# MAGNITE, INC. (MGNI) FY 2023 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from MAGNITE, INC.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2023.

SEC filing source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1595974/000159597424000014/mgni-20231231.htm
Accession: 0001595974-24-000014
Filing date: 2024-02-28
Report date: 2023-12-31
Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary.
Confidence: high

Company profile: /company/MGNI/
All MD&A years: /company/MGNI/mda/
Previous year: /company/MGNI/mda/fy2022/ (FY 2022)
Next year: /company/MGNI/mda/fy2024/ (FY 2024)

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes to those statements included in Item 8 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to historical financial information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates, beliefs, and expectations and that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, particularly in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" and the "Special Note About Forward-Looking Statements."

Overview and Trends

See "Item 1. Business" for an overview of our business, the industry in which we operate, and important industry trends.

Recent Developments

SpotX and SpringServe Acquisitions

On April 30, 2021, we completed the acquisition of SpotX, Inc. ("SpotX" and such acquisition the "SpotX Acquisition"), a leading platform shaping connected television ("CTV") and video advertising globally. On July 1, 2021, we acquired SpringServe, LLC ("SpringServe"), a leading ad serving platform for CTV.

Following these transactions, we believe that we are the world's largest independent omni-channel sell-side advertising platform ("SSP"), offering a single partner for transacting globally across all channels, formats and auction types, and the largest independent programmatic CTV marketplace, making it easier for buyers to reach CTV audiences at scale from industry-leading streaming content providers, broadcasters, platforms and device manufacturers.

As CTV viewership is growing rapidly and the pace of adoption is accelerating the shift of advertising budgets from linear television to CTV, these transactions have strategically positioned us to take advantage of this trend, and we believe that CTV will be our biggest growth driver for 2024.

The SpotX Acquisition resulted in a significant increase in our revenue and Contribution ex-TAC (as defined in section "Key Operating and Financial Performance Metrics"), in particular in CTV and online video. Following the transaction, the percentage of our revenue attributable to CTV increased significantly, and because CTV is largely transacted through reserve auctions, these types of auctions have become a more significant portion of the transactions on our platform. In addition, as newer entrants to programmatic advertising, the largest publishers and broadcasters have tended to transact almost exclusively through reserve auctions and have lower overall take rates. These publishers have continued to increase their focus and investment in programmatic CTV, and in recent periods have grown as a percentage of our CTV business. Accordingly, the increase in share among these publishers on our platform has driven a decrease in our aggregate CTV take rates. The acquisition also resulted in an increase in related operating expenses, primarily associated with costs for personnel, data center and hosting costs, facilities, payments to sellers for revenue reported on a gross basis, and other ancillary costs to support the business. We have been able to offset some of these increases through cost saving activities and the achievement of acquisition synergies. As part of our integration efforts, we introduced our unified CTV platform, Magnite Steaming, which merges leading technology from the legacy Magnite CTV and SpotX CTV platforms. We completed the migration to our unified platform early in the third quarter of 2023.

The SpringServe Acquisition expanded our video and CTV offering to include ad server functionality in addition to our programmatic SSP capabilities. The SpringServe ad server manages multiple aspects of video advertising for both programmatic transactions and inventory sold directly by the publisher, including forecasting, routing, customized ad experiences and ad formats, and advanced podding logic. This is of particular importance for CTV publishers. The combination of our SSP and ad server provides publishers a holistic yield management solution that works across their entire video advertising business to drive value. We believe the acquisition of SpringServe is highly strategic as it allows us to offer publishers an independent full-stack solution to the walled gardens, which can be leveraged across their entire video advertising business.

Macroeconomic Developments

Our business has been negatively impacted as a result of macroeconomic challenges, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, global conflict, capital market disruptions and instability of financial institutions, the risk of a recession, labor strikes, and other macroeconomic factors, which have generally negatively impacted ad budgets, and in turn have led to slower ad spend growth through our platform. Any worsening of macroeconomic conditions in future periods would likely have a negative effect on our financial results, the magnitude of which is difficult to predict. In addition, continued inflation could result in an increase in our cost base relative to our revenue.

Refer to Item 1A. "Risk Factors" for additional information related to risks associated with macroeconomic challenges.

43

Table of Contents

Components of Our Results of Operations

We report our financial results as one operating segment. Our consolidated operating results are regularly reviewed by our chief operating decision maker, principally to make decisions about how we allocate our resources and to measure our consolidated operating performance.

Revenue

We generate revenue from the use of our platform for the purchase and sale of digital advertising inventory. Generally, our revenue is based on a percentage of the ad spend that runs through our platform, although for certain clients, services, or transaction types we may receive a fixed CPM for each impression sold, and for advertising campaigns that are transacted through insertion orders, we earn revenue based on the full amount of ad spend that runs through our platform. In addition, we may receive certain fixed monthly fees for the use of our platform or products. We recognize revenue upon the fulfillment of our contractual obligations in connection with a completed transaction, subject to satisfying all other revenue recognition criteria. For the majority of transactions executed through our platform, we act as an agent on behalf of the publisher that is monetizing its inventory, and revenue is recognized net of any advertising inventory costs that we remit to sellers. With respect to certain revenue streams for managed advertising campaigns that are transacted through insertion orders, we report revenue on a gross basis, based primarily on our determination that the Company acts as the primary obligor in the delivery of advertising campaigns for our buyer clients with respect to such transactions.

For the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, our revenue reported on a gross basis was 18%, 18%, and 17% of total revenue for the respective periods. Any mix shift that causes an increase in the relative percentage of our revenue accounted for on a gross basis would result in a higher revenue contribution and an associated decrease in our gross margin percentage (with no underlying impact on gross profit or Contribution ex-TAC, as defined in section "Key Operating and Financial Performance Metrics"). Our revenue recognition policies are discussed in more detail in Note 4 of the "Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements."

We track the performance and revenue of our platform by channel. Our channels include CTV, mobile, and desktop. Consistent with the IAB’s definition of CTV, CTV represents advertising transactions on our platform that are delivered to the end consumer via a television set that is connected to the Internet. Our CTV transactions do not include advertisements viewed on a mobile or desktop device. Mobile and desktop represent advertising transactions on our platform that are delivered to the end consumer via their respective devices’ operating system, that is, a mobile operating system or a traditional desktop operating system, respectively. Mobile devices generally refer to a handset, tablet, or other communication device that runs on a mobile operating system used to access the Internet wirelessly, usually through a mobile carrier or Wi-Fi network. Desktop transactions are those transactions delivered to the end user whose device runs on a traditional PC, laptops, as well as those delivered on mobile devices or tablets that are not running on mobile based operating systems.

Expenses

We classify our expenses into the following categories:

Cost of Revenue. Our cost of revenue consists primarily of cloud hosting, data center, and bandwidth costs, ad protection costs, depreciation and maintenance expense of hardware supporting our revenue-producing platform, amortization of software costs for the development of our revenue-producing platform, amortization expense associated with acquired developed technologies, and personnel costs. In addition, for revenue booked on a gross basis, cost of revenue includes traffic acquisition costs. Personnel costs included in cost of revenue include salaries, bonuses, and stock-based compensation, and are primarily attributable to personnel in our network operations group who support our platform. We capitalize costs associated with software that is developed or obtained for internal use and amortize the costs associated with our revenue-producing platform in cost of revenue over their estimated useful lives. We amortize acquired developed technologies over their estimated useful lives.

Sales and Marketing. Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, including salaries, bonuses, and stock-based compensation, as well as marketing expenses such as brand marketing, travel expenses, trade shows and marketing materials, amortization expense associated with client relationships, backlog, and non-compete agreements from our business acquisitions, professional services, facilities-related costs, and depreciation expense. Our sales and support organization focuses on increasing the adoption of our solution by existing and new buyers and sellers and supports ongoing client relationships. We amortize acquired intangibles associated with client relationships and backlog from our business acquisitions over their estimated useful lives.

Technology and Development. Our technology and development expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, including salaries, bonuses, and stock-based compensation, as well as professional services associated with the ongoing development and maintenance of our solution, third-party software license costs, facilities-related costs, and depreciation and amortization expense. These expenses include costs incurred in the development, implementation, and maintenance of internal use software, including platform and related infrastructure. Technology and development costs are expensed as incurred, except to the extent that such costs are associated with internal use software development that qualifies for capitalization, which are then recorded as internal use software development costs, net on our consolidated balance sheets. We amortize internal use software development costs that relate

44

Table of Contents

to our revenue-producing activities on our platform to cost of revenue and amortize other internal use software development costs to technology and development costs or general and administrative expenses, depending on the nature of the related project. We amortize acquired intangibles associated with technology and development functions from our business acquisitions over their estimated useful lives.

General and Administrative. Our general and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, including salaries, bonuses, and stock-based compensation, associated with our executive, finance, legal, human resources, compliance, and other administrative personnel, as well as accounting and legal professional services fees, facilities-related costs, depreciation expense, bad debt expense, and other corporate-related expenses.

Merger, Acquisition, and Restructuring Costs. Our merger, acquisition, and restructuring costs consist primarily of professional service fees associated with merger and acquisition activities, cash-based employee termination costs, related stock-based compensation charges, and other restructuring activities, including facility closures, relocation costs, contract termination costs, and impairment costs of abandoned technology associated with restructuring activities.

Other (Income) Expense

Interest (Income) Expense, Net. Interest expense consists of interest expense associated with our Prior Term Loan B Facility (defined below) and Convertible Senior Notes (defined below), and their related amortization of debt issuance costs and debt discount. Interest income consists of interest earned on our cash equivalents.

Foreign Currency Exchange (Gain) Loss, Net. Foreign currency exchange (gain) loss, net consists primarily of gains and losses on foreign currency transactions and remeasurement of monetary assets and liabilities on our balance sheet denominated in foreign currencies. Foreign currency monetary assets and liabilities consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and various intercompany balances held between our subsidiaries. Our primary foreign currency exposures are currencies other than the U.S. Dollar, principally the Australian Dollar, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, and New Zealand Dollar.

Gain on Extinguishment of Debt. Gain on extinguishment of debt consists of gains or losses associated with the repurchases of Convertible Senior Notes at a discount or premium, respectively, including unamortized issuance costs, accrued interest expense, and commissions associated with the extinguished debt.

Other Income. Other income consists primarily of rental income from commercial office space we hold under lease and have sublet to other tenants.

Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. (federal and state) and numerous foreign jurisdictions. Tax laws, regulations, administrative practices, principles, and interpretations in various jurisdictions may be subject to significant change, with or without notice, due to economic, political, and other conditions, and significant judgment is required in evaluating and estimating our provision and accruals for these taxes. There are many transactions that occur during the ordinary course of business for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. Our effective tax rates could be affected by numerous factors, such as changes in our business operations, acquisitions, investments, entry into new businesses and geographies, intercompany transactions, the relative amount of our foreign earnings, including earnings being lower than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory rates, losses incurred in jurisdictions for which we are not able to realize related income tax benefits, the applicability of special tax regimes, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, changes in our stock price, changes in our deferred tax assets ("DTAs") and liabilities and their valuation, changes in the laws, regulations, administrative practices, principles, and interpretations related to tax, including changes to the global tax framework, competition, and other laws and accounting rules in various jurisdictions.

45

Table of Contents

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","","","","","Year Ended","","Change %"],["","","","","","","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021","","2023 vs 2022","","2022 vs 2021"],["","","","","","(in thousands)"],["Revenue","","","","","","","$","619,710","","","$","577,069","","","$","468,413","","","7","%","","23","%"],["Expenses (1)(2):"],["Cost of revenue","","","","","","","409,906","","","307,165","","","201,662","","","33","%","","52","%"],["Sales and marketing","","","","","","","173,982","","","200,081","","","170,406","","","(13)","%","","17","%"],["Technology and development","","","","","","","94,318","","","93,757","","","74,449","","","1","%","","26","%"],["General and administrative","","","","","","","89,048","","","81,382","","","64,789","","","9","%","","26","%"],["Merger, acquisition, and restructuring costs","","","","","","","7,465","","","7,468","","","38,177","","","\u2014","%","","(80)","%"],["Total expenses","","","","","","","774,719","","","689,853","","","549,483","","","12","%","","26","%"],["Loss from operations","","","","","","","(155,009)","","","(112,784)","","","(81,070)","","","37","%","","39","%"],["Other expense, net","","","","","","","2,538","","","22,813","","","13,918","","","(89)","%","","64","%"],["Loss before income taxes","","","","","","","(157,547)","","","(135,597)","","","(94,988)","","","16","%","","43","%"],["Provision (benefit) for income taxes","","","","","","","1,637","","","(5,274)","","","(95,053)","","","(131)","%","","(94)","%"],["Net income (loss)","","","","","","","$","(159,184)","","","$","(130,323)","","","$","65","","","22","%","","NM"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

NM means Not Meaningful

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["(1) Stock-based compensation expense included in our expenses was as follows:"],["","","","Year Ended"],["","","","","","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","","","(in thousands)"],["Cost of revenue","","","","","$","1,809","","","$","1,666","","","$","792"],["Sales and marketing","","","","","27,263","","","21,558","","","15,718"],["Technology and development","","","","","20,542","","","19,961","","","11,857"],["General and administrative","","","","","22,860","","","18,929","","","11,297"],["Merger, acquisition, and restructuring costs","","","","","143","","","2,004","","","1,071"],["Total stock-based compensation expense","","","","","$","72,617","","","$","64,118","","","$","40,735"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["(2) Depreciation and amortization expense included in our expenses was as follows:"],["","","","Year Ended"],["","","","","","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","","","(in thousands)"],["Cost of revenue","","","","","$","211,956","","","$","142,616","","","$","78,115"],["Sales and marketing","","","","","27,584","","","71,887","","","67,463"],["Technology and development","","","","","779","","","913","","","674"],["General and administrative","","","","","501","","","636","","","634"],["Total depreciation and amortization expense","","","","","$","240,820","","","$","216,052","","","$","146,886"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

46

Table of Contents

The following table sets forth our consolidated results of operations for the specified periods as a percentage of our revenue for those periods presented:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","","","Year Ended"],["","","","","","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["Revenue","","","","","100","%","","100","%","","100","%"],["Cost of revenue","","","","","66","","","53","","","43"],["Sales and marketing","","","","","28","","","35","","","36"],["Technology and development","","","","","15","","","16","","","16"],["General and administrative","","","","","14","","","14","","","14"],["Merger, acquisition, and restructuring costs","","","","","1","","","1","","","8"],["Total expenses","","","","","125","","","120","","","117"],["Loss from operations","","","","","(25)","","","(20)","","","(17)"],["Other expense, net","","","","","\u2014","","","4","","","3"],["Loss before income taxes","","","","","(25)","","","(23)","","","(20)"],["Provision (benefit) for income taxes","","","","","\u2014","","","(1)","","","(20)"],["Net income (loss)","","","","","(26)","%","","(23)","%","","\u2014","%"],["Note: Percentages may not sum due to rounding"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021

Revenue

Revenue increased $42.6 million, or 7%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year. Our revenue growth was driven primarily by growth in mobile and CTV, which was partially offset by a decrease in desktop. Revenue from mobile and CTV increased by $39.7 million, or 21%, and $13.6 million, or 5%, respectively, while desktop decreased by $10.6 million, or 9%. During 2023, our growth rate in CTV was negatively impacted, in part, by a mix shift towards large CTV sellers that transacted primarily through reserve auctions, which carry a lower overall take rate compared to other transaction types.

Revenue increased $108.7 million, or 23%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior year. Our revenue growth was driven primarily by growth in CTV and mobile as well as incremental revenue from full-year results from the SpotX Acquisition, which was completed on April 30, 2021, and the SpringServe Acquisition, which was completed on July 1, 2021. Revenue from CTV and mobile increased by $83.3 million, or 45%, and $27.8 million, or 17%, respectively. On a pro forma basis, including results from SpotX and SpringServe during the relevant pre-acquisition period, revenue increased 7% for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior period.

Our revenue is largely a function of the number of advertising transactions and the price, or CPM, at which the inventory is sold, which results in total advertising spend on our platform, and, with respect to our revenue reported on a net basis, the take rate we charge for our services. Because pricing and take rate vary across publisher, channel, and transaction type, our revenue is subject to changes in publisher-specific take rates, and shifts in the mix of advertising spend on our platform among publishers and transaction types. For instance, managed services tend to have higher take rates while reserve auctions tend to have lower take rates. For 2024, we believe our revenue will increase compared to the prior year period, and although revenue from mobile was the primary driver in revenue growth in 2023, we expect CTV will be our biggest growth driver in 2024.

Our business is dependent in part on the overall health of the advertising market. Our revenue growth has been tempered, and may be negatively impacted in the future, by reductions in revenue resulting from the impact of macroeconomic challenges. If economic conditions were to deteriorate further, we would likely experience a negative impact on our future revenue trends, and the magnitude of these impacts is difficult to predict depending on their scope and duration. Refer to Item 1A. "Risk Factors" for additional information related to these risks and the impact they may have on our business.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue increased $102.7 million, or 33%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year primarily due to an increase of $69.3 million in depreciation and amortization. This increase was primarily driven by incremental amortization due to the acceleration of the remaining lives of certain acquired intangible assets and capitalized software from the integration of our legacy Magnite CTV and SpotX CTV platforms, which started in the fourth quarter of 2022 and was completed in the third quarter of 2023. The year over year increase in amortization due to the acceleration was $64.0 million. Costs of revenue also included increases of $26.2 million in cloud hosting, data center, and bandwidth expenses and $8.1 million in traffic acquisition costs, both primarily due to revenue growth.

47

Table of Contents

Cost of revenue increased $105.5 million, or 52%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior year primarily due to an increase of $64.5 million in depreciation and amortization. This increase was driven by incremental amortization due to the acceleration of the remaining lives of certain acquired intangible assets and capitalized software from the integration of our legacy Magnite CTV and SpotX CTV platforms, as well as from a full year of amortization expense from the SpotX Acquisition. The incremental amortization due to the acceleration was $35.4 million. Costs of revenue also included increases of $26.9 million in cloud hosting, data center, and bandwidth expenses and $10.5 million in traffic acquisition costs, both primarily due to revenue growth.

We expect cost of revenue to decrease in 2024 compared to 2023 in absolute dollars primarily due to the completion of the accelerated amortization expense as discussed above.

Cost of revenue may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and period to period, on an absolute dollar basis and as a percentage of revenue, depending on revenue levels and the volume of transactions we process supporting those revenues, and the timing and amounts of depreciation and amortization of equipment and software.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses decreased $26.1 million, or 13%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year primarily due to a decrease of $44.3 million in depreciation and amortization related to certain acquired intangible assets becoming fully amortized in 2022 and 2023. This decrease was partially offset by an increase of $15.3 million of personnel related expenses.

Sales and marketing expenses increased $29.7 million, or 17%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior year primarily due to the impact of the SpotX Acquisition, which resulted in substantial increases in headcount in mid-2021, as well as expenses related to the amortization of acquired intangibles. Compared to the prior year, sales and marketing included an increase of $17.5 million of personnel related expenses and $4.2 million in amortization of acquired intangibles relating to the SpotX Acquisition. In addition, the increase in sales and marketing expenses included $3.3 million related to travel and industry events due to the lifting of travel restrictions during the year.

We expect sales and marketing expenses to decrease in 2024 compared to 2023 in absolute dollars primarily due to decreases in amortization of acquired intangible assets. We expect these decreases to be partially offset by increases in personnel related expenses and increases in travel and entertainment expenses.

Sales and marketing expenses may fluctuate quarter to quarter and period to period, on an absolute dollar basis and as a percentage of revenue, based on revenue levels, the timing of our investments and seasonality in our industry and business.

Technology and Development

Technology and development expenses increased $0.6 million, or 1%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year.

Technology and development expenses increased $19.3 million, or 26%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior year, primarily due to an increase of $15.8 million in personnel costs as a result of the increased headcount associated with the SpotX Acquisition.

We expect technology and development expenses to increase in 2024 compared to 2023 in absolute dollars due to increases in personnel related expenses.

The timing and amount of our capitalized development and enhancement projects may affect the amount of development costs expensed in any given period. As a percentage of revenue, technology and development expense may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and period to period based on revenue levels, the timing and amounts of technology and development efforts, the timing and the rate of the amortization of capitalized projects and the timing and amounts of future capitalized internal use software development costs.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses increased $7.7 million, or 9%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year, primarily due to increases of $4.8 million in bad debt expense. Bad debt expense was primarily a result of a buyer defaulting on payment obligations and subsequently filing for bankruptcy during the second quarter of 2023, resulting in bad debt expense of $4.2 million. General and administrative expenses also included an increase of $4.2 million in personnel expenses.

General and administrative expenses increased by $16.6 million, or 26%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior year, primarily due to increases of $10.2 million in personnel expenses mainly due to increases in stock-based compensation year-over-year, $2.0 million in facilities related expenses due to a return to office work environment, $1.8 million in business insurance and taxes, and $1.1 million related to travel and industry events due to the lifting of travel restrictions during the year.

48

Table of Contents

We expect general and administrative expenses to increase in 2024 compared to 2023 in absolute dollars primarily due to increases in personnel and travel-related expenses.

General and administrative expenses may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and period to period based on the timing and amounts of expenditures in our general and administrative functions as they vary in scope and scale over periods. Such fluctuations may not be directly proportional to changes in revenue.

Merger, Acquisition, and Restructuring Costs

We incurred merger, acquisition, and restructuring costs of $7.5 million, $7.5 million, and $38.2 million during the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively, primarily related to the SpotX and SpringServe Acquisitions, which were completed on April 30, 2021 and July 1, 2021, respectively. Merger, acquisition, and restructuring costs incurred during 2023 included $3.4 million of severance related expenses, $2.2 million of facilities related loss contracts, and $1.4 million of exit costs, all due to restructuring activities as a result of consolidating our legacy CTV and SpotX CTV platforms following the SpotX Acquisition.

In 2022, these costs were primarily due to restructuring activities related to the integration of our recent acquisitions, which included $3.3 million of impairment costs associated with abandoned technology, $2.0 million non-cash stock-based compensation expense associated with the acceleration of unvested equity awards, and $1.2 million of one-time cash-based employee termination costs.

Costs incurred in 2021 included professional fees related to investment banking advisory, legal, and other professional service fees of $28.4 million, one-time cash-based employee termination benefit costs of $6.2 million, facility closure costs of $2.5 million, and non-cash stock-based compensation expense associated with double-trigger accelerations and severance benefits of $1.1 million.

Other (Income) Expense, Net

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","","","Year Ended"],["","","","","","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","","","(in thousands)"],["Interest expense, net","","","","","$","32,369","","","$","29,260","","","$","19,848"],["Foreign exchange (gain) loss, net","","","","","1,953","","","(1,129)","","","(1,480)"],["Gain on debt extinguishment","","","","","(26,480)","","","\u2014","","","\u2014"],["Other income","","","","","(5,304)","","","(5,318)","","","(4,450)"],["Total other expense, net","","","","","$","2,538","","","$","22,813","","","$","13,918"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Interest expense, net increased by $3.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year, mainly due to increased interest expense of $11.3 million as a result of increased interest rates on our Prior Term Loan B Facility (defined below), partially offset by an increase in interest income of $8.2 million.

Interest expense, net increased by $9.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior year, mainly due to a full year of interest expense associated with the Prior Term Loan B Facility, which the Company entered into during April 2021, as well as increasing interest rates since our Prior Term Loan B Facility carries a variable rate. The increase in interest expense was partially offset by increases in interest income of $2.9 million.

Foreign exchange loss, net increased $3.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year, due to movements in foreign currency exchange rates and the amount of foreign currency-denominated cash, receivables, and payables, which were impacted by our billings to buyers, payments to sellers, and intercompany balances. Foreign exchange gain, net decreased $0.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the prior year, for the same reasons above.

Gain on debt extinguishment increased by $26.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the prior year due to our Convertible Senior Notes (defined below) repurchases.

Provision (Benefit) for Income Taxes

We recorded an income tax expense of $1.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to an income tax benefit of $5.3 million and $95.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2023 was primarily the result of the domestic valuation allowance and the federal, state, and foreign income tax liabilities. We continue to maintain a valuation allowance for our domestic deferred tax assets.

The income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily the result of recognizing the benefit of deferred tax assets previously subject to the domestic valuation allowance and the foreign income tax liability. The net deferred tax liabilities recorded in connection with the prior year’s acquisitions and current taxable income for the year provided sources of taxable income to support the realization of pre-existing deferred tax assets. The income tax benefit for the year ended December 31,

49

Table of Contents

2021 was primarily the result of realizing the benefit of deferred tax assets previously subject to the domestic valuation allowance as a result of the deferred tax liabilities associated with acquisitions that occurred during the year and the tax liability associated with foreign subsidiaries.

Key Operating and Financial Performance Metrics

In addition to our GAAP results, we review non-GAAP financial measures, including Contribution ex-TAC and Adjusted EBITDA, to help us evaluate our business on a consistent basis, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, establish budgets, measure the effectiveness of investments in our technology and development and sales and marketing, and assess our operational efficiencies. Our non-GAAP financial measures are discussed below. Revenue and net income (loss) are discussed above under the headings "Components of Our Results of Operations" and "Results of Operations."

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended"],["","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","(in thousands)"],["Financial Measures and non-GAAP Financial Measures:"],["Revenue","$","619,710","","","$","577,069","","","$","468,413"],["Gross profit","209,804","","","269,904","","","266,751"],["Contribution ex-TAC","549,147","","","514,615","","","416,455"],["Net income (loss)","(159,184)","","","(130,323)","","","65"],["Adjusted EBITDA","171,364","","","178,790","","","148,659"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Contribution ex-TAC

Contribution ex-TAC is calculated as gross profit plus cost of revenue excluding traffic acquisition cost ("TAC"). Traffic acquisition cost, a component of cost of revenue, represents what we must pay sellers for the sale of advertising inventory through our platform for revenue reported on a gross basis. Contribution ex-TAC is a non-GAAP financial measure that is most comparable to gross profit. Our management believes Contribution ex-TAC is a useful measure in assessing the performance of Magnite and facilitates a consistent comparison against our core business without considering the impact of traffic acquisition costs related to revenue reported on a gross basis.

Our use of Contribution ex-TAC has limitations as an analytical tool and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our financial results as reported under GAAP. A potential limitation of this non-GAAP financial measure is that other companies, including companies in our industry which have similar business arrangements, may define Contribution ex-TAC differently, which may make comparisons difficult. Because of these and other limitations, you should consider our non-GAAP measures only as supplemental to GAAP-based financial performance measures, including revenue, gross profit, net income (loss) and cash flows.

The following table presents the calculation of gross profit and reconciliation of gross profit to Contribution ex-TAC for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended"],["","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","(in thousands)"],["Revenue","$","619,710","","","$","577,069","","","$","468,413"],["Less: Cost of revenue","409,906","","","307,165","","","201,662"],["Gross profit","209,804","","","269,904","","","266,751"],["Add back: Cost of revenue, excluding TAC","339,343","","","244,711","","","149,704"],["Contribution ex-TAC","$","549,147","","","$","514,615","","","$","416,455"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

50

Table of Contents

Sellers use our technology to monetize their content across all digital channels, including CTV, mobile and desktop. Each of these digital channels has its own industry growth rate, with CTV and mobile projected to continue to grow steadily, while desktop growth flattens. MAGNA's October 2023 Programmatic Market forecast has estimated compound annual growth rates from 2023 to 2027 for mobile and desktop at 15% and 3%, respectively, and over the same period, eMarketer projected CTV to grow at a 15% compound annual growth rate.

We track the breakdown of Contribution ex-TAC across channels to better understand how our clients are transacting on our platform, which informs decisions as to business strategy and the allocation of resources and capital. The following table presents Contribution ex-TAC by channel:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Contribution ex-TAC"],["","Year Ended"],["","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","(in thousands)"],["Channel:"],["CTV","$","218,494","","","$","214,803","","","$","143,407"],["Mobile","226,826","","","188,116","","","160,067"],["Desktop","103,827","","","111,696","","","112,981"],["Total","$","549,147","","","$","514,615","","","$","416,455"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Contribution ex-TAC increased $34.5 million, or 7%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in Contribution ex-TAC was primarily due to the growth drivers described above for revenue.

Contribution ex-TAC increased $98.2 million, or 24%, for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in Contribution ex-TAC was primarily due to incremental revenue from the SpotX Acquisition, which was completed on April 30, 2021, and the SpringServe Acquisition, which was completed on July 1, 2021, as well as organic growth across CTV and mobile. We saw substantial growth in our CTV channel, which benefited from a full year of results from the SpotX and Spring Serve Acquisitions, as well as modest growth in mobile, which was partially offset by a decline in our Contribution ex-TAC from desktop.

For 2024, we expect Contribution ex-TAC will increase compared to the prior year period, and although Contribution ex-TAC from mobile was the primary driver in Contribution ex-TAC growth in 2023, we expect CTV will be our biggest growth driver in 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expense, depreciation and amortization, amortization of acquired intangible assets, impairment charges, interest income or expense, and other cash and non-cash based income or expenses that we do not consider indicative of our core operating performance, including, but not limited to foreign exchange gains and losses, acquisition and related items, gains or losses on extinguishment of debt, non-operational real estate and other expense (income), net, and provision (benefit) for income taxes. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors in evaluating our performance for the following reasons:

•Adjusted EBITDA is widely used by investors and securities analysts to measure a company’s performance without regard to items such as those we exclude in calculating this measure, which can vary substantially from company to company depending upon their financing, capital structures, and the method by which assets were acquired.

•Our management uses Adjusted EBITDA in conjunction with GAAP financial measures for planning purposes, including the preparation of our annual operating budget, as a measure of performance and the effectiveness of our business strategies, and in communications with our board of directors concerning our performance. Adjusted EBITDA is also used as a metric for determining payment of cash incentive compensation.

•Adjusted EBITDA provides a measure of consistency and comparability with our past performance that many investors find useful, facilitates period-to-period comparisons of operations, and also facilitates comparisons with other peer companies, many of which use similar non-GAAP financial measures to supplement their GAAP results.

Although Adjusted EBITDA is frequently used by investors and securities analysts in their evaluations of companies, Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results of operations as reported under GAAP. These limitations include:

•Stock-based compensation is a non-cash charge and will remain an element of our long-term incentive compensation package, although we exclude it as an expense when evaluating our ongoing operating performance for a particular period.

•Depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, and the assets being depreciated or amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, but Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect any cash requirements for these replacements.

51

Table of Contents

•Impairment charges are non-cash charges related to goodwill, intangible assets and/or long-lived assets.

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect certain cash and non-cash charges related to acquisition and related items, such as amortization of acquired intangible assets, merger, acquisition, or restructuring related severance costs, and changes in the fair value of contingent consideration.

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash and non-cash charges and changes in, or cash requirements for, acquisition and related items, such as certain transaction expenses and expenses associated with earn-out amounts.

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in our working capital needs, capital expenditures, non-operational real estate expenses or income, or contractual commitments.

•Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash requirements for income taxes and the cash impact of other income or expense.

•Other companies may calculate Adjusted EBITDA differently than we do, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure.

Our Adjusted EBITDA is influenced by fluctuations in our revenue, cost of revenue, and the timing and amounts of the cost of our operations. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss), income (loss) from operations, or any other measure of financial performance calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

The following table presents a reconciliation of net income (loss), the most comparable GAAP measure, to Adjusted EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","","","Year Ended"],["","","","","","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","","","(in thousands)"],["Net income (loss)","","","","","$","(159,184)","","","$","(130,323)","","","$","65"],["Add back (deduct):"],["Depreciation and amortization expense, excluding amortization of acquired intangible assets","","","","","38,330","","","31,658","","","25,017"],["Amortization of acquired intangibles","","","","","202,490","","","184,394","","","121,869"],["Stock-based compensation expense","","","","","72,617","","","64,118","","","40,735"],["Merger, acquisition, and restructuring costs, excluding stock-based compensation expense","","","","","7,322","","","5,464","","","37,106"],["Non-operational real estate and other expense, net","","","","","310","","","622","","","552"],["Interest expense, net","","","","","32,369","","","29,260","","","19,848"],["Foreign exchange (gain) loss, net","","","","","1,953","","","(1,129)","","","(1,480)"],["Gain on extinguishment of debt","","","","","(26,480)","","","\u2014","","","\u2014"],["Provision (benefit) for income taxes","","","","","1,637","","","(5,274)","","","(95,053)"],["Adjusted EBITDA","","","","","$","171,364","","","$","178,790","","","$","148,659"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $7.4 million during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, primarily due to increases in cloud hosting, data center, and bandwidth costs, traffic and acquisitions costs, personnel expenses, and bad debt expense, which exceeded increases in revenue year-over-year, which are discussed in section "Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021."

Adjusted EBITDA increased by $30.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily due to incremental revenue growth from the SpotX Acquisition and organic growth, which are discussed in section "Comparison of the Years Ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021."

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Liquidity

At December 31, 2023, we had cash and cash equivalents of $326.2 million, of which $52.6 million was held in foreign currency denominated cash accounts, and an aggregate gross principal amount of $556.1 million of indebtedness outstanding under our Prior Term Loan B Facility (as defined below) and our Convertible Senior Notes (as defined below). In addition, we were party to a $65.0 million Prior Revolving Credit Facility (as defined below), of which approximately $5.3 million was assigned to outstanding but undrawn letters of credit. The Prior Term Loan B Facility and Prior Revolving Credit Facility were fully terminated and replaced with the New Term Loan B Facility and New Revolving Credit Facility (both defined below). See "Capital Resources" below for further information about our outstanding debt.

Our principal cash requirements for the twelve-month period following this report primarily consist of personnel costs, contractual payment obligations, including office leases, data center costs and cloud hosting costs, capital expenditures, payment of

52

Table of Contents

interest and required principal payments on our Convertible Senior Notes, New Term Loan B Facility, cash outlays for income taxes, and cash requirements to fund working capital. In the longer term, we would expect to have similar cash requirements, with increases in absolute dollars associated with the continued growth of our business and expansion of operations. See "Contractual Obligations and Known Future Cash Requirements" for a further discussion of our known material contractual obligations.

Our working capital needs and cash conversion cycle, which is influenced by seasonality and by the mix of terms among our buyers and sellers and which may be negatively impacted as a result of pandemics, inflationary, recessionary and other macroeconomic challenges, can have large fluctuations due to the timing of receipts from buyers and timing of disbursements to sellers. In addition, in the event a buyer defaults on payment, we may still be required to pay sellers for the inventory purchased. The impacts from changes in working capital and capital expenditures can significantly impact our cash flows and therefore, our liquidity during any period presented.

We have historically relied upon cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operations, borrowings under credit facilities and issuance of debt for our liquidity needs. Our ability to meet our cash requirements depends on, among other things, our operating performance, competitive developments, and financial market conditions, all of which are significantly affected by business, financial, economic, political, global health-related and other factors, many of which we may not be able to control or influence.

We believe our existing cash and cash equivalents, cash generated from operating activities, and amounts available to borrow under our New Revolving Credit Facility will be sufficient to meet our working capital requirements for at least the next twelve months from the issuance of our financial statements. However, there are multiple factors that could impact our cash balances in the future, including the factors described above with respect to working capital and cash conversion cycles, as well as the duration and severity of events beyond our control, macroeconomic factors and other factors set forth in Part I, Item 1A: "Risk Factors" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Capital Resources

In March 2021, we sold convertible senior notes ("Convertible Senior Notes") for gross proceeds of $400.0 million. The Convertible Senior Notes are senior, unsecured obligations with interest payable semi-annually in cash at a rate of 0.25% per annum in arrears on March 15 and September 15. The Convertible Senior Notes will mature on March 15, 2026, unless earlier converted, redeemed, or repurchased. The initial conversion rate is 15.6539 shares per $1,000 principal amount of notes, which represents an initial conversion price of approximately $63.88 per share of the Company’s common stock and is subject to adjustment as described in the Offering Memorandum. At December 31, 2023, the balance of the Convertible Senior Notes was $202.5 million, net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $2.6 million. Accrued interest for the Convertible Senior Notes at December 31, 2023 was $0.1 million.

In conjunction with the issuance of the Convertible Senior Notes, we entered into capped call transactions to reduce the Company's exposure to additional cash payments above principal balances in the event of a cash conversion of the Convertible Senior Notes. The Company may owe additional cash or shares to the holders of the Convertible Senior Notes upon early conversion if our stock price exceeds $91.260 per share, which is subject to certain adjustments.

On April 30, 2021, and in conjunction with the SpotX Acquisition, we entered into a credit agreement (the "Prior Credit Agreement") with Goldman Sachs Bank USA as administrative and collateral agent, and other lending parties thereto for a $360.0 million seven-year senior secured term loan facility ("Prior Term Loan B Facility") and a $52.5 million senior secured revolving credit facility (the "Prior Revolving Credit Facility"), which was subsequently increased to $65.0 million in June 2021. The Prior Credit Agreement was fully refinanced and replaced by the New Credit Agreement (defined below). Amounts outstanding under the Prior Credit Agreement accrued interest at a rate equal to either, (1) for the Prior Term Loan B Facility, at the Company’s election, the Eurodollar Rate (as defined in the Prior Credit Agreement) plus a margin of 5.00% per annum, or ABR (as defined in the Prior Credit Agreement) plus a margin of 4.00%, and (2) for the Prior Revolving Credit Facility, at the Company’s election, the Eurodollar Rate plus a margin of 4.25% to 4.75%, or ABR plus a margin of 3.25% to 3.75%, in each case, depending on the Company’s first lien net leverage ratio. As part of the Prior Term Loan B Facility, the Company received $325 million in proceeds, net of discounts and fees, which were used to finance the SpotX Acquisition and related transactions and for general corporate purposes. In June 2023, the Company amended its Prior Credit Agreement to transition away from a variable interest rate based on the Eurodollar Rate towards a similar variable interest rate based on Adjusted Term SOFR, as defined in the amendment to the Credit Agreement, which is based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"). At December 31, 2023, amounts available under the Prior Revolving Credit Facility were $59.7 million, net of letters of credit outstanding in the amount of $5.3 million. Accrued interest for the Prior Term Loan B Facility at December 31, 2023 was $1.0 million.

On February 6, 2024, we entered into a credit agreement (the “New Credit Agreement”) with Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc. as term loan administrative agent and Citibank, N.A. as revolving facility administrative agent and collateral agent, and other lender parties thereto. The New Credit Agreement provides for a $365.0 million seven-year senior secured term loan facility (the "New Term Loan B Facility") and a $175.0 million five-year senior secured revolving credit facility (the "New Revolving Credit Facility"). The net proceeds from the New Term Loan B Facility were used, among other things, to terminate and to repay in full the outstanding facilities under the Prior Credit Agreement. The New Revolving Credit Facility will be available for

53

Table of Contents

general corporate purposes. The obligations under the New Credit Agreement are secured by substantially all of the assets of the Company pursuant to a collateral agreement entered into with the collateral agent. Amounts outstanding under the New Credit Agreement accrue interest at a rate equal to, (1) for the term loans, at the Company’s election, Term SOFR (as defined in the New Credit Agreement) plus a margin of 4.50% per annum, or ABR (as defined in the New Credit Agreement) plus a margin of 3.50%, and (2) for the revolving loans, at the Company’s election, Term SOFR plus a margin of 3.50% to 4.00%, or ABR plus a margin of 2.50% to 3.00%, in each case, depending on the Company’s first lien net leverage ratio. The covenants of the New Credit Agreement include customary negative covenants that, among other things, restrict the Company’s ability to incur additional indebtedness, grant liens and make certain acquisitions, investments, asset dispositions and restricted payments. In addition, the New Credit Agreement contains a financial covenant, tested on the last day of any fiscal quarter if utilization of the revolving credit facility exceeds 35% of the total revolving commitments, that requires the Company to maintain a first lien net leverage ratio not greater than 3.25 to 1.00. The New Credit Agreement includes customary events of default, and customary rights and remedies upon the occurrence of any event of default thereunder, including rights to accelerate the loans, terminate the commitments thereunder and realize upon the collateral securing the obligations under the New Credit Agreement.

In December 2021, the Board of Directors approved a repurchase program (the "2021 Repurchase Plan"), under which we were authorized to purchase up to $50.0 million of our common stock over the twelve month period commencing December 10, 2021. In November 2022, the Board of Directors approved an extension of the 2021 Repurchase Plan through December 15, 2023. In February 2023, the Board of Directors approved a repurchase plan (the “February 2023 Repurchase Plan”), pursuant to which we were authorized to repurchase common stock or Convertible Senior Notes, with an aggregate market value of up to $75.0 million, through February 16, 2025, which was completed during the second quarter of 2023. On August 4, 2023, the Board of Directors approved a new repurchase plan (the "August 2023 Repurchase Plan"), pursuant to which we were authorized to repurchase common stock or Convertible Senior Notes, with an aggregate market value of up to $100.0 million, through August 4, 2025. As of December 31, 2023, $9.5 million remained available under the August 2023 Repurchase Plan. As a result of repurchases under the February 2023 Repurchase Plan and August 2023 Repurchase Plan, as of December 31, 2023, the Company had reduced the principal balance of its Convertible Senior Notes to $205.1 million.

Subsequently, on February 1, 2024, the Board of Directors approved a new repurchase plan (the "February 2024 Repurchase Plan"), which fully replaced the August 2023 Repurchase Plan, pursuant to which we are authorized to repurchase common stock or Convertible Senior Notes, with an aggregate market value of up to $125.0 million, through February 1, 2026.

In the future, we may attempt to raise additional capital through the sale of equity securities or through equity-linked or debt financing arrangements. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity or equity-linked securities, the ownership of our existing stockholders may be diluted. If we raise additional financing by incurring indebtedness, we will be subject to increased fixed payment obligations and could also be subject to financial maintenance covenants, or restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt, and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business. Any future indebtedness we incur may result in terms that could be unfavorable to equity investors. An inability to raise additional capital could adversely affect our ability to achieve our business objectives.

Our cash and cash equivalents balance is affected by our results of operations, the timing of capital expenditures, and by changes in our working capital, particularly changes in accounts receivable and accounts payable. The timing of cash receipts from buyers and payments to sellers can significantly impact our cash flows from operating activities and our liquidity for, and within, any period presented. Our collection and payment cycle can vary from period to period depending upon various circumstances, including seasonality, and may be negatively impacted by certain macroeconomic challenges, such as capital market disruptions and instability of financial institutions.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","Year Ended"],["","December 31, 2023","","December 31, 2022","","December 31, 2021"],["","(in thousands)"],["Cash flows provided by operating activities","$","214,367","","","$","192,550","","","$","126,589"],["Cash flows used in investing activities","(37,383)","","","(65,152)","","","(690,997)"],["Cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities","(177,842)","","","(30,172)","","","678,053"],["Effects of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash","575","","","(1,417)","","","(683)"],["Change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash","$","(283)","","","$","95,809","","","$","112,962"]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Operating Activities

Our cash flows from operating activities are primarily driven by revenue from transactions of advertising on our platform, offset by the cash costs of operations, and are significantly influenced by the timing of and fluctuations in receipts from buyers and

54

Table of Contents

related payments to sellers. Our future cash flows will be diminished if we cannot increase our revenue levels and manage costs appropriately.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash provided by operating activities was $214.4 million, compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $192.6 million and $126.6 million during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Our operating activities included net loss of $159.2 million, net loss of $130.3 million, and net income of $0.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, and 2021, respectively, which were offset by non-cash adjustments of $298.1 million, $282.4 million, and $94.6 million, respectively. Net changes in our working capital resulted in increases of $75.5 million, $40.4 million, and $31.9 million in cash provided by operating activities in 2023, 2022, and 2021 respectively. The net changes in working capital for all periods presented are primarily due to the timing of cash receipts from buyers and the timing of payments to sellers.

We believe that cash flows from operations will continue to fluctuate, but in general will increase over time as our business continues to grow.

Investing Activities

Our primary investing activities have consisted of acquisitions of businesses, purchases of property and equipment, and capital expenditures in support of creating and enhancing our technology infrastructure. Purchases of property and equipment and investments in internal use software development may vary from period-to-period due to the timing of the expansion of our operations, changes to headcount, and the cycles of our internal use software development.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in investing activities was $37.4 million, compared to net cash used in investing activities of $65.2 million and $691.0 million during the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, we used cash for purchases of property and equipment of $26.8 million, $30.8 million, and $17.7 million, respectively, and used cash for investments in our internally developed software of $10.6 million, $13.6 million, and $11.4 million, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we used net cash of $20.8 million to acquire Carbon and during the year ended December 31, 2021, we used net cash of $661.9 million to acquire SpotX, SpringServe, and Nth Party.

We anticipate cash flows used in our investing activities will generally increase in 2024 compared to 2023 in order to support our overall growth, in particular with respect to investments in property and equipment and internally developed software.

Financing Activities

Our financing activities consisted of our Convertible Senior Notes transactions, repayment of amounts borrowed under our Prior Term Loan B Facility, transactions related to our equity plans, and stock purchases under the repurchase plans.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, net cash used in financing activities was $177.8 million, compared to net cash used in financing activities of $30.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 and net cash provided by financing activities of $678.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. Cash outflows from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2023 primarily included $165.5 million of payments related to repurchasing our Convertible Senior Notes, $11.8 million for taxes paid related to net share settlement of stock-based awards, $3.6 million for repayment of our Prior Term Loan B Facility, and $2.3 million for payment of our indemnification claims holdback related to historical acquisitions. These outflows for the year ended December 31, 2023 were partially offset by cash proceeds from issuance of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan of $3.5 million and from stock options exercised of $2.2 million. Cash outflows from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 included $15.7 million for payments related to share repurchases, $14.5 million for taxes paid related to net share settlement of stock-based awards, and $3.6 million for repayment of our Prior Term Loan B Facility. These outflows for the year ended December 31, 2022 were partially offset by cash proceeds from issuance of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan of $3.7 million and from stock options exercised of $2.2 million. Cash inflows from financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 included $400.0 million in proceeds from our Convertible Senior Notes offering, $349.2 million in net proceeds from our Prior Term Loan B Facility, cash proceeds from stock options exercised of $9.4 million and $3.7 million cash proceeds from issuance of common stock under our employee stock purchase plan. These inflows for the year ended December 31, 2021 were partially offset by a $39.0 million payment for capped call transactions entered into in connection with the Convertible Senior Notes offering, debt issuance cost payments of $30.4 million, repurchases of $6.0 million of treasury stock in conjunction with our stock repurchase plan, $6.5 million for income tax deposits paid in respect of vesting of stock-based compensation awards that were reimbursed by the award recipients through surrender of shares, $1.8 million repayment of Prior Term Loan B Facility, and repayment of $0.6 million financing lease obligations.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have any relationships with other entities or financial partnerships, such as entities often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities that have been established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other

55

Table of Contents

contractually narrow or limited purposes. We did not have any other off-balance sheet arrangements at December 31, 2023 other than the short-term operating leases described below and commitments mentioned in Note 16 - Commitments and Contingencies.

Contractual Obligations and Known Future Cash Requirements

Our principal commitments as of December 31, 2023 consist of obligations under our Convertible Senior Notes, Prior Term Loan B Facility, Prior Revolving Credit Facility, leases for our various office facilities, including our corporate headquarters in New York, New York and offices in Los Angeles, California, and operating lease agreements, including data centers and cloud hosting services that expire at various times through 2033. In certain cases, the terms of the lease agreements provide for rental payments on a graduated basis.

The following table summarizes our future lease obligations, payments of principal and interest under our debt agreements and other future payments due under non-cancelable agreements at December 31, 2023:

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
[["","2024","","2025","","2026","","2027","","2028","","Thereafter","","Total"],["","(in thousands)"],["Lease liabilities associated with leases included Right of Use Assets as of December 31, 2023","$","23,890","","","$","15,367","","","$","12,282","","","$","7,697","","","$","7,841","","","$","14,366","","","$","81,443"],["Convertible Senior Notes","\u2014","","","\u2014","","","205,067","","","\u2014","","","\u2014","","","\u2014","","","205,067"],["Interest, Convertible Senior Notes","513","","","513","","","256","","","\u2014","","","\u2014","","","\u2014","","","1,282"],["Prior Term Loan B (1)","3,600","","","3,600","","","3,600","","","3,600","","","336,600","","","\u2014","","","351,000"],["Interest, Prior Term Loan B (2)","37,527","","","37,038","","","36,653","","","36,268","","","11,936","","","\u2014","","","159,422"],["Other non-cancelable obligations","62,038","","","23,963","","","241","","","241","","","241","","","\u2014","","","86,724"],["Total","$","127,568","","","$","80,481","","","$","258,099","","","$","47,806","","","$","356,618","","","$","14,366","","","$","884,938"],["(1) Includes only scheduled amortization of payments and excludes currently unknown prepayment amounts that may be required, per terms of the Prior Credit Agreement, after the end of each fiscal year. Note that in February 2024, the Company entered into a New Credit Agreement, which replaced the Prior Credit Agreement."],["(2) Interest payments are based on an assumed rate of 10.56%, which was the rate as of December 31, 2023 for the associated Prior Term Loan B Facility. Note that in February 2024, the Company entered into a New Credit Agreement, which replaced the Prior Credit Agreement."]]
[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Payments associated with our Convertible Senior Notes and Prior Term Loan B are based on contractual terms and intended timing of repayments of long-term debt and associated interest, in each case, as of December 31, 2023. As described above (see "Capital Resources"), in February 2024, we entered into a New Credit Agreement, the proceeds of which were used in part to refinance and terminate the Prior Term Loan B with the New Term Loan B Facility. The New Term Loan B Facility includes a $365.0 million senior secured term loan facility that matures in February 2031. Quarterly principal installment payments of 0.25% of the aggregate initial principal balance, or $0.9 million, will be due at the end of each fiscal quarter, with the first principal installment due June 30, 2024, and the amount equal to the then unpaid principal amount of the initial balance on February 6, 2031. Amounts outstanding under the New Term Loan B Facility will accrue interest and will be due at least quarterly.

Other non-cancelable obligations include agreements in the normal course of business and purchase consideration that extend beyond a year as of December 31, 2023. The amounts above include commitments under a cloud-managed services agreement, under which the Company has a non-cancelable minimum spend commitment from July 2023 to June 2025 based on actual spend, as defined in the agreement, with the third-party provider from July 2022 to June 2023 of $57.6 million for each twelve-month period (i.e. July 2023 to June 2024 and July 2024 to June 2025). The minimum spend commitment reflected above approximates the manner in which we expect to fulfill the obligation.

In the ordinary course of business, we enter into agreements with sellers, buyers, and other third parties pursuant to which we agree to indemnify buyers, sellers, vendors, lessors, business partners, lenders, stockholders, and other parties with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, losses resulting from claims of intellectual property infringement, damages to property or persons, business losses, or other liabilities. Generally, these indemnity and defense obligations relate to our own business operations, obligations, and acts or omissions. However, under some circumstances, we agree to indemnify and defend contract counterparties against losses resulting from their own business operations, obligations, and acts or omissions, or the business operations, obligations, and acts or omissions of third parties. These indemnity provisions generally survive termination or expiration of the agreements in which they appear. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors, executive officers and certain other officers that will require us, among other things, to indemnify them against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors, officers, or employees. No demands for indemnification have been made as of December 31, 2023.

56

Table of Contents

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates.

We believe that the following assumptions and estimates have the greatest potential impact on our consolidated financial statements: (i) the determination of revenue recognition as net versus gross in our revenue arrangements and (ii) the determination of amounts to capitalize and the estimated useful lives of internal-use software development costs. There have been no significant changes in our accounting policies or estimates from those disclosed in our audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.

We believe that the accounting policies disclosed below include estimates and assumptions critical to our business and their application could have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. In addition to these critical policies, our significant accounting policies are included within Note 2 of our "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" within this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Revenue Recognition    

We generate revenue from transactions where we provide a platform for the purchase and sale of digital advertising inventory. Generally, our revenue is based on a percentage of the ad spend that runs through our platform, although for certain clients, services, or transaction types we may receive a fixed CPM for each impression sold, and for advertising campaigns that are transacted through insertion orders we earn revenue based on the full amount of ad spend that runs through our platform. In addition, we may receive certain fixed monthly fees for the use of our platform or products. Our platform dynamically connects sellers and buyers of advertising inventory in a digital marketplace. Our solution incorporates proprietary machine-learning algorithms, sophisticated data processing, high-volume storage, detailed analytics capabilities, and a distributed infrastructure. Digital advertising inventory is created when consumers access sellers’ content. Sellers provide digital advertising inventory to our platform in the form of advertising requests, or ad requests. When we receive ad requests from sellers, we send bid requests to buyers, which enable buyers to bid on sellers’ digital advertising inventory. Winning bids can create advertising, or paid impressions, for the seller to present to the consumer.

The total volume of spending between buyers and sellers on our platform is referred to as advertising spend. We keep a percentage of that advertising spend as a fee, and remit the remainder to the seller. The fee that we retain from the gross advertising spend on our platform is recognized as revenue. The fee earned on each transaction is based on the pre-existing agreement we have with the seller and the clearing price of the winning bid. We recognize revenue upon fulfillment of our performance obligation to a client, which occurs at the point in time an ad renders and is counted as a paid impression, subject to a contract existing with the client and a fixed or determinable transaction price. Performance obligations for all transactions are satisfied, and the corresponding revenue is recognized, at a distinct point in time. We have no arrangements with multiple performance obligations. We consider the following when determining if a contract exists (i) contract approval by all parties, (ii) identification of each party’s rights regarding the goods or services to be transferred, (iii) specified payment terms, (iv) commercial substance of the contract, and (v) collectability of substantially all of the consideration is probable.

The determination of whether revenue should be reported on a gross or net basis is based on an assessment of whether we are acting as the principal or an agent in the transaction. In determining whether we are acting as the principal or an agent, we followed the accounting guidance for principal-agent considerations. Making such determinations involves judgment and is based on an evaluation of the terms of each arrangement, none of which are considered presumptive or determinative.

For the majority of transactions on our platform, we report revenue on a net basis as we do not act as the principal in the purchase and sale of digital advertising inventory because we do not have control of the digital advertising inventory and do not set prices agreed upon within the auction marketplace. However, with respect to certain revenue streams for managed advertising campaigns that are transacted through insertion orders, we report revenue on a gross basis, based primarily on our determination that we act as the primary obligor in the delivery of advertising campaigns for buyers with respect to such transactions.

Internal Use Software Development Costs

We capitalize certain internal use software development costs associated with creating and enhancing internally developed software related to our technology infrastructure. These costs include personnel and related employee benefits expenses for employees who are directly associated with and who devote time to software projects, and external direct costs of materials and services consumed in developing or obtaining the software. Software development costs that do not meet the qualification for capitalization, as further discussed below, are expensed as incurred and recorded in technology and development expenses in the results of operations.

57

Table of Contents

Software development activities generally consist of three stages, (i) the planning stage, (ii) the application and infrastructure development stage, and (iii) the post implementation stage. Costs incurred in the planning and post implementation stages of software development, including costs associated with the post-configuration training and repairs and maintenance of the developed technologies, are expensed as incurred. We capitalize costs associated with software developed for internal use when the planning stage is completed, management has authorized further funding for the completion of the project, and it is probable that the project will be completed and perform as intended. Costs incurred in the application and infrastructure development stages, including significant enhancements and upgrades, are capitalized. Capitalization ends once a project is substantially complete and the software and technologies are ready for their intended purpose. There is judgment involved in estimating the stage of development as well as estimating time allocated to a particular project. A significant change in the time spent on each project could have a material impact on the amount capitalized and related amortization expense in subsequent periods.

We amortize internal use software development costs using a straight-line method over a three year estimated useful life, commencing when the software is ready for its intended use. The straight-line recognition method approximates the manner in which the expected benefit will be derived. We determined the life of internal use software based on historical software upgrades and replacement.

On an ongoing basis, we assess if the estimated remaining useful lives of capitalized projects continue to be reasonable based on the remaining expected benefit and usage. If the remaining useful life of a capitalized project is revised, it is accounted for as a change in estimate and the remaining unamortized cost of the underlying asset is amortized prospectively over the updated remaining useful life. During the fourth quarter of 2022, we accelerated the remaining useful lives of certain capitalized internal use software projects due to the integration of our legacy CTV platforms, which resulted in approximately $1.9 million and $0.7 million of incremental amortization expense during the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

We also evaluate internal use software for abandonment and use that as a significant indicator for impairment on a quarterly basis.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

    The information set forth under Note 2 to our "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" under the caption "Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" is incorporated herein by reference.
