Shyam Patil

Shyam Patil asked about Ziff Davis's preference for selling pieces versus the whole company, and the future value creation philosophy regarding M&A, buybacks, or other transactions.

Answer

CEO Vivek Shah stated his preference is whatever creates the most impactful per-share price for Ziff Davis, emphasizing the obligation to reward shareholder patience. He affirmed the company's continued role as a programmatic and serial acquirer, open to sales, investments, or spinoffs. CFO Brett Richter added that the core philosophy of generating profits, cash flow, and growth, and allocating capital to a healthy balance sheet and growing cash flows, remains unchanged, with the company reacting to broad market conditions.

Shyam Patil from SIG asked about Ziff Davis's preference for the strategic review's outcome (selling pieces vs. whole company), the likelihood of each, and the future value creation philosophy regarding capital allocation for M&A and buybacks.

Answer

CEO Vivek Shah emphasized that the preference is for whatever creates the most impactful per-share price for Ziff Davis, acknowledging the need to reward shareholder patience. He noted the company's expertise in unlocking value through digital transformation and its commitment to programmatic M&A. While historically a long-term holder of assets, the current market dynamics suggest re-evaluating this approach, considering sales, investments, or spinoffs. CFO Bret Richter reiterated that the core philosophy of generating profits, cash flow, and growth, and allocating capital effectively, remains unchanged, with the strategic review being a reaction to current market conditions.

Shyam Patil inquired about the strategic intent behind the new segment-level disclosures and what Ziff Davis aims to communicate about its intrinsic value relative to its current market valuation.

Answer

CEO Vivek Shah explained that the enhanced transparency is a direct response to shareholder requests. He expressed hope that investors will analyze each of the five segments to appreciate their distinct growth and margin profiles, highlighting the double-digit growth in Health and Wellness and Connectivity. Shah encouraged analysts to conduct a sum-of-the-parts valuation, believing it would reveal the company's compelling underlying value.

Shyam Patil inquired about The Trade Desk's competitive stance against Amazon, clarifying past comments, and the evolving competitive landscape with Google and Amazon's DSPs potentially pricing at zero. He also asked CFO Alex Cailliau about his top impact areas for the next couple of years.

Answer

CEO Jeff Green clarified that Amazon's primary advertising efforts focus on owned and operated inventory (sponsored listings, Prime Video), not the open internet, thus not directly competing with The Trade Desk's DSP. He also addressed the 'pricing at zero' concern, stating that such strategies often mask monetization of owned inventory, emphasizing value over price. CFO Alex Cailliau highlighted his focus on disciplined resource allocation for ROI, driving a more metrics-driven culture, reevaluating sales incentives, expanding internationally, and targeting the mid-market.

Shyam Patil of SIG asked about The Trade Desk's confidence in its positioning and growth prospects for the second half of the year and into 2026, given the evolving digital advertising environment.

Answer

CEO Jeff Green expressed high confidence, stating that market uncertainty creates opportunities for The Trade Desk. He emphasized that programmatic advertising's measurable and agile nature is a key advantage in a performance-driven market. Green highlighted the favorable supply-demand imbalance, the power of TTD's data combined with AI, strong momentum in CTV and retail media, and a record pipeline for Joint Business Plans (JBPs) as key drivers for continued market share gains.

Shyam Patil asked for an elaboration on the progress seen from the product and go-to-market changes that The Trade Desk implemented toward the end of the previous year, noting they seemed to be gaining traction.

Answer

CEO Jeff Green confirmed the upgrades contributed significantly to Q1 outperformance. He highlighted that Kokai adoption is ahead of schedule with two-thirds of clients now using it, leading to exceptional campaign performance, including a 24% lower cost per conversion. Green also noted that engineering teams are more effective, and the JVP (Joint Business Plan) pipeline is at an all-time high, validating the strategic changes.

Shyam Patil asked for an explanation of what went wrong in the fourth quarter, leading to the company's first guidance miss in over eight years as a public company.

Answer

Co-Founder and CEO Jeff Green took full ownership of the miss, attributing it to a series of small, internal execution missteps made while preparing the company for a larger future opportunity. He emphasized the miss was not due to a shrinking market or competitive pressure. Green detailed corrective actions, including the largest reorganization in company history, a shift to more agile engineering teams, restructuring client-facing teams to clarify roles, and an increased leadership focus on operational scalability. He reiterated his long-term focus, citing the Sincera acquisition as a strategic move for future growth over short-term gains.

Shyam Patil inquired about The Trade Desk's perspective on the near-term macroeconomic environment for Q3 and Q4, and the company's strategic setup for 2025.

Answer

CEO Jeff Green explained that while the macro environment presents uncertainty for CMOs, this scrutiny drives them toward TTD's data-driven platform for proven growth. He highlighted strong performance in CTV, Kokai adoption, and retail media as key strengths. Green noted that while the stock market is high, consumer confidence isn't uniform, creating pressure on brands that benefits TTD's value proposition. He also mentioned that key partnerships with Netflix, Disney, and Spotify are still in early "crawl" phases, suggesting significant future upside.

Shyam Patil of Susquehanna inquired about the momentum from recent partnerships validating Magnite's market position and the potential impact of the Google antitrust ruling, including base-case scenarios and potential civil damages.

Answer

CEO Michael Barrett attributed recent success to Magnite's unique, modular product stack and a lean competitive set. Regarding the Google case, he stated it is difficult to predict the outcome before the judge rules on remedies and noted that the company sees significant merit in pursuing a separate civil action for damages.

Inquired about the pace of potential market share gains from the Google antitrust case, the scale of that opportunity, and the current sentiment in advertiser conversations regarding the macroeconomic outlook.

Answer

Behavioral remedies in the Google case could allow for benefits starting day one, potentially as early as 2026. On market share, if Google loses share, Magnite expects to gain at least its proportional share of the non-Google market, and potentially more due to its leadership position. Regarding the macro environment, advertiser conversations show a lot of speculation but no concrete examples of spending pauses; the cautious guidance is based on prudence regarding potential future tariffs.

Inquired about the expected ramp-up of the Netflix partnership through 2025 and the reasons behind the expansion of the Disney partnership, including future revenue growth potential.

Answer

Magnite is Netflix's sole programmatic sell-side partner and expects the relationship to grow significantly, potentially becoming their largest customer by the end of 2025. The Disney partnership expansion is an extension of a long-term, trusted relationship, reflecting Disney's strategy to partner for capabilities they don't want to build themselves, indicating strong future collaboration.

Shyam Patil requested more detail on the expected ramp-up of the Netflix partnership through 2025 and asked what factors led Disney to expand its relationship with Magnite for areas like live sports and Latin America.

Answer

CEO Michael Barrett reiterated that Magnite is Netflix's sole sell-side programmatic partner and is expanding with them globally, expecting Netflix to become a top customer by the end of 2025. Regarding Disney, he characterized the expansion as a natural evolution of a long-term, trusted partnership, where Disney leverages Magnite's technology for capabilities it prefers not to build internally, signaling strong future growth potential.

Shyam Patil requested more detail on the expected ramp of the Netflix partnership through 2025 and the factors that led Disney to expand its relationship with Magnite.

Answer

CEO Michael Barrett stated that Magnite is Netflix's sole sell-side programmatic partner, expanding with them internationally, and expects Netflix could become one of its largest customers by the end of 2025. Regarding Disney, he characterized the expansion as a natural extension of a long-term, trusted relationship, reflecting Disney's strategy to partner for certain capabilities rather than building them in-house.

Shyam Patil of Susquehanna inquired about the underlying assumptions for LiveRamp's second-quarter revenue growth guidance.

Answer

CFO Lauren Dillard explained that while Q1 subscription usage was exceptionally strong at 40% year-over-year growth, this was partly due to timing. For Q2, the company is conservatively guiding usage to be flat year-over-year, which accounts for the sequential growth moderation. Dillard reiterated confidence in accelerating growth in the second half of the fiscal year, supported by strong recent sales momentum.

Shyam Patil inquired about the early customer reaction to the new Cross-Media Intelligence product and the key factors driving the high and low ends of the full-year revenue guidance.

Answer

CEO Scott Howe expressed strong optimism for Cross-Media Intelligence, calling it a "Holy Grail" for advertisers and publishers. He noted that early feedback is positive, with the measurement pipeline more than doubling. CFO Lauren Dillard explained that the main variable in the guidance range is the macroeconomic environment, with the low end assuming a second-half deceleration. She added that outperformance would depend on sales execution, particularly for Clean Room solutions.

Shyam Patil inquired about the specific drivers behind the improved sales momentum LiveRamp experienced during the third quarter.

Answer

CEO Scott Howe attributed the turnaround to the quality of the sales team, the company's network effect as a scale leader, and a significant increase in pipeline conversion rates as client budgets became available. CFO Lauren Dillard provided quantitative support, noting that conversion rates nearly doubled, average deal size increased over 25%, and renewal rates reached a 10-quarter high.

Shyam Patil of Susquehanna inquired about MNTN's current business momentum, the key growth drivers management is most excited about, and the future trajectory for gross and EBITDA margins, including the primary levers for improvement.

Answer

CEO Mark Douglas highlighted strong momentum from SMBs who now assume they can use TV advertising, driving inbound leads to 77% of revenue. He expressed excitement for efficiency gains from AI in targeting and creative, noting sales headcount has been flat for three years. CFO Patrick Pohlen reiterated long-term targets of 75-80% for gross margin and 35-40% for adjusted EBITDA, stating that planned reductions in hosting and media costs will drive further margin expansion.

Shyam Patil inquired about the primary drivers for Roku's Q2 outperformance and the raised full-year guidance, and also asked about the expected trajectory for achieving positive operating income in 2026.

Answer

Founder, Chairman & CEO Anthony Wood attributed the strong quarter to the successful execution of the company's platform revenue growth strategy, highlighting 18% year-over-year growth and strength in video advertising. CFO Dan Jedda confirmed the company is on track for operating income positivity in Q4 2025, earlier than previously stated, and expects further margin improvement in 2026 with OpEx growth staying in line with 2025 levels.

Shyam Patil asked about the key drivers behind Roku's strong Q4 2024 results, the sustainability of this performance into 2025, and the expected trend for free cash flow conversion.

Answer

CEO Anthony Wood attributed the success to Roku's strategy of leveraging the home screen, expanding third-party ad partnerships, and growing subscription revenue. CFO Dan Jedda provided a detailed 2025 outlook, forecasting 12% full-year platform growth (15% ex-political) and expecting free cash flow to grow faster than adjusted EBITDA, which he called the company's "North Star metric."

Shyam Patil inquired about the opportunity presented by competitors' firewall refresh cycles and whether this potential tailwind was factored into Check Point's annual outlook.

Answer

CFO Roei Golan stated that the competitor refresh cycle is a significant opportunity but was not materially factored into the 2025 guidance, suggesting it represents potential upside. CEO Nadav Zafrir added that it's an opportunity to sell not just firewalls but the entire Infinity platform and SASE solution.

Shyam Patil of Susquehanna Financial Group asked for an update on the channel partner program launched at the beginning of the year, inquiring about its progress and feedback from partners.

Answer

Founder and CEO Gil Shwed reported receiving 'very good' and 'all positive' feedback from the channel, particularly from recent channel conferences. However, he noted that while the sentiment from partners is improving, the program has not yet had a 'material big impact' on financial results.