Magnite Targets CTV Growth With Walmart, Samsung Partnerships and AI Ad Tools

Magnite is targeting connected-TV growth through partnerships with major platforms and media companies, including Disney, Roku, Fox and Netflix, while positioning itself as a key programmatic access point for CTV inventory. New opportunities with Walmart and Samsung could expand future revenue: Walmart is using Magnite to distribute its user data across inventory sources, while Samsung selected Magnite to provide ad-serving technology for its TV home screen. Neither contributed revenue as of the second quarter.

Magnite is developing AI-driven advertising tools, including Magnite Orchestration, to automate buyer, seller and mediation workflows. Management raised its EBITDA-margin guidance to at least 37% and is also reducing infrastructure costs through a hybrid on-premises and cloud model.

Magnite (MGNI) is positioning itself as a key infrastructure provider for programmatic connected-TV advertising as streaming platforms, television manufacturers and commerce-media businesses seek technology partners to manage inventory, data and demand, according to Head of Investor Relations Nick Kormeluk. Speaking at BofA Global Research’s small- and mid-cap executive insights event, Kormeluk described Magnite as a supply-side platform that helps publishers sell digital advertising inventory by connecting it with demand from advertisers. The company operates across connected TV, mobile applications and web, digital out-of-home and other channels, though Kormeluk emphasized the company’s CTV opportunity.

Kormeluk said connected-TV inventory is more concentrated than traditional open-web advertising, with about 30 large global partners representing roughly 80% of global inventory. He said Magnite has relationships with all of those partners except YouTube and has become a primary access point for buyers seeking CTV inventory. He said the company’s relationships with partners including Disney, Roku, Fox and Netflix have expanded over time. Rather than serving solely as another bidder for inventory, Magnite seeks to provide technology for ad serving, mediation, demand generation, yield management, identity and audience creation.

“We have shown that we are that partner that can execute and bring people to the programmatic market,” Kormeluk said. Kormeluk also said the company’s CTV relationships have created a “halo effect” in its broader digital-video-plus, or DV+, business. He cited commerce-media partners including United Airlines, Pinterest, Best Buy, Redfin, RE/MAX, Expedia and PayPal, saying Magnite now has 21 partners relying on it exclusively as their programmatic partner.

Among recent partnerships, Kormeluk discussed Walmart’s expanding advertising ambitions following its Vizio acquisition plans and its announced purchase of demand-side platform Vibe. He said Walmart has tapped Magnite to help make its user data available not only on Vizio inventory but also across other inventory sources. Kormeluk said the opportunity with Walmart was not contributing to Magnite’s results as of the second quarter and characterized it as a future growth opportunity. He also highlighted Magnite’s win to provide ad-serving technology for Samsung’s television home screen. Kormeluk said Samsung had historically sold that inventory through direct sales and insertion orders rather than through an ad server. Magnite won the business through a request-for-proposal process, he said.