TTD
The sell-side just doubled down
Trade Desk woke up Monday to a classic Wall Street gut punch: two brokerages, HSBC and DA Davidson, both cut their views on the stock. DA Davidson moved to Neutral and trimmed its price target to $16, while HSBC went even colder, downgrading the name to Reduce with a $10 target.
That’s not exactly the kind of morning espresso shareholders wanted.
The earnings hangover is still here
This downgrade wave lands right after Trade Desk’s second-quarter report, which already had investors side-eyeing the numbers. The company posted 34 cents in adjusted earnings per share, below the 40-cent consensus, and revenue of $715.06 million versus the $751.39 million analysts were expecting.
Management also said third-quarter revenue should top $650 million, which is well under the street’s $805.09 million guess. Translation: the growth math is looking a little less magical than the market hoped.
Why you should care
When analysts start cutting targets after an earnings miss, it usually means the mood has shifted from “show me the next leg higher” to “prove you can stabilize first.” And Trade Desk’s chart is already doing the dramatic exit scene: the stock is down sharply over the past year and is trading well below its key moving averages.
Big picture: this is what happens when a premium growth stock loses the benefit of the doubt. The business may still have a loyal customer base, but Wall Street is clearly demanding a cleaner comeback story before it hands TTD a fresh valuation halo.