Magnite said on November 4 that third-quarter contribution ex-TAC rose 20% to $200.6 million, with connected TV up 39% to $105.4 million.
What happened
In its third quarter results, filed with the SEC as an exhibit to a Form 8-K, Magnite reported revenue of $204.2 million, up 14%, and net income of $34.0 million against $20.1 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA was $83.4 million, a 42% margin. CTV made up 53% of contribution ex-TAC, a non-GAAP measure, while DV+, its display, online video and mobile app business, grew 5% to $95.3 million. CEO Michael Barrett said: “We outperformed political revenue expectations, mostly in CTV, and now expect full-year political spend to be nearly three times our initial forecast.” Magnite guided the fourth quarter to $227 million to $233 million of contribution ex-TAC.
Why it matters
The 2027 outlook is the part to read twice. Magnite expects top-line growth of over 15% excluding political, not counting any upside from Google remedies, or 10% on a total reported basis. Magnite separates political advertising from the rest in that outlook, and says it arrived mostly in CTV this year. Fox gave a similar account of its own quarter, as we covered in Fox Ad Revenue Rises 47% on the World Cup, Political Spend and Tubi. Magnite also runs a seller agent, as in LG Ad Solutions opening home screen inventory to Magnite’s seller agent.
One thing to ask
In our reading, a CTV buyer should not carry 2026 delivery into a 2027 plan unchanged. Ask the ad operations lead which of your supply paths run through Magnite, and what share of this year’s CTV spend landed in political weeks. Set the 2027 benchmark from the remaining weeks, and ask your agency to show the two figures separately in the next report.
