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

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $74.00 to $48.00. The stock had previously closed at $25.16, but opened at $21.10. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Trade Desk shares last traded at $23.7150, with a volume of 17,826,906 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Trade Desk from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $50.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $43.00 target price on shares of Trade Desk and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Loop Capital cut Trade Desk from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $75.00 to $25.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Trade Desk from $53.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Trade Desk has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.70.

Key Headlines Impacting Trade Desk

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a $350M share buyback (up to ~2.9% of shares), signaling confidence from management and providing potential support for the stock. RTT News Buyback
• Positive Sentiment: Product development: The company launched the Ventura Ecosystem to deepen its CTV capabilities and monetize streaming inventory better — a strategic long-term growth lever if adoption scales. Ventura Ecosystem
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results: revenue of $846.8M (+14.3% YoY) topped consensus and non-GAAP EPS of $0.59 matched estimates — solid execution on the quarter but not enough to offset forward concerns. Q4 Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large call-option volume was noted after the print, indicating elevated short-term trading/volatility interest even as fundamentals are digested. Options Activity
• Negative Sentiment: Weak Q1 2026 revenue guidance (Q1 guide below consensus) was the main catalyst for the selloff — management’s outlook implies a slowdown in revenue growth that spooked investors. Guidance & Market Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts reacted quickly with cuts and downgrades (price-target trims and some rating downgrades), amplifying selling pressure and lowering near-term sentiment. Analyst Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Sector/client weakness: management cited pressure from automotive and packaged-goods advertisers — if these verticals remain weak, revenue growth could stay pressured. Client Weakness

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 3.8% in 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 last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in Trade Desk by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,480 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Trade Desk by 75.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 5,275 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,269 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 59.9% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,657 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 11.9% during the second quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 18,218 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 1,936 shares during the period. 67.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trade Desk Stock Down 5.9%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.22. The stock has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.46, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.10.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.59. The business had revenue of $846.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $840.56 million. Trade Desk had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Trade Desk will post 1.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Trade Desk announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, November 6th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication 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.