Feb 15 (Reuters) - Trade Desk forecast first-quarter revenue above market expectations on Thursday, as a strong ad market drives demand for its digital advertising services, sending its shares up 19% in extended trading.

The online ad market is showing some signs of strength, as indicated by the latest quarterly of sector heavyweight Meta Platforms, which is riding the wave of higher ad spend by companies to tap into resilient consumer spending.

The upbeat results ease concerns about the outlook for the firm, whose stock price sank in November after flagging weak ad spending due to strikes in the auto and media industries.

Trade Desk is an ad-buying platform and has a marketplace of over 200 companies - including ESPN, Hulu and Fox - where advertisers can choose to show their ads.

The ad tech firm expects first-quarter revenue to be at least $478 million, compared with estimates of $451.9 million, according to LSEG data.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, revenue stood at $605.8 million beating average analysts' estimate of $582.2 million.

On an adjusted basis, the company earned 41 cents per share, compared with estimates of 43 cents per share. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)