The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who not so much). Let’s take a look at how the advertising software stocks have fared in Q4, starting with AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP).

The digital advertising market is large, growing, and becoming more diverse, both in terms of audiences and media. As a result, there is a growing need for software that enables advertisers to use data to automate and optimize ad placements.

The 6 advertising software stocks we track reported a solid Q4; on average, revenues beat analyst consensus estimates by 3% while next quarter's revenue guidance was 1.4% above consensus. Inflation (despite slowing) has investors prioritizing near-term cash flows, but advertising software stocks held their ground better than others, with the share prices up 15.9% on average since the previous earnings results.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

Co-founded by Adam Foroughi, who was frustrated with not being able to find a good solution to market his own dating app, AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) is both a mobile game studio and provider of marketing and monetization tools for mobile app developers.

AppLovin reported revenues of $953.3 million, up 35.7% year on year, topping analyst expectations by 2.7%. It was a strong quarter for the company, with a meaningful improvement in its gross margin and a decent beat of analysts' revenue estimates.

AppLovin scored the fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is up 56.5% since the results and currently trades at $73.38.

Read why we think that AppLovin is one of the best advertising software stocks, our full report is free.

Best Q4: PubMatic (NASDAQ:PUBM)

Founded in 2006 as an online ad platform helping ad sellers, Pubmatic (NASDAQ: PUBM) is a fully integrated cloud-based programmatic advertising platform.

PubMatic reported revenues of $84.6 million, up 13.9% year on year, outperforming analyst expectations by 8.2%. It was a stunning quarter for the company, with a significant improvement in its gross margin and optimistic revenue guidance for the next quarter.

PubMatic pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The stock is up 41.5% since the results and currently trades at $23.45.

Is now the time to buy PubMatic? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it's free.

Weakest Q4: DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV)

When Oren Netzer saw a digital ad for US-based Target while sitting in his Tel Aviv apartment, he knew there was an unsolved problem, so he started DoubleVerify (NYSE:DV), a provider of advertising solutions to businesses that helps with ad verification, fraud prevention, and brand safety.

DoubleVerify reported revenues of $172.2 million, up 28.9% year on year, in line with analyst expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company, with full-year revenue guidance missing analysts' expectations.

DoubleVerify had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest full-year guidance update in the group. The stock is down 15.4% since the results and currently trades at $33.2.

Read our full analysis of DoubleVerify's results here.

Zeta (NYSE:ZETA)

Co-founded by former Apple CEO John Scully, Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) provides software and data analytics tools that help companies market their products to billions of customers.

Zeta reported revenues of $210.3 million, up 20.1% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 1.3%. It was a mixed quarter for the company, with full-year revenue guidance beating analysts' expectations but a decline in its gross margin.

Zeta pulled off the highest full-year guidance raise among its peers. The company added 12 enterprise customers paying more than $100,000 annually to reach a total of 452. The stock is up 15.7% since the results and currently trades at $12.45.

Read our full, actionable report on Zeta here, it's free.

LiveRamp (NYSE:RAMP)

Started in 2011 as a spin-out of RapLeaf, LiveRamp (NYSE:RAMP) is a software-as-a-service provider that helps companies better target their marketing by merging offline and online data about their customers.

LiveRamp reported revenues of $173.9 million, up 9.6% year on year, surpassing analyst expectations by 1.2%. It was a solid quarter for the company, with accelerating customer growth and full-year revenue guidance topping analysts' expectations.

LiveRamp had the slowest revenue growth among its peers. The company added 6 enterprise customers paying more than $1m annually to reach a total of 105. The stock is down 15.3% since the results and currently trades at $35.56.

Read our full, actionable report on LiveRamp here, it's free.

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