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The Trade Desk : Premium Digital Ad Demand Fuels Record Growth

TheTradeDesk stock price forecast

Key Points

  • The Trade Desk is the largest independent self-serve programmatic adtech platform enabling advertisers and agencies to buy, manage, track and optimize digital advertising.
  • The Trade Desk beat Q2 2024 top and bottom line consensus estimates, growing revenues 26% YoY, and raised its Q3 2024 guidance.
  • Connected TV (CTV) advertising is leading the growth driven by the acceleration of ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD). The Trade Desk has the world's largest marketplace for CTV ad inventory.
  • 5 stocks we like better than Trade Desk.

The Trade Desk Inc. NASDAQ: TTD is the largest independent demand-side platform (DSP) for advertising buyers. Its self-service, cloud-based advertising technology (AdTech) platform, Kokai, enables advertisers and agencies to programmatically manage digital advertising campaigns across various channels, including video, display, audio, and connected TV (CTV).

The Trade Desk is thriving from the recovery in demand-side digital advertising, which accommodates ad buyers. The supply side continues to struggle, as evidenced by the weak performance of Pubmatic Inc. NASDAQ: PUBM.

The Trade Desk runs an asset-light business because it doesn't actually own any ad inventory but plays the objective middleman data-driven platform that facilitates the transactions. Artificial intelligence (AI) features help optimize ad bidding, targeting and performance.

The Trade Desk operates in the computer and technology sector, competing with adtech platforms like Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOGL, Google Ads, Magnite Inc. NASDAQ: MGNI and Pubmatic Inc. NASDAQ: PUBM.

Connected TV is Growing Like Gangbusters 

Trade Desk Today

The Trade Desk, Inc. stock logo
TTDTTD 90-day performance
Trade Desk
$122.84 -2.17 (-1.74%)
(As of 11:27 AM ET)
52-Week Range
$61.47
$141.53
P/E Ratio
201.38
Price Target
$127.07

If you watch streaming videos and movies on a smart TV or a Roku Inc. NASDAQ: ROKU streaming device or Amazon Inc. NASDAQ: AMZN Firestick, then you’re using a connected TV (CTV). CTV refers to devices that receive streaming video through an internet connection to be watched on your TV. CTV enables viewers to watch ad-supported video content, movies and videos.

CTV devices include smart TVs, streaming sticks, set-top boxes and gaming consoles like the Sony Inc. NYSE: SNE PlayStation or Microsoft Co. NASDAQ: MSFT Xbox. The advent of streaming services and notable ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) channels has helped CTV growth accelerate, driving the boom in digital advertising dollars.

The Trade Desk is the King of CTV and Gains More UID2 Penetration

The Trade Desk offers the largest CTV inventory marketplace in the world. Since it is independent and doesn’t compete in content or supply, premium publishers favor it. The Trade Desk developed a new open-source identity framework called UID2 to replace third-party cookies to identify viewers and measure ad performance. Due to privacy concerns, Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL and Google have phased out third-party cookies. 

In Q2 2024, Netflix Inc. NASDAQ: NFLX announced it would expand ad buying capabilities to include The Trade Desk as one of its main programmatic partners for advertisers. FOX Co. NASDAQ: FOX expanded its partnership through the integration of UID2 and OpenPath across FOX brands and the AdRise technology platform. E.W. Scripps will be the first CTV publisher to adopt The Trade Desk’s single sign-on solution, OpenPass. Roku will adopt UID2 to enable advertisers to implement more precise targeting. LG Ad Solutions is integrating UID2 so advertisers can leverage first-party data across LG's audience network.

TTD stock chart

TTD Stock Forms a V Bottom

The daily candlestick chart for TTD illustrates a V-bottom pattern. TTD fell sharply from $102.39 to $77.11 but surged back up to $99.30 in 4 days, driven by its Q2 2024 earnings report. TTD will either reject or pierce through as it bounces back to the $102.39 lip line. If it pierces through, then it will peak and pull back for a retest. That retest will determine if a new support level at the prior resistance will have formed. The daily relative strength index (RSI) is rising to the 61-band. Pullback support levels are at $94.63, $90.00, $84.33 and $80.54.

Q2 2024 Top and Bottom Line Beats and Q3 Forecasts Raised 

The Trade Desk reported Q2 2024 EPS of 39 cents, beating consensus estimates for 36 cents by 3 cents. Revenues jumped 26% YoY to $584.55 million, beating $578.03 million consensus analyst estimates. Adjusted EBITDA rose 34.4% YoY to $242 million, exceeding $223 million prior guidance. Customer retention remained over 95% in the quarter.

The Trade Desk raised its Q3 2024 revenue guidance to be at least $618 million, beating $604.70 million consensus analyst expectations. Adjusted EBITDA will be around $248 million.

Trade Desk Stock Forecast Today

12-Month Stock Price Forecast:
$127.07
1.65% Upside
Moderate Buy
Based on 30 Analyst Ratings
High Forecast$155.00
Average Forecast$127.07
Low Forecast$57.00
Trade Desk Stock Forecast Details

The Trade Desk Co-Founder and CEO Jeff Green commented, “As Kokai ramps, we're intuitively surfacing value for advertisers, integrating data into every decision, advancing the full power of AI as a co-pilot, and enabling advertisers to maximize the potential of their first-party data.”

Green concluded, “With ongoing innovations in Kokai, the widespread adoption of UID2, and the expanding use of retail data, we will continue to deliver exceptional value to advertisers and grow our leadership in key high-growth markets such as CTV."

The Trade Desk analyst ratings and price targets are at MarketBeat. There are 28 analyst ratings on TTD stock, comprised of 1 Strong Buy, 24 Buys, 2 Holds and 1 Sell.

Should you invest $1,000 in Trade Desk right now?

Before you consider Trade Desk, you'll want to hear this.

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While Trade Desk currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

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Jea Yu
About The Author

Jea Yu

Contributing Author

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Companies Mentioned in This Article

CompanyMarketRank™Current PricePrice ChangeDividend YieldP/E RatioConsensus RatingConsensus Price Target
Trade Desk (TTD)
3.6667 of 5 stars
$122.84-1.7%N/A201.38Moderate Buy$127.07
Alphabet (GOOGL)
3.6716 of 5 stars
$192.45+0.5%0.42%25.52Moderate Buy$206.69
Magnite (MGNI)
2.1406 of 5 stars
$16.06-1.7%N/A267.67Moderate Buy$17.73
PubMatic (PUBM)
3.3024 of 5 stars
$15.29-1.0%N/A49.32Moderate Buy$21.13
Microsoft (MSFT)
4.8598 of 5 stars
$433.82-0.6%0.77%35.79Moderate Buy$509.90
Sony (SNE)N/A$21.02+1.7%1.95%3.01N/AN/A
Amazon.com (AMZN)
4.8316 of 5 stars
$225.79+0.4%0.09%48.35Moderate Buy$243.00
Apple (AAPL)
4.7292 of 5 stars
$254.67+0.1%0.39%41.89Moderate Buy$236.78
Roku (ROKU)
2.156 of 5 stars
$79.12-1.8%N/A-65.93Moderate Buy$83.81
Netflix (NFLX)
4.2751 of 5 stars
$907.38-0.2%N/A51.35Moderate Buy$807.70
FOX (FOX)
3.1767 of 5 stars
$46.26-0.8%1.17%11.31HoldN/A
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