Executive Summary / Key Takeaways

• Viant Technology is rapidly transforming the programmatic advertising landscape by pioneering an autonomous advertising platform, ViantAI, which integrates advanced AI capabilities with proprietary addressability solutions. This strategy positions the company to capture significant market share across Connected TV (CTV) and expand into new advertiser segments.
• The company's technological differentiators, including Household ID (HHID) and IRIS_ID, offer superior audience and contextual targeting at scale, driving tangible benefits such as up to 46% media cost reductions through AI Bidding and a 48% increase in conversion rates with IRIS_ID. These innovations are critical in a privacy-first, cookieless environment.
• Viant is strategically expanding its addressable market beyond its traditional mid-market strength, actively pursuing major U.S. advertisers, exemplified by a flagship multiyear partnership with Molson Coors , and targeting performance-based small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with its upcoming AI Decisioning product.
• Recent financial performance demonstrates robust growth, with Q3 2025 revenue up 7% year-over-year (19% pro forma) and contribution ex-TAC up 12% (22% pro forma), alongside expanding Adjusted EBITDA margins. The company maintains a strong balance sheet with ample liquidity and an active share repurchase program.
• Viant's independent and objective DSP model stands in stark contrast to "walled garden" competitors, aligning incentives directly with advertisers to maximize return on ad spend and offering transparency that rivals often lack.

The Programmatic Advertising Revolution and Viant's Core Mission

Viant Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:DSP) stands at the forefront of a profound transformation in the advertising industry, driven by the accelerating shift towards programmatic buying, the proliferation of Connected TV (CTV), and the disruptive power of artificial intelligence. Founded in 1999 and incorporated in its current form in 2020, Viant has evolved from its early days, including the acquisition of Myspace.com in 2011, to become a specialized cloud-based demand-side platform (DSP). This platform empowers marketers and agencies to centralize the planning, buying, and measurement of digital advertising across a diverse array of channels, including CTV, streaming audio, digital out-of-home, mobile, and desktop.

The company's overarching strategy is to lead the charge into an era of autonomous advertising, where its platform not only simplifies complex media buying but also optimizes outcomes with unprecedented efficiency and transparency. This mission is particularly critical as the industry grapples with the deprecation of third-party cookies and increasing demands for data privacy, pushing advertisers towards more sophisticated, identity-based solutions. Viant's strategic focus on independence, technological innovation, and market expansion positions it as a compelling alternative to the industry's dominant "walled gardens."

Technological Edge: Fueling Autonomous Advertising

Viant's core investment thesis is deeply rooted in its differentiated technology, which provides tangible and quantifiable benefits to advertisers. The company's proprietary intelligence layer combines industry-leading addressability solutions with its comprehensive ViantAI product suite, enabling precise targeting and measurable outcomes at scale.

At the heart of Viant's addressability is its patented Household ID (HHID), an audience targeting and measurement solution. HHID identifies approximately 95% of U.S. households and is available across roughly 80% of all biddable ad inventory, offering four times the coverage of many competing identifiers. This extensive reach allows advertisers to leverage their first-party data to target specific consumer audiences with superior precision. The effectiveness of HHID is evident in its rapid adoption, with ad spend linked to Household ID surging 33% year-over-year in Q1 2025 and increasing 15% year-over-year in Q2 2025. Over the last two years, revenue and contribution ex-TAC generated by Household ID have increased more than eightfold.

Complementing HHID is IRIS_ID, a content targeting and measurement solution acquired in November 2024. IRIS_ID enables advertisers to target CTV ad inventory at the video level, including scene-level targeting, allowing brands to align with contextually relevant content while maintaining privacy compliance. Since its acquisition, IRIS_ID's presence across the CTV bid stream has more than tripled, with a goal of achieving 50% CTV bid stream penetration in the coming months. Advertisers utilizing IRIS_ID on Viant's platform have observed, on average, a 48% increase in conversion rates compared to control groups. This performance has driven significant interest, with revenue attached to IRIS_ID more than doubling sequentially in Q3 2025.

To further enhance its addressability ecosystem, Viant acquired Locker, a data collaboration platform, in February 2025. Locker simplifies the process for publishers to activate their first-party data by offering a single integration point that seamlessly connects with various alternative ID partners in the programmatic ecosystem. This utility is designed to accelerate the industry-wide adoption of both Household ID and IRIS_ID, strengthening the open Internet's ability to compete against walled gardens.

Viant's commitment to innovation culminates in its ViantAI product suite, designed to usher in an era of autonomous advertising. The suite comprises four phases:

• AI Bidding, launched in Q2 2023, automates 85% of ad spend on the platform. Its latest iteration, AI Bidding 3.0, is expected to deliver up to 46% reductions in media costs for clients, with contribution ex-TAC from AI Bidding more than doubling year-over-year in Q3 2025.
• AI Planning, launched in Q3 2024, allows advertisers to create enterprise-level campaigns in seconds using just four inputs (advertiser, budget, time frame, goal). This drastically improves workflow, enhances operational efficiency for agencies, and optimizes return on ad spend.
• AI Measurement and Analysis, launched in late Q2 2025, revolutionizes reporting by providing on-demand insights through a chat-based interface, streamlining productivity and enabling continuous campaign optimization.
• AI Decisioning, expected to launch at year-end 2025, will grant ViantAI full autonomy to dynamically manage and optimize media plans in real-time, reacting to market fluctuations to deliver optimal outcomes. This "do it for me" solution is poised to expand Viant's addressable market significantly.

These technological advancements are not merely features; they are foundational to Viant's competitive moat, driving higher advertiser value through lower costs, better performance, and enhanced transparency, directly contributing to its market positioning and long-term growth strategy.

Strategic Expansion and Market Leadership

Viant's strategic initiatives are designed to capitalize on its technological advantages and expand its market reach. While maintaining a dominant position within the mid-market advertiser segment, the company is aggressively pursuing two new, substantial opportunities.

The mid-market, traditionally Viant's core, continues to exhibit strong performance. In Q3 2025, contribution ex-TAC from this segment increased by 22% year-over-year on a pro forma basis, excluding temporary factors. The company has seen a 39% increase in percent-of-spend customers generating over $1 million in contribution ex-TAC on a trailing twelve-month basis through Q3 2025, indicating deeper integration and reliance on Viant's platform.

A significant new focus is the expansion into major U.S. advertisers. Viant is actively engaging with larger brands, driven by the appeal of its independent platform and the efficiency gains offered by ViantAI. This effort has generated a pipeline of new business opportunities exceeding $250 million in potential incremental ad spend. A notable success in this area is the multiyear partnership with Molson Coors , designated as their advertising platform for programmatic campaigns in the U.S. starting in 2026. This partnership underscores Viant's ability to win against larger competitors and is expected to contribute significantly to revenue from Q2 2026 onwards.

Looking ahead, the launch of AI Decisioning at year-end 2025 will enable Viant to expand downmarket to performance advertisers, including small businesses and direct-to-consumer e-commerce companies. This segment, representing over half of the $240 billion U.S. search and social ad market, is currently over-invested in walled gardens. ViantAI aims to provide these advertisers with a simplified, autonomous solution for the open Internet, allowing them to leverage CTV and other channels for incremental sales and improved return on ad spend.

Financial Performance: Growth and Efficiency in Focus

Viant's recent financial results underscore its operational effectiveness and the successful execution of its growth strategy. For the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, the company reported revenue of $85.6 million, a 7% increase year-over-year. Excluding temporary headwinds from political ad spend and the departure of a seasonal advertiser, pro forma revenue growth was a robust 19% year-over-year. Contribution ex-TAC, a key profitability measure, reached $53 million, up 12% year-over-year, and 22% on a pro forma basis. This marks a consistent trend, with contribution ex-TAC across the top 100 customers growing 18% year-over-year on a trailing twelve-month basis through Q3 2025.

Over the nine months ended September 30, 2025, revenue increased 18% to $234.1 million, and contribution ex-TAC grew 17% to $144.1 million. The company's full-year 2024 performance further highlights this momentum, with revenue up 30% to $289.2 million and contribution ex-TAC increasing 24% to $177.4 million.

Profitability has also seen significant improvement. Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 2025 was $16 million, a 9% increase year-over-year, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 30% as a percentage of contribution ex-TAC. For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, Adjusted EBITDA grew 20% to $32.7 million, achieving a 23% margin. Full-year 2024 Adjusted EBITDA rose 53% to $44.4 million, expanding the Adjusted EBITDA margin to 25%. This margin expansion was achieved despite strategic investments in acquisitions like Iris TV and Locker, and ongoing development of the ViantAI suite. Notably, organic non-GAAP operating expenses in Q3 2025 increased a modest 7% year-over-year, demonstrating disciplined expense management and operational leverage, with contribution ex-TAC per employee increasing over 7% year-over-year.

The company maintains a strong liquidity position, reporting $161.3 million in cash and cash equivalents and $193.8 million in positive working capital as of September 30, 2025. With no outstanding debt and full access to a $75 million credit facility, Viant is well-capitalized to fund its growth initiatives.

The active share repurchase program, which has returned $59.6 million to shareholders since May 2024, further underscores management's confidence in the company's long-term value.

Competitive Arena: Independence as a Differentiator

The programmatic advertising industry is intensely competitive, dominated by large, well-resourced players. However, Viant's independent and objective DSP model provides a critical differentiator against its rivals, particularly the "walled gardens" and other major DSPs.

Viant's core competitive advantage stems from its lack of owned and operated media inventory. Unlike Google , which directs spend to YouTube, or Amazon (AMZN), which prioritizes Prime Video and sponsored listings, Viant's incentives are directly aligned with advertisers to maximize their return on ad spend. This objectivity is a significant draw for major U.S. advertisers like Molson Coors, who seek partners free from inherent conflicts of interest. The Trade Desk (TTD), another prominent DSP, has also faced scrutiny for its "OpenPath" initiative, which some perceive as monetizing supply paths and compromising its independent stance.

Viant's technological superiority in addressability further strengthens its competitive position. Its Household ID offers significantly broader coverage (80% of biddable inventory) compared to competing identifiers, enabling more precise audience targeting. The IRIS_ID, with its video-level contextual targeting in CTV, provides a granularity that many competitors, often limited to app-level buying, cannot match. This allows Viant to deliver superior conversion rates for advertisers.

In the realm of AI, ViantAI's transparent approach contrasts sharply with the "black box" solutions offered by Google (GOOGL) (PMax) and Meta (META) (Advantage+). ViantAI provides advertisers with unrestricted insights into campaign data, including publisher allocation and clearing prices, fostering trust and control. The substantial media cost reductions achieved through AI Bidding (up to 46%) further highlight Viant's ability to deliver tangible value.

Furthermore, Viant's strategic focus on incremental lift measurement directly challenges the "Last Touch Attribution" models prevalent in search and social advertising, which often credit channels for sales that would have occurred regardless. By demonstrating CTV's superior impact in driving new customer acquisition (with an average 200% incremental lift compared to other formats), Viant is strategically positioned to divert ad spend from less effective channels. The company's US-focused strategy also allows it to avoid the "money loser" international operations that burden many larger, globally diversified competitors, contributing to its operational efficiency.

Outlook and Growth Catalysts

Viant's outlook for accelerated growth and margin expansion is compelling, underpinned by strong market tailwinds and its strategic initiatives. For Q4 2025, the company projects revenue between $101.5 million and $104.5 million, representing a 14% year-over-year increase at the midpoint. Pro forma, excluding political ad spend, revenue is expected to be up 20% year-over-year. Contribution ex-TAC is guided to $62 million to $64 million, a 16% year-over-year increase at the midpoint (21% pro forma). Adjusted EBITDA is expected to reach $22.5 million to $23.5 million, a 35% year-over-year increase, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 37% at the midpoint.

For the full year 2025, based on the Q4 midpoint, Viant anticipates revenue and contribution ex-TAC growth of 17% (22% pro forma), with Adjusted EBITDA growth of 25% and Adjusted EBITDA margins expanding to 27%, an improvement of nearly 200 basis points year-over-year.

Looking into 2026, management expects accelerating year-over-year growth in both revenue and contribution ex-TAC, driven by new client onboarding. The Molson Coors (TAP) partnership is slated for significant spending to commence in Q2 2026 and beyond. Additionally, non-GAAP operating expenses are projected to grow at a lower rate in 2026 compared to 2025, as the company laps the integration costs of recent acquisitions, leading to significant EBITDA margin expansion. The pipeline of over $250 million in potential annualized ad spend from major U.S. advertisers represents a substantial incremental growth opportunity.

Risks and Considerations

While Viant's growth trajectory is promising, investors should consider several pertinent risks. Macroeconomic and geopolitical events, such as inflation, high interest rates, and tariffs, can impact advertiser budgets and campaign activations, as evidenced by temporary delays experienced in Q2 2025. The company's reliance on advertising agency holding companies for a significant portion of its revenue introduces customer concentration risk, and the sequential liability model means Viant may bear the risk of non-payment from marketers.

The rapidly evolving data privacy landscape, with stringent regulations like GDPR and various State Privacy Laws, poses ongoing compliance challenges and potential liabilities. Changes in technology companies' policies regarding third-party cookies or mobile device identifiers could also diminish data availability, impacting platform effectiveness. Furthermore, while ViantAI offers significant advantages, the inherent risks associated with AI technologies, such as design flaws, reliance on poor-quality data, or misuse, could lead to performance declines or legal liabilities. The intensely competitive nature of the ad tech industry, with larger players possessing greater resources, also presents a continuous challenge to market share gains and pricing power. Lastly, historical liabilities related to the Myspace.com acquisition, including an FTC consent order extending to 2032, remain a long-term consideration.

Conclusion

Viant Technology is strategically positioned to capitalize on the secular tailwinds driving the programmatic advertising market. Its independent, objective DSP, coupled with a robust suite of proprietary AI and addressability solutions, offers a compelling value proposition that resonates with advertisers seeking efficiency, transparency, and measurable outcomes. The company's strong financial performance, expanding margins, and proactive market expansion into major U.S. advertisers and performance-based SMBs underscore a clear path to accelerated growth. While macroeconomic headwinds and competitive pressures persist, Viant's technological leadership and differentiated approach to solving critical industry challenges, particularly in CTV and identity, establish a strong foundation for sustained long-term value creation for investors.