---
title: Q3's second wave: guidance up, buybacks up, and a record backlog behind it
description: Qualys, RadNet, and Zeta Global all raised full-year guidance. The Trade Desk added $731 million to its buyback. Rocket Lab's backlog hit $3.6 billion. Occidental cut debt to $10 billion.
canonical: https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-10/q3-second-wave-raises-buybacks/
last-updated: 2026-11-10
url: https://hangingcontext.com/stories/2026-11-10/q3-second-wave-raises-buybacks/
published: 2026-11-10T00:48:20Z
edition: 2026-11-10T00
newsroom: finance-investing
beat: None
trust: confirmed
source_count: 6
cited_manifest_ids: ['1794259111582404496', '1794228763269195332', '1794259345754408191', '1794258476634396326', '1794259103777404468', '1794258541406397662']
---

# Q3's second wave: guidance up, buybacks up, and a record backlog behind it

*Qualys, RadNet, and Zeta Global all raised full-year guidance. The Trade Desk added $731 million to its buyback. Rocket Lab's backlog hit $3.6 billion. Occidental cut debt to $10 billion.*

Confirmed · 6 Manifests · Finance & Investing · Published 2026-11-10 00:48 UTC

## Key facts

- Qualys reported Q3 2026 revenue of $188.0 million, up 11% year over year, and raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $736.9 million to $738.9 million, the company said in an 8-K. (self-reported) [cites: 1794259111582404496]
- RadNet reported Q3 2026 revenue of $638.3 million, up 22.1% year over year, and raised full-year 2026 guidance for imaging centers revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, the company said in an 8-K. (self-reported) [cites: 1794228763269195332]
- The Trade Desk's board approved an additional $731 million for its share repurchase program, bringing the total available for future repurchases to $1 billion, the company said in an 8-K. (self-reported) [cites: 1794259345754408191]
- Rocket Lab reported record Q3 2026 revenue of $268 million and a backlog of about $3.6 billion, up 52% since the end of Q2 2026, the company said in an 8-K. (self-reported) [cites: 1794258476634396326]
- Occidental Petroleum reduced principal debt to $10.0 billion in Q3 2026 and reported GAAP earnings per share of $1.61, the company said in an 8-K. (self-reported) [cites: 1794259103777404468]

## Software raises, one after another

Qualys filed an 8-K disclosing third-quarter 2026 results, reporting revenue of 188.0 million dollars, an 11% increase year over year. The company raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of 736.9 million to 738.9 million dollars, up from its previous forecast of 732.0 million to 738.0 million dollars. It also reported GAAP net income of 57.2 million dollars, non-GAAP net income of 74.8 million dollars, and Adjusted EBITDA of 89.9 million dollars. The filing ties the results to continued adoption of the company's AI-native Operations Center and expansion of its cloud-native security platform, and notes the introduction of InstaScan for scanless vulnerability detection and an expansion of TotalAI with new governance capabilities. [cites: 1794259111582404496]

Zeta Global reported a bigger jump. The company said in an 8-K that third-quarter 2026 revenue was 493 million dollars, a 46% year-over-year increase, with positive GAAP net income of 38 million dollars and adjusted EBITDA of 121 million dollars. It increased full-year 2026 revenue guidance to a midpoint of 1,855 million dollars and full-year GAAP earnings per share guidance to a midpoint of 0.23 dollars. Free cash flow was 82 million dollars, up 73% year over year, and the company raised full-year free cash flow guidance to a range of 270.6 million to 271.6 million dollars. The customer story sits underneath the numbers: Zeta Global grew its Super-Scaled Customer count to 212, an 18% year-over-year increase, and Super-Scaled Customer average revenue per user grew to 2.0 million dollars, up 22%. [cites: 1794258541406397662]

RadNet, which runs imaging centers, reported record third-quarter 2026 revenue of 638.3 million dollars, up 22.1% year over year, with Adjusted EBITDA of 105.0 million dollars, up 23.8%, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of 0.30 dollars. Its Digital Health segment revenue rose 32.6% to 32.9 million dollars, though that segment's Adjusted EBITDA fell 11.8% to 3.0 million dollars. The company said in the filing that it is raising full-year 2026 guidance for imaging centers revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow, and noted a pending acquisition of ONRAD. RadNet ended the quarter with a cash balance of 750.6 million dollars and a net debt to Adjusted EBITDA ratio of 1.66 times as of September 30, 2026. [cites: 1794228763269195332]

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## Buybacks and the guide that follows them

The Trade Desk reported third-quarter 2026 revenue of 736 million dollars, GAAP net income of 38 million dollars, and Adjusted EBITDA of 266 million dollars. The filing's headline item is capital return: the board approved an additional 731 million dollars for the share repurchase program, bringing the total available for future repurchases to 1 billion dollars. The company also guided for the fourth quarter, expecting revenue of at least 755 million dollars and Adjusted EBITDA of at least 280 million dollars. Customer retention remained over 95% during the quarter. The filing notes progress in AI-driven platform work, including the introduction of Kokai Zuma with new agentic AI capabilities, and an expanded Netflix integration to enable data-driven targeting through Kokai. [cites: 1794259345754408191]

## Backlog and deleveraging

Rocket Lab reported record quarterly revenue of 268 million dollars for the third quarter of 2026, a 73% year-on-year increase, according to its 8-K summary. Its backlog grew to approximately 3.6 billion dollars, a 52% increase since the end of the second quarter of 2026, and the filing says the company secured over 515 million dollars in Neutron launch contracts in the quarter. Total launch backlog has reached 117 launches, and the base launch price for the Neutron rocket has been lifted to 70 million dollars for several missions. The company achieved positive GAAP operating cash flow of 7.2 million dollars in the quarter, expects fourth-quarter revenue between 270 million and 290 million dollars, and expects an Adjusted EBITDA loss of between 14 million and 20 million dollars for the fourth quarter. The first launch of the Neutron rocket is targeted for no earlier than 2027. [cites: 1794258476634396326]

Occidental Petroleum closed the energy side of the wave. The company said in an 8-K that it reduced principal debt to 10.0 billion dollars in the third quarter of 2026, generated 4.1 billion dollars of operating cash flow from continuing operations, and delivered 2.8 billion dollars of free cash flow before working capital, against capital expenditures of 1.3 billion dollars. It reported GAAP earnings per share of 1.61 dollars and adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of 1.91 dollars, with net income attributable to common stockholders of 1.6 billion dollars and adjusted income of 2.0 billion dollars. Global production was 1,427 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. The company continues to advance its plan to add over 4.0 billion dollars in annual sustainable cash flow by 2030, according to the filing summary. [cites: 1794259103777404468]

## What the cluster says

Read together, these six filings describe a second wave of third-quarter reporting that is more confident than the first. Three companies raised full-year guidance, one added more than 700 million dollars to its buyback, one reported a record backlog up by half in a quarter, and one crossed a 10 billion dollar debt milestone while generating 4.1 billion dollars of operating cash flow. The raises cluster in software and imaging, the buyback in advertising technology, the backlog in space, and the deleveraging in energy. That spread is the point: this is not one sector's quarter. It is several sectors deciding, at the same time, that the year is going better than they had forecast. [cites: 1794259111582404496, 1794228763269195332, 1794258541406397662, 1794259345754408191, 1794258476634396326, 1794259103777404468]

## What is still unresolved

- Whether RadNet's Digital Health segment can return to EBITDA growth after its 11.8% decline in the quarter.
- Whether Rocket Lab's Neutron launch stays on its target of no earlier than 2027.
- How much of the Trade Desk's buyback authorization is actually used, which the filing does not state.

## Decision card

- **Useful for:** Professionals tracking which sectors raised guidance in Q3; Readers weighing buyback and backlog signals against guidance raises
- **Not for:** Anyone looking for investment advice; Readers wanting a single-sector earnings summary
- **Compare against:** Earlier Q3 reports that cut guidance; Prior-quarter revenue and EBITDA for the same companies

## Provenance ledger

| Manifest id | Title | Source | Claims used | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `1794259111582404496` | 8-K - Current report | [sec-company-0001107843](https://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1107843/000110784326000043/qlys-20261109xex991.htm) | 1794259373988409546, 1794259373991409547, 1794259373998409551, 1794259374000409552, 1794259373993409548, 1794259373995409549, 1794259373997409550, 1794259374002409553, 1794259374004409554 | 11-09 00:00 |
| `1794228763269195332` | 8-K - Current report | [sec-company-0000790526](https://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/790526/000168316826008404/radnet_ex9901.htm) | 1794229363104196573, 1794229363107196574, 1794229363114196579, 1794229363110196576, 1794229363111196577, 1794229363108196575, 1794229363113196578, 1794229363116196580, 1794229363117196581, 1794229363118196582 | 11-09 00:00 |
| `1794259345754408191` | 8-K - Current report | [sec-company-0001671933](https://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1671933/000167193326000115/ttd-20261109x8kexx991.htm) | 1794259621646414792, 1794259621647414794, 1794259621641414786, 1794259621643414788, 1794259621645414790, 1794259621649414796, 1794259621650414798, 1794259621651414800, 1794259621654414804, 1794259621653414802 | 11-09 00:00 |
| `1794258476634396326` | 8-K - Current report | [sec-company-0001819994](https://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1819994/000181999426000073/rklb-11092026ex991.htm) | 1794258982788399995, 1794258982791399996, 1794258982795399999, 1794258982803400006, 1794258982796400000, 1794258982793399998, 1794258982798400001, 1794258982800400002, 1794258982804400007 | 11-09 00:00 |
| `1794259103777404468` | 8-K - Current report | [sec-company-0000797468](https://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/797468/000162828026072193/oxyex9919-30x26earningsrel.htm) | 1794259277960407270, 1794259278036407279, 1794259277968407271, 1794259277975407272, 1794259277994407275, 1794259278053407280, 1794259278059407281, 1794259278078407282, 1794259278028407277 | 11-09 00:00 |
| `1794258541406397662` | 8-K - Current report | [sec-company-0001851003](https://sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1851003/000119312526453558/zeta-ex99_1.htm) | 1794259014640402331, 1794259014643402332, 1794259014645402333, 1794259014646402334, 1794259014650402336, 1794259014653402338, 1794259014656402340, 1794259014648402335 | 11-09 00:00 |

## Run these Manifests yourself

Every Manifest cited here can be read in full with your own Synorb Key. Check the claims before you rely on them.

1. **Get a Synorb Key.** Click Generate Free Agent Key at https://synorb.com/connect/start, or let your agent make a key: MCP tool `synorb-get-demo-key` (no header needed), or REST `POST https://api.synorb.com/api/connect/demo-key` with a JSON body such as `{"client":"your-agent-name"}`. The key is the `api_key` field of the answer. Save the key. The 72 Hour Agent Demo key needs no email. It lasts 72 hours and can pull up to 25 Manifests. It includes 5 Beacons; all of them are starter Beacons.
2. **Read each cited Manifest by id.** REST: `GET https://api.synorb.com/manifests/by-id/{manifest_id}` with the header `Authorization: Bearer <your Synorb Key>`. Ids are strings; do not parse them as numbers. The reply holds the source, the Signal (claims) and the Brief.
3. **Check the claim.** Match each sentence in the story to the claims in the Manifest it cites. The claim ids in the ledger point to them.

Cited Manifest ids:

- `1794259111582404496`
- `1794228763269195332`
- `1794259345754408191`
- `1794258476634396326`
- `1794259103777404468`
- `1794258541406397662`

```sh
for id in 1794259111582404496 1794228763269195332 1794259345754408191 1794258476634396326 1794259103777404468 1794258541406397662; do
  curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $SYNORB_KEY" "https://api.synorb.com/manifests/by-id/$id"
done
```

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