Trade Desk Sets $678M Q1 Revenue Target Amid AI and CTV Growth
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 1 hour ago
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Should l Buy TTD?
Source: seekingalpha
- Revenue Target Set: Trade Desk has outlined a revenue target of $678 million for Q1 2025, indicating the company's ongoing growth potential in artificial intelligence and connected TV (CTV), although market sentiment remains cautious about its outlook.
- Earnings Beat: Despite exceeding market expectations in its latest earnings report, Trade Desk's stock plummeted due to a soft outlook for upcoming quarters, highlighting investor concerns regarding the sustainability of its growth trajectory.
- Market Reaction: Following the earnings release, Trade Desk's stock experienced a significant decline, reflecting diminished investor confidence in its future performance, which could impact the company's position in the competitive ad tech landscape.
- Strategic Challenges: Trade Desk faces the challenge of maintaining growth in a rapidly evolving market, particularly as it remains to be seen whether innovations in AI and CTV can continue to drive revenue growth.
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Analyst Views on TTD
Wall Street analysts forecast TTD stock price to rise
28 Analyst Rating
15 Buy
12 Hold
1 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 24.940
Low
38.00
Averages
53.33
High
85.00
Current: 24.940
Low
38.00
Averages
53.33
High
85.00
About TTD
The Trade Desk, Inc. is a global advertising technology company. The Company offers a self-service, cloud-based ad-buying platform that empowers its clients to plan, manage, optimize and measure more expressive data-driven digital advertising campaigns. Its platform allows clients to execute integrated campaigns across ad formats and channels, including connected television (CTV) and other video, display, audio, and native, on a multitude of devices, such as televisions, streaming devices, mobile devices, computers and digital-out-of-home devices. Its platform’s integrations with inventory, publisher and data partners provide ad buyers reach and decisioning capabilities, and its enterprise application programming interfaces (APIs) enable its clients to customize and expand platform functionality. Its platform provides auto-optimization features that allow buyers to automate their campaigns and support them with computer-generated modeling and decision-making.
About the author

Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
- Revenue Target Set: Trade Desk has outlined a revenue target of $678 million for Q1 2025, indicating the company's ongoing growth potential in artificial intelligence and connected TV (CTV), although market sentiment remains cautious about its outlook.
- Earnings Beat: Despite exceeding market expectations in its latest earnings report, Trade Desk's stock plummeted due to a soft outlook for upcoming quarters, highlighting investor concerns regarding the sustainability of its growth trajectory.
- Market Reaction: Following the earnings release, Trade Desk's stock experienced a significant decline, reflecting diminished investor confidence in its future performance, which could impact the company's position in the competitive ad tech landscape.
- Strategic Challenges: Trade Desk faces the challenge of maintaining growth in a rapidly evolving market, particularly as it remains to be seen whether innovations in AI and CTV can continue to drive revenue growth.
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- Slowing Revenue Growth: The Trade Desk reported a 14% year-over-year revenue increase in Q4 2025, reaching $847 million, but this is a significant deceleration compared to the 25% growth in Q1 2025, indicating weakening performance in the competitive digital advertising market.
- Dismal Guidance: The company projects Q1 2026 revenue of at least $678 million, implying only 10% year-over-year growth, which is disappointing in the context of its historical performance and could undermine investor confidence.
- Declining Adjusted EBITDA: The Trade Desk anticipates an adjusted EBITDA of about $195 million for Q1 2026, down from $208 million in the same quarter last year, reflecting a deterioration in profitability and raising concerns about future performance.
- Leadership Changes Impact Confidence: The recent CFO transition, with the company currently led by an interim CFO, may negatively affect investor confidence at a time when stable execution is crucial, adding to the overall market uncertainty.
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- Revenue Growth Slowdown: The Trade Desk reported a 14% year-over-year revenue increase in Q4 2025, reaching $847 million, which is a significant deceleration from 25% growth in Q1 2025, indicating weakened momentum in the competitive digital advertising market.
- Poor Future Outlook: The company projects Q1 2026 revenue of at least $678 million, implying only 10% year-over-year growth, which is disappointing in the context of its historical growth rates and may negatively impact investor confidence.
- Decline in Adjusted EBITDA: The Trade Desk anticipates an adjusted EBITDA of approximately $195 million for Q1 2026, down from $208 million in the same quarter last year, reflecting increasing pressure on profitability that could influence future investment decisions.
- Leadership Changes Impact: The recent transition of the CFO, now operating with an interim CFO, may further undermine investor confidence amid heightened macro uncertainty, potentially affecting the company's execution capabilities.
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- Earnings Performance: The Trade Desk reported earnings of $0.59 per share, aligning with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, indicating stability in the digital advertising sector as it matches last year's figures.
- Revenue Growth: The company achieved revenues of $846.79 million for the quarter, surpassing the Zacks estimate by 0.58% and reflecting a 14.3% increase from $741.01 million a year ago, showcasing enhanced competitiveness in the market.
- Market Performance: Despite a 34.3% decline in share price since the beginning of the year, The Trade Desk has exceeded consensus EPS estimates three times over the past four quarters, demonstrating some earnings resilience.
- Future Outlook: With a current Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell), the stock is expected to underperform the market in the near term, prompting investors to monitor trends in future earnings estimate revisions closely.
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- Revenue Growth: Trade Desk reported $847 million in revenue for Q4 2025, reflecting a 14% year-over-year increase, with full-year revenue reaching $2.9 billion, marking an 18% growth rate, indicating the company's sustained potential in the digital advertising sector.
- Profitability Maintained: Despite facing macroeconomic pressures, Trade Desk maintained strong profitability, with adjusted EBITDA for Q4 approximately $400 million, representing 47% of revenue, showcasing a solid balance between innovation investment and profitability.
- AI Strategy at Core: CEO Jeffrey Green emphasized that nearly all clients are utilizing the Kokai platform, which is viewed as the most advanced AI-driven buying platform, aimed at enhancing advertising effectiveness and client trust.
- Market Challenges and Outlook: While ongoing softness in the CPG and automotive sectors impacted overall performance, management expects Q1 2026 revenue to be at least $678 million, reflecting a 10% year-over-year growth, demonstrating the company's confidence in future prospects.
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