Direct Digital price target lowered to $19 from $27.50 at Roth MKM

Roth MKM lowered the firm’s price target on Direct Digital to $19 from $27.50 but keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The company’s Q4 results missed expectations amid a proactive shift away from cookies, causing demand to drop mid-quarter and new tier-1 publishers experiencing delays out of beta testing, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Deprecation of third-party cookies may impact Direct Digital growth over the near-term, but new tier-1 publishers should benefit its SSP in Q2 and beyond, enabling it to achieve near 20% growth in the second half of FY24, the firm added.