I believe sell-side advertising platform (SSP) PubMatic (NASDAQ: PUBM) could underperform in the near term and management agrees with me. For the third quarter of 2022, executives had guided for revenue of at least $66 million. But it only generated Q3 revenue of $64.5 million.

Acknowledging the shortfall, co-founder and CEO Rajeev Goel said, "Q3 marked an inflection point with respect to a deteriorating economic environment." And this decline in the digital ad market is why PubMatic is only guiding for revenue of $75 million to $78 million in the fourth quarter, which would represent measly 1% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

Goel went on to say, "I am confident in the medium- to long-term outlook for PubMatic," which is a statement that, of course, left out the near term -- as I said, management agrees that PubMatic might underperform for now. But the long-term story is more compelling for investors with patience.

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Source Fool.com