Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) Trading Down 8.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Trade Desk shares fell 8.1% after HSBC downgraded the stock from buy to reduce and set a $20 price target. The stock traded as low as $20.91 during the session.
• Other analysts also turned more cautious, including KeyCorp cutting its view to sector weight and Benchmark lowering its target to $30. The broader analyst consensus remains Hold with an average price target of $36.38.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings of $0.08 per share, missing estimates, though revenue of $688.86 million came in above expectations and rose 11.8% year over year. Trade Desk has also authorized a $350 million share repurchase program.

Shares of The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD - Get Free Report) dropped 8.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after HSBC downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a reduce rating. HSBC now has a $20.00 price target on the stock. Trade Desk traded as low as $20.91 and last traded at $21.22. Approximately 4,043,825 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 18,228,129 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.08.

TTD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Trade Desk from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $33.00 price objective on shares of Trade Desk and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $40.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial set a $35.00 target price on shares of Trade Desk and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Trade Desk from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kathryn E. Falberg sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.48, for a total transaction of $1,524,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Trade Desk

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Trade Desk by 175.8% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 524 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Trade Desk in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Trade Desk by 2,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 720 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in Trade Desk in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT acquired a new stake in Trade Desk in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.77% of the company's stock.

Trade Desk Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $23.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.86.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 14.57% and a return on equity of 16.91%. The company's revenue was up 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Trade Desk will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Trade Desk announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 25th that authorizes the company to repurchase $350.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the technology company to reacquire up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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.

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