Elle Niebuhr

Elle Niebuhr asked to quantify how much of Q4 CTV growth was attributable to live sports versus always-on budgets and whether sports are expected to become a higher mix of CTV revenue.

Answer

Rajeev Goel, Co-Founder and CEO, confirmed live sports is a key long-term driver for CTV, noting progress in expanding inventory and agency marketplaces. He mentioned monetizing events like the Cricket World Cup, US Open, MLB, NFL, and NHL, indicating it's a significant growth driver for their CTV business.

Elle Niebuhr of Lake Street Capital Markets asked to quantify the portion of Q4 CTV growth attributable to live sports versus always-on budgets and whether sports are expected to become a larger component of CTV revenue.

Answer

Rajeev Goel, Co-Founder and CEO of PubMatic, confirmed that live sports is a key long-term driver for CTV, and PubMatic is expanding inventory in this area, along with agency marketplaces. He mentioned monetizing events like the Cricket World Cup, US Open, MLB, NFL, and NHL in the past year. He emphasized that as PubMatic scales its business, adds more publishers (28 of top 30 global streamers, 450+ CTV publishers), and enhances AI capabilities, CTV will continue to benefit and be a long-term growth driver.

Elle Niebuhr of Lake Street Capital Markets asked about the potential incremental growth in the Home Services segment in a lower interest rate environment and inquired about the key areas of focus for product development investments.

Answer

CEO Douglas Valenti responded that a lower interest rate environment would likely be a positive for Home Services by stimulating home buying activity, but this potential upside is not factored into the company's current models. For product development, he highlighted investments in the QRP platform, the '360 Finance' product for contractors, the next-generation QMP media optimization platform, and a new unified call center platform to replace legacy systems.

Elle Niebuhr from Lake Street Capital Markets asked how the strong results in the first half of the year relate to the company's long-term 2028 goals and whether the catalysts outlined in that plan are already contributing to performance.

Answer

CFO James Leddy confirmed that many of the initiatives outlined in their 2028 plan are already contributing to the positive results. He highlighted progress in procurement, pricing, route consolidation, inventory management technology, and digital platform growth, with digital now accounting for around 60% of specialty orders. He characterized these initiatives as being in the "early innings" but already delivering tangible benefits.

Elle Niebuhr, on for Ben Klieve, asked for an update on utilization levels at the new Texas, California, and Florida facilities and inquired about the 2025 CapEx breakdown between growth and maintenance spending.

Answer

CFO James Leddy responded that while specific utilization levels are not disclosed, the new Northern California facility is in its early innings with significant room for growth. In Texas, the company is optimizing space by trading out non-core business to grow specialty and protein. For 2025 CapEx, Leddy guided to $40-$50 million, with about 80% for growth, primarily for a Philadelphia facility retrofit and a Portland, Oregon facility build-out. The remainder is for technology and maintenance.