Viant Q2 2026 earnings: Revenue rises 34% as CTV spend climbs nearly 50%

Viant Technology (NASDAQ: DSP) reported Q2 2026 revenue of $104.3 million, up 34% year over year, while GAAP diluted EPS moved to a loss of $0.03 from earnings of $0.02 in Q2 2025. Adjusted EBITDA increased 26% as connected-TV advertiser spend rose nearly 50% and represented more than half of total advertiser spend on the platform. However, faster expense growth caused the company to swing to a GAAP operating loss for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.

Core Earnings Data

Revenue grew faster than gross profit, resulting in an approximately 2.4-percentage-point decline in GAAP gross margin. On a non-GAAP basis, contribution ex-TAC and adjusted EBITDA both increased, with adjusted EBITDA margin relative to contribution ex-TAC improving to 24% from 23%.

The difference between the GAAP and non-GAAP results was significant: Viant reported a consolidated net loss even as non-GAAP net income increased 23% to $9.9 million.

Contribution ex-TAC, adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP EPS exclude certain expenses and should not be treated as substitutes for the corresponding GAAP measures.

CTV Drove Platform Activity

CTV advertiser spend increased nearly 50% from a year earlier, reached a quarterly record and accounted for more than 50% of total advertiser spend on Viant’s platform. Advertiser spend is not the same as reported revenue: Viant defines it as total customer billings, including advertising media, third-party data, add-on features and platform fees.

More than 80% of CTV spend was transacted through Direct Access, up from more than 50% in Q1 2026. This indicates a notable quarterly shift toward that transaction channel, although the company did not disclose Direct Access revenue or profitability separately.

Viant also began testing TVision’s pre-bid attention intelligence within its technology stack. The product is intended to let advertisers target, value and measure CTV inventory using verified viewer-attention metrics.

Expense Growth Prevented Revenue Gains From Reaching GAAP Profit

Platform operations expense increased approximately 40% to $58.7 million, outpacing the 34% increase in revenue and compressing gross margin. Total operating expenses rose approximately 39% to $108.1 million, compared with $77.8 million in the prior-year quarter, turning a small operating profit into a $3.9 million operating loss.

Stock-based compensation was another contributor to the gap between GAAP and adjusted results. It increased to $10.0 million from $6.3 million, while depreciation and amortization rose to $5.6 million from $4.6 million. Adjusted EBITDA excludes these items, along with interest, taxes and certain acquisition, restructuring and other non-core charges, helping explain why adjusted EBITDA grew while GAAP profitability deteriorated.

Cash Flow and Balance Sheet

The available cash-flow figures cover the first six months of 2026 rather than Q2 alone. Six-month operating cash flow increased to $31.3 million from $16.5 million, with a $32.0 million cash contribution from lower accounts receivable providing substantial support. That benefit was partly offset by a $19.9 million cash use from lower accounts payable.

Investing activities used $25.3 million, including $15.4 million for acquisitions, $8.8 million of capitalized software development and $1.0 million of property and equipment purchases. Viant finished June with $193.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $191.2 million at the end of 2025, and reported no long-term debt.

Q3 2026 Guidance

Management expects revenue and adjusted EBITDA to increase sequentially in Q3. The outlook also implies a wider spread between contribution ex-TAC and non-GAAP operating expenses than Viant reported in Q2.

Except for revenue, these are non-GAAP measures. Viant did not provide forward reconciliations to the closest GAAP measures, citing uncertainty around traffic acquisition costs, other platform expenses, stock-based compensation and related items.

Management’s View

CEO Tim Vanderhook attributed Viant’s momentum to broader platform adoption among major U.S. advertisers and said the company’s identity, content and viewer-attention intelligence is informing campaign purchasing decisions. CFO Larry Madden said the integration of TVision’s attention technology was progressing ahead of initial expectations and that advertisers were showing growing interest in its pre-bid targeting capabilities.

Recent Insider Transactions

The supplied six-month aggregate data shows 23 purchases totaling 688,690 shares and 29 sales totaling 581,137 shares, resulting in net purchases of 107,553 shares. However, the most recent individual transactions with complete direction and value data were sales; the aggregate and individual records therefore describe different portions of the six-month period.

The transaction records alone do not establish the insiders’ views about Viant’s future performance.

Risks Investors Should Watch

• Operating expenses are growing faster than revenue. If platform operations and other expenses continue to outpace sales, revenue growth may not translate into GAAP profitability.
• CTV has become increasingly important to platform activity. With CTV representing more than half of advertiser spend, slower CTV demand or weaker adoption of Viant’s attention-targeting products could affect growth.
• Cash generation benefited materially from working capital. Lower accounts receivable supported first-half operating cash flow, so investors should distinguish working-capital movements from earnings-driven cash generation.
• GAAP and adjusted results may continue to diverge. Higher stock-based compensation and other excluded costs could weigh on GAAP results even if contribution ex-TAC and adjusted EBITDA meet management’s guidance.

Summary

Viant’s Q2 2026 results showed accelerating revenue and CTV activity, accompanied by higher contribution ex-TAC and adjusted EBITDA. The central issue is whether the company can convert that momentum into GAAP profitability after platform costs, stock-based compensation and other operating expenses. Q3 revenue conversion, gross margin, expense growth and adoption of the TVision-powered attention tools are the main operating indicators to monitor.