Sitting at the crossroads of the mobile advertising ecosystem with over 200 free-to-play games in its portfolio, AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) provides software solutions that help mobile app developers market, monetize, and grow their apps through AI-powered advertising and analytics tools.

AppLovin reported revenues of $1.66 billion, up 65.9% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.2%. The business had an exceptional quarter with EBITDA guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations.

AppLovin delivered the fastest revenue growth among its peers. Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 4.9% since reporting. It currently trades at $434.55.

Is now the time to buy AppLovin? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q4: The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD)

Built as an alternative to "walled garden" advertising ecosystems, The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) provides a cloud-based platform that helps advertisers and agencies plan, manage, and optimize digital advertising campaigns across multiple channels and devices.

The Trade Desk reported revenues of $846.8 million, up 14.3% year on year, exceeding analysts’ expectations by 0.6%. Still, it was a softer quarter as it posted revenue guidance for next quarter slightly missing analysts’ expectations and EBITDA guidance for next quarter missing analysts’ expectations significantly.

As expected, the stock is down 16.2% since the results and currently trades at $21.09.

Read our full analysis of The Trade Desk’s results here.

DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV)

Using advanced analytics to evaluate over 17 billion digital ad transactions daily, DoubleVerify (NYSE: DV) provides AI-powered technology that verifies digital ads are viewable, fraud-free, brand-suitable, and displayed in the intended geographic location.

DoubleVerify reported revenues of $205.6 million, up 7.9% year on year. This result missed analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. Overall, it was a slower quarter as it also recorded a significant miss of analysts’ revenue and EBITDA estimates.

DoubleVerify had the weakest performance against analyst estimates among its peers. The stock is up 6.1% since reporting and currently trades at $10.12.

Read our full, actionable report on DoubleVerify here, it’s free.

LiveRamp (NYSE: RAMP)

Serving as the digital middleman in an increasingly privacy-conscious world, LiveRamp (NYSE: RAMP) provides technology that helps companies securely share and connect their customer data with trusted partners while maintaining privacy compliance.

LiveRamp reported revenues of $212.2 million, up 8.6% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations. Taking a step back, it was a slower quarter as it produced revenue guidance for next quarter slightly missing analysts’ expectations and full-year revenue guidance slightly missing analysts’ expectations.

LiveRamp achieved the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 8 enterprise customers paying more than $1 million annually to reach a total of 140. The stock is up 20.7% since reporting and currently trades at $27.05.

Read our full, actionable report on LiveRamp here, it’s free.

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Strong Momentum Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate.