We recently published a list of the 12 Best Advertising Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI) stands against the other best advertising stocks to buy now.
Positive Momentum for the Advertising Market in 2025
Media companies are anticipating a stabilization in ad spending in 2025, along with potential growth for the platforms that offer live events and sports. CNBC reported the expectations for the advertising market in 2025 held by media executives, who opined that positive momentum is expected to continue emerging for media companies with tentpole live programming and sports rights. This improved outlook is supported by the end of the uncertainty that previously reigned supreme due to the election.
Although consumers are increasingly moving away from traditional TV bundles and more ad dollars are being spent on streaming, media executives believed that traditional TV is still significant in advertisement, especially when it comes to sports. Overall, a trend of stability is expected to emerge in the market, with executives hoping to go over and beyond the prior slowing in ad spending in recent years. CNBC reported that Mark Marshall, NBCUniversal’s chairman of global advertising and partnerships, was of the following opinion about the situation:
“Normalization is the right way to say it with the advertising market. With the election settled, a lot of companies feel the uncertainty over that has gone away.”
Dan Porter, CEO of sports media company Overtime, expressed similar sentiments:
“Our first quarter is looking really strong. I think that any election year is challenging for anyone in the fourth quarter because a lot of marketers end up sitting on their hands since the airwaves and digital are crowded. I think that’s true for us and it’s true for everyone.”
Sports and Live Programming: Important Avenues for Media Companies in 2025
Although ad revenue after the election is growing and the market forecast shows stability, Natalie Bastian, global chief marketing officer at Teads, opined that the sector is likely to see a lot of similar trends. She said 2024 had several significant moments for the industry that caused a surge in TV ad revenue, including the presidential election and the Summer Olympics. Bastian said the same budgets are anticipated to be carried over into 2025. CNBC reported that she said the following about the situation:
“What we’ve heard in general from some of our closest partners … media budgets aren’t growing, and so there’s just more selection into where [advertisers are] spending their money.”
These trends lend live programming and sports crucial significance for media companies. Advertisers and big audiences are increasingly attracted to sports, leading to media companies having to spend significant sums on game rights. According to EDO, an advertising data company, commercials played during live sports brought in 24% higher engagement than other programming forms. CNBC reported that Tim Hurd, vice president of media at Goodway Group, said the following to shed light on the situation:
“Live event coverage will continue to be a cornerstone of media engagement, and streaming services must step up their game. As more streaming platforms dive into sports, the challenge will be to keep viewers engaged, not just by offering content, but by enhancing the overall experience with personalized, non-disruptive ad units.”
Growth in the Advertising Industry
According to a recent report from GroupM, WPP’s media investment group, total revenue for the global advertising industry is anticipated to exceed $1 trillion for the first time in 2025, excluding US political advertising. It is expected to grow 7.7% in 2025 to reach $1.1 trillion. The primary driver of this growth is advertising on digital platforms, which entails retail media as a segment.
Despite the shift in consumer sentiments, TV is considered “the most effective form of advertising.” It is anticipated to grow around 2% in 2025, reaching $169.1 billion in total global ad revenue. In addition, “pure-play digital” ad revenue is expected to grow by 10% to $813.3 billion in 2025. Pure-play digital covers platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, but does not include “the digital extensions of traditional media.”
According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the online advertising market is worth $285.96 billion as of 2025. It is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.85% between 2025 and 2030, reaching $478.61 billion at the end of the forecast period. North America is the largest market in the industry and is also anticipated to be the fastest-growing.
Our Methodology
We sifted through stock screeners, financial media reports, and ETFs to compile a list of 20 advertising stocks. We then selected the top 12 with the highest number of hedge fund holders, as of Q4 2024, and ranked them in ascending order. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A marketing manager examining a publisher’s digital inventory on a laptop.
Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 25
Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI) is an adtech company that provides tech solutions to automate the sale and purchase of digital advertising inventory. The company’s platform offers services and applications for publishers owning and operating connected television (CTV) channels, websites, applications, and other digital media properties to monetize and manage their inventory. It also offers features to sellers of digital advertising inventory and buyers such as agencies, advertisers, agency trading desks, and demand side platforms (DSPs) looking to buy digital advertising inventory.
On March 19, the company announced an expanded partnership with Cross Screen Media after a successful 2024 election cycle. The adoption of ClearLine, Magnite’s self-service buying solution, allowed Cross Screen Media to drive incremental voter reach. Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI) recorded several highs in fiscal Q4 2024 and processed an ad spend of over $6 billion. It generated an adjusted EBITDA of $197 million and $118 million of free cash flow. Management is confident in the company’s future, primarily due to its result-bearing long-term investments.
The company’s most significant growth in the quarter came from Roku, LG, Vizio, Walmart, Disney, Fox, Warner Discovery, and Paramount. Netflix is continually ramping up, and Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI) is bullish about its Netflix opportunity, with significant growth in its global ad tier and corresponding ad revenue. The company ranks seventh on our list.
Crossroads Capital stated the following regarding Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Magnite, Inc. (NASDAQ:MGNI) is the largest independent programmatic Sell-Side Platform (SSP), an entity that provides technology solutions to automate the purchase and sale of digital advertising inventory on behalf of publishers. The company arose from the merger of The Rubicon Project and Telaria in 2020. It then acquired a CTV competitor SpotX in early 2021 to become the third-biggest CTV SSP, after Comcast’s Freewheel and the Darth Vader of the AdTech world, Google. Critically, Magnite stands today as the key enabler of Connected TV advertising for streaming platforms, an increasingly crucial revenue source for media parent companies around the world.
The company’s contract win with Netflix is proof of its differentiation in the space, and was something we expected after hearing back in early 2023 that Microsoft’s Xandr ad tech stack wasn’t capable of true CTV ad delivery. The company has impressive incremental EBITDA margins (75%+), and after spending the last few years consolidating its acquisitions, is in a place to capitalize on growth opportunities, generating cash flow far in excess of current market expectations.
Nonetheless, the company trades on a single-digit multiple of this year’s estimated EBITDA, with minimal credit applied to Netflix onboarding programmatic advertising. That’s strange, if only because the Netflix ad tier is likely to deliver $6 billion in ad spend next year, and half of that may go through Magnite with low-single-digit take rates (3.5 to 5.0%). Should this occur with incremental margins they have shown in the past, the company could see EBITDA rise by over $70 million next year, implying 30%+ growth from Netflix alone. Better yet, with the success of Netflix’s programmatic endeavors, other media customers may accelerate adoption of the same type of programmatic infrastructure/services with MGNI that were previously just tertiary monetization activities…” (Click here to read the full text)
Overall, MGNI ranks 7th on our list of the best advertising stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential of MGNI as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than MGNI but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
