PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) Issues Earnings Results

PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.13, FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $80.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $76.12 million. PubMatic had a negative net margin of 5.11% and a negative return on equity of 5.68%.

Here are the key takeaways from PubMatic’s conference call:

• PubMatic beat Q4 guidance with $27.8M adjusted EBITDA (a 35% margin), GAAP net income of $6.7M, free cash flow up 32% to $46M, and a strong balance sheet with $145.5M cash and zero debt.
• Management positions PubMatic as an early leader in agentic AI — launching AgenticOS, co-founding the Ad Context Protocol, running 250+ agentic deals, and rolling out AI publisher solutions that already monetize ~10% of publishers.
• Secular growth engines powered results — CTV grew over 50% year-over-year (ex-political), mobile app revenue accelerated (~25% in Q4), and emerging revenues (Activate/Commerce/AI) nearly doubled and now represent roughly 10–12% of total revenue.
• Near-term guidance is muted — Q1 revenue of $58–60M and adjusted EBITDA around break-even reflect lingering headwinds from a legacy DSP and seasonality, while potential upside from Google remedies or litigation remains uncertain and is excluded from the outlook.

PubMatic Stock Performance

Shares of PUBM traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.10. 1,924,509 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 747,096. The company has a market cap of $375.96 million, a PE ratio of -26.13 and a beta of 1.58. PubMatic has a 52-week low of $6.15 and a 52-week high of $13.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $7.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at PubMatic

In related news, CEO Rajeev K. Goel sold 44,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.55, for a total transaction of $332,200.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 431,650 shares of company stock valued at $3,434,455 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 26.42% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PubMatic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of PubMatic by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 105,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after buying an additional 17,581 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in PubMatic in the fourth quarter worth about $199,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in PubMatic during the fourth quarter worth approximately $893,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in PubMatic by 320.0% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 918,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,144,000 after purchasing an additional 699,549 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new stake in shares of PubMatic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $254,000. 64.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about PubMatic

Here are the key news stories impacting PubMatic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings and revenue beat—PubMatic reported $0.29 EPS vs. $0.16 expected and revenue of $80.05M vs. $76.12M, a clear upside that likely moved the stock. Press Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and higher price targets — Rosenblatt raised its price target to $21 and kept a Buy rating (large upside vs. current levels), and B. Riley upgraded the stock to Buy with a $10.50 target; these endorsements add buying momentum. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Management guided Q1 revenue to $58.0M–$60.0M (slightly above consensus) and signaled a push for double?digit revenue growth in H2 2026—this forward commentary supports upward revision expectations. PubMatic targets double-digit revenue growth in H2 2026 while accelerating agentic AI adoption
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic focus on agentic AI—coverage highlights management accelerating agentic AI investments, which investors view as a growth and differentiation catalyst for programmatic ad technology. PubMatic Is All In On Agentic AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings materials and call transcript are available for deeper due diligence (slides, press release, and transcript provide color on margins, product traction, and channel dynamics). Earnings Transcript & Materials
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains a concern—PubMatic still reported a negative net margin (~?2.5%) and negative ROE, and Q4 EPS ($0.29) was below last year’s $0.41, which could temper sentiment despite the beat. Zacks: Surpasses Q4 Estimates

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PUBM. Evercore lifted their target price on shares of PubMatic from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on PubMatic from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $14.00 price objective on shares of PubMatic in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of PubMatic in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised PubMatic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.63.

About PubMatic

PubMatic is a cloud-based digital advertising technology company that provides a supply-side platform (SSP) enabling publishers to automate and optimize the sale of their ad inventory across display, mobile, video and connected TV channels. Its core offerings include real-time bidding infrastructure, header bidding solutions under the OpenWrap brand and data analytics tools that deliver actionable insights on audience engagement and monetization performance. By facilitating seamless auctions and providing transparent reporting, PubMatic helps publishers maximize yield while improving buyer experiences.

Founded in 2006 by Rajeev Goel and a team of ad-tech veterans, PubMatic grew from an early entrant in programmatic selling to a publicly traded company, listing on the Nasdaq (symbol: PUBM) in December 2020.