Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) Stock Price

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) had its target price lowered by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $42.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the technology company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 25.33% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on TTD. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Trade Desk in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp reiterated 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. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Trade Desk in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Trade Desk from $49.00 to $40.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Trade Desk in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Trade Desk currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.55.

Trade Desk Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ TTD traded down $1.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.94. The company had a trading volume of 39,279,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,849,496. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.22. Trade Desk has a fifty-two week low of $21.08 and a fifty-two week high of $91.45.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.59. Trade Desk had a net margin of 15.72% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $846.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $840.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Trade Desk will post 1.06 earnings per share 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 buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the technology company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TTD. Tempo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Trade Desk in the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Trade Desk by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 258,803 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,824,000 after buying an additional 8,833 shares during the last quarter. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co acquired a new stake in Trade Desk in the fourth quarter valued at $212,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Trade Desk in the fourth quarter valued at $3,152,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Trade Desk by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 23,993 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $911,000 after buying an additional 3,374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Trade Desk

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes a $350 million share repurchase program (up to ~2.9% of shares), which supports buyback-led shareholder value and signals management thinks the shares are undervalued. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Product push: The company expanded its Ventura CTV ecosystem (aimed at improving transparency and CPMs for connected-TV advertising), a potential structural positive for monetization over time. Yahoo Finance: Ventura Ecosystem
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results: Revenue of ~$847M beat consensus slightly and EPS matched estimates, with revenue up ~14% Y/Y (19% ex?political). The quarter shows continued top?line growth but not enough to offset a weak guide. Yahoo Finance: Q4 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Emerging revenue drivers: audio is cited as a growth area alongside CTV, which could help longer?term top?line diversification if adoption continues. Zacks: Audio Momentum
• Negative Sentiment: Weak Q1 outlook and margin caution: management guided Q1 revenue below Street expectations (guidance ~$678M vs. ~687M consensus) and cut adjusted?EBITDA guidance substantially (reported as a roughly 50% reduction), a primary driver of the stock decline. Fool: Why TTD Dropped
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts slashed price targets and ratings after the guide — multiple firms cut targets (examples include Oppenheimer, RBC, Wells Fargo, Stifel, Truist, Needham, Rosenblatt) and some downgraded the stock to hold/sell, amplifying selling pressure. TipRanks: Analysts Cut Targets
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction and sentiment: coverage and commentary highlight a longer?term growth test after a steep share decline over the past year; short?term investor focus is on whether Trade Desk can re?accelerate revenue growth amid pressure in automotive and packaged?goods verticals. Proactive Investors: Beats But Expects Softer Q1

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.