Trade Desk Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:TTD)

The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 83,354 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 41% compared to the typical daily volume of 59,156 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TTD. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Trade Desk from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Trade Desk from $54.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Trade Desk in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Trade Desk in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Trade Desk from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.70.

Trade Desk News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Board approved a $350 million share repurchase program (up to ~2.9% of shares), signaling management thinks shares are undervalued. RTT News
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results: revenue of ~$847M (up ~14% YoY) and EPS roughly in line with consensus; audio and CTV remain growth vectors cited by management. Q4 Press Release
• Neutral Sentiment: Product/market development — Trade Desk rolled out the “Ventura Ecosystem” to bolster CTV transparency and monetization, which is strategically positive but will take time to materially move top-line results. Ventura Ecosystem
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large options activity: a spike in call option volume indicates elevated trader/speculator interest that can increase intraday volatility but doesn’t change fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Softer Q1 guidance and trimmed profitability expectations (management warned adjusted EBITDA could be materially lower), which investors interpreted as a sign of near‑term slowing — this is the primary driver of the sharp share decline. Fool: Stock Drop Proactive: Soft Q1
• Negative Sentiment: Broad analyst re-rating today: multiple firms sharply lowered price targets and several downgraded the stock (examples: New Street to Sell $17, Loop to Hold $25; multiple banks cut PTs—BMO $55, Oppenheimer $35, Morgan Stanley $30, DA Davidson $32, etc.). The collective cuts amplify selling pressure. TipRanks: Analyst Cuts
• Negative Sentiment: Demand headwinds: commentary and coverage note pressure from automotive and consumer-packaged‑goods advertisers — these verticals are important ad spend buckets and weakness there weighs on near-term growth outlook. Seeking Alpha: CPG & Auto Headwinds

Trade Desk Price Performance

Shares of TTD opened at $23.95 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.09. The stock has a market cap of $11.58 billion, a PE ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.10. Trade Desk has a 12 month low of $21.08 and a 12 month high of $91.45.

Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The technology company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59. The company had revenue of $846.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $840.56 million. Trade Desk had a net margin of 15.31% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, research 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 repurchase plan on Thursday, November 6th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Trade Desk

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TTD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Trade Desk by 0.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 44,554,852 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,207,504,000 after acquiring an additional 317,107 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Trade Desk by 327.3% during the second quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,121,436 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $80,732,000 after purchasing an additional 858,978 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Trade Desk by 62.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 173,743 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $8,515,000 after purchasing an additional 66,672 shares in the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC increased its position in Trade Desk by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 289,574 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,192,000 after purchasing an additional 47,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Trade Desk by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 996,787 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,759,000 after purchasing an additional 185,552 shares during the last quarter. 67.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.