Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The technology company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.06), FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $715.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $752.41 million. Trade Desk had a return on equity of 16.09% and a net margin of 13.61%.The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from Trade Desk’s conference call:

• Revenue growth materially missed expectations: Q2 revenue was $715 million, up just 3% year over year, as macro pressure on CPG and auto advertisers, lower-cost media buying, and internal execution issues weighed on results. Management expects Q3 revenue of at least $650 million, indicating continued near-term weakness.
• Operating expenses rose 6% year over year, or 12% excluding stock-based compensation, driven by platform infrastructure, AI investments, and data and decisioning capabilities. Management said it will apply greater investment discipline and reallocate resources toward the highest-priority growth initiatives.
• Several growth areas remain strong: CTV and audio again grew at double-digit rates, international revenue was supported by nearly 30% year-to-date growth in both EMEA and APAC, and China revenue rose more than 100% year to date. Joint Business Plans increased 38% year over year to 217 clients, with associated revenue growing six times faster than overall revenue.
• The company is emphasizing product upgrades to reignite growth, including the upcoming Zuma usability update, expanded Audience Unlimited data activation, and a new measurement framework focused on incremental business outcomes. Early Audience Unlimited results showed more than 25% reductions in cost per unique household and data CPM for one advertiser.
• Management remains confident in the long-term independent DSP model, arguing that AI increases the value of objective decisioning and trusted data protection. However, executives acknowledged that newly hired leaders and product initiatives will require time to ramp, and provided limited visibility into the timing of a return to stronger growth.

Trade Desk Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TTD traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,736,677 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,107,863. The stock has a market cap of $6.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.04. Trade Desk has a one year low of $12.83 and a one year high of $56.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on TTD shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn began coverage on shares of Trade Desk in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “sell” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. William Blair cut shares of Trade Desk from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Trade Desk from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $20.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank set a $12.00 target price on shares of Trade Desk and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and ten have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $19.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Samantha Jacobson sold 53,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 13,099 shares in the company, valued at $276,912.86. This trade represents a 80.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 11.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Trade Desk

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Trade Desk by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 23,993 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 3,374 shares during the last quarter. Rare Wolf Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Trade Desk in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $227,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Trade Desk by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 64,398 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after purchasing an additional 25,934 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Trade Desk in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,464,000. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Trade Desk by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 28,953 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after purchasing an additional 10,451 shares during the last quarter. 67.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.