Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after DA Davidson lowered their price target on the stock from $54.00 to $32.00. The stock had previously closed at $25.16, but opened at $21.10. DA Davidson currently has a buy rating on the stock. Trade Desk shares last traded at $23.7150, with a volume of 17,826,906 shares traded.

TTD has been the subject of a number of other reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $98.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $40.00 price target (down from $88.00) on shares of Trade Desk in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Loop Capital cut Trade Desk from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised Trade Desk from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Trade Desk from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.70.

Key Headlines Impacting Trade Desk

Here are the key news stories impacting Trade Desk this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a $350 million share repurchase program (up to ~2.9% of shares), signaling management thinks shares are undervalued. RTT News
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results: revenue of ~$847M (up ~14% YoY) and EPS roughly in line with consensus; audio and CTV remain growth vectors cited by management. Q4 Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/market development — Trade Desk rolled out the “Ventura Ecosystem” to bolster CTV transparency and monetization, which is strategically positive but will take time to materially move top-line results. Ventura Ecosystem
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity: a spike in call option volume indicates elevated trader/speculator interest that can increase intraday volatility but doesn’t change fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Softer Q1 guidance and trimmed profitability expectations (management warned adjusted EBITDA could be materially lower), which investors interpreted as a sign of near‑term slowing — this is the primary driver of the sharp share decline. Fool: Stock Drop Proactive: Soft Q1
• Negative Sentiment: Broad analyst re-rating today: multiple firms sharply lowered price targets and several downgraded the stock (examples: New Street to Sell $17, Loop to Hold $25; multiple banks cut PTs—BMO $55, Oppenheimer $35, Morgan Stanley $30, DA Davidson $32, etc.). The collective cuts amplify selling pressure. TipRanks: Analyst Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Demand headwinds: commentary and coverage note pressure from automotive and consumer-packaged‑goods advertisers — these verticals are important ad spend buckets and weakness there weighs on near-term growth outlook. Seeking Alpha: CPG & Auto Headwinds

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trade Desk

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. STF Management LP raised its position in Trade Desk by 2.1% in the second quarter. STF Management LP now owns 6,627 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Trade Desk by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,586 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 27,607 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,987,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Trade Desk by 52.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 586 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Trade Desk by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,553 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. 67.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trade Desk Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.09. The company has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.10.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59. The business had revenue of $846.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $840.56 million. Trade Desk had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company’s revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Trade Desk will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Trade Desk declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Trade Desk

The Trade Desk, Inc (NASDAQ: TTD) is a technology company that provides a demand-side platform (DSP) for programmatic digital advertising. Its platform enables advertisers, agencies and other buyers to plan, purchase and measure ad inventory across digital channels, including display, video, mobile, audio, native and connected TV. By centralizing real‑time bidding, audience targeting and inventory access, the company aims to help clients optimize media spend and reach audiences at scale across publishers and ad exchanges.

Founded in 2009 by Jeff Green and Dave Pickles, The Trade Desk grew from a focus on programmatic display into a global ad‑tech provider.