Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) Trading Down 5.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Trade Desk shares fell 5.9% after DA Davidson downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral and cut its price target from $29 to $16.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, with multiple firms lowering ratings or targets; the stock carries an average “Reduce” rating and a $20.56 consensus price target.
• Recent results raised concerns about execution and growth: quarterly EPS missed estimates by $0.24, while revenue growth slowed and investors focused on weaker guidance and decelerating advertising demand.

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 5.9% during trading on Monday after DA Davidson downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. DA Davidson now has a $16.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $29.00. Trade Desk traded as low as $12.90 and last traded at $12.9840. Approximately 15,401,926 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average session volume of 19,616,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.80.

TTD has been the subject of several other reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Trade Desk in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Trade Desk from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Trade Desk and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. William Blair lowered shares of Trade Desk from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $16.00 price target on Trade Desk and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Hold rating and eight have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $20.56.

Insider Activity at Trade Desk

In other news, Director Samantha Jacobson sold 53,681 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.14, for a total value of $1,134,816.34. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,099 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $276,912.86. This trade represents a 80.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 11.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Trade Desk

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

• Positive Sentiment: CEO Jeffrey Green purchased approximately 6 million shares worth $148.1 million over the past six months, signaling management confidence despite the recent weakness.
• Positive Sentiment: The stock’s analyst price-target median remains $28, materially above its recent trading level, although targets have been revised lower by several firms.
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional positioning was mixed: 319 investors increased holdings while 582 reduced them. Baillie Gifford fully exited its position, and State Street and BlackRock also cut their stakes, while several quantitative funds added shares.
• Neutral Sentiment: Congressional trading was also mixed, with four purchases and five sales reported over the past six months, offering limited directional insight.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor discussion focused on an earnings shortfall and sharply lower third-quarter guidance. Reported second-quarter revenue of $715.1 million increased only 3.0% year over year, reinforcing concerns about decelerating growth.
• Negative Sentiment: DA Davidson downgraded TTD from Buy to Neutral, while Robert W. Baird cut its rating to Hold. Evercore, BMO Capital Markets, and RBC also lowered their ratings recently. Trade Desk Cut to Hold at Robert W. Baird
• Negative Sentiment: Cantor Fitzgerald reduced its price target to $14, and Rosenblatt Securities cut its target to $12, indicating that analysts see limited near-term upside. Cantor Fitzgerald Cuts Trade Desk Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Social-media commentary remains predominantly bearish, citing the absence of a durable competitive moat, valuation risk, and the possibility of continued volatility if growth remains in the single digits.

Institutional Trading of Trade Desk

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TTD. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Trade Desk by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,586 shares of the technology company's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Trade Desk by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,150 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. Visionary Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Trade Desk by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors now owns 10,119 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Trade Desk by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 36,427 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,622,000 after buying an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its position in Trade Desk by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 20,600 shares of the technology company's stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.77% of the company's stock.

Trade Desk Stock Performance

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $18.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.70. The company has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.04.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $688.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.87 million. Trade Desk had a return on equity of 16.09% and a net margin of 13.61%.The company's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that The Trade Desk will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Trade Desk Company Profile

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.

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