Wall Street has been on edge this week, but markets were able to bounce back from their worst levels. Yet on Wednesday morning, it once again appeared as though the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -0.52%) would head lower at the open, with stock index futures on the benchmark declining shortly before the beginning of the regular trading session.
A pair of high-profile tech stocks managed to buck the downward trend and produce strong gains on Wednesday morning. For The Trade Desk (TTD 0.85%), worries about the advertising market gave way to optimism about what 2023 could bring. Meanwhile, for Analog Devices (ADI -0.98%), demand for the components that go into some of the most important technological devices appeared to hold up well, bolstering shareholder enthusiasm.
The Trade Desk trades up
Shares of The Trade Desk jumped 15% in ` trading on Wednesday morning. The provider of programmatic advertising services reported fourth-quarter results that showed its competitive advantages over rivals in the ad space.
The Trade Desk's quarterly numbers were actually somewhat mixed. Revenue climbed 24% year over year to $491 million. Adjusted net income of $190 million, however, was down 9% from year-ago levels, producing adjusted earnings of $0.38 per share. However, adjusted pre-tax operating earnings moved 28% higher.
Business metrics supported The Trade Desk's competitive position. The programmatic ad specialist reported continued gains in market share, seeing gross spending of nearly $7.8 billion over its platform. The company also continued to retain more than 95% of its customers, continuing a nine-year streak of strong performance. Moreover, The Trade Desk enjoyed more success with its Unified ID 2.0 initiative, signing on more key partners to use the open identity protocol. That had the company projecting first-quarter 2023 revenue of at least $363 million in what has historically been a slower period in the ad industry.
The Trade Desk has been an outstanding stock since its 2016 IPO, and its ability to weather difficult times comes as no surprise to those who've followed the company throughout its history. If the economy starts to improve and ad spending picks up further, then The Trade Desk is in a great position to benefit.
Analog Devices keeps chipping away
Elsewhere, shares of Analog Devices moved up 4% in premarket trading. The global maker of semiconductors reported fiscal first-quarter results for the period ending Jan. 28, and investors were generally pleased with what the tech company managed to accomplish during the period.
Analog Devices' numbers were impressive. Revenue rose 21% year over year to $3.25 billion, but what really stood out was a massive 13-percentage-point increase in the company's gross margin, taking the number up to 65.4%. Operating margin surged even further to 34.8%, up more than 21 percentage points. That added up to a big gain on the bottom line, with adjusted earnings of $2.75 per share comparing quite favorably to the year-ago period's $1.94 per share.
Analog Devices pointed to success on multiple fronts. The industrial and automotive sectors provided record levels of revenue for the chip maker, with segment sales climbing 26% and 29% respectively. Analog Devices sees big advances ahead, with continuing demand being driven by sensor systems, edge computing applications incorporating artificial intelligence, and the need for internet connectivity.
Moreover, Analog Devices sees good times ahead, projecting fiscal second-quarter sales of $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.65 to $2.85 per share. With shareholders getting a 15% dividend hike to boot, there was a lot to celebrate about the chip maker in its latest report.
