Trade Desk (TTD) shares sank more than 35% in premarket trading Friday after CEO Jeff Green warned that tariff-related uncertainty is weighing on some of the company’s largest global advertising clients. By the opening bell, the stock was down 38%, putting more than $12 billion of market value at risk.
The digital advertising technology firm, which specializes in helping brands buy and optimize campaigns across channels, has built its business around large multinational advertisers — a focus Green said has amplified the impact of tariffs.
“The impact of tariffs and related policies on these [large] businesses are very real,” Green told investors on the earnings call. “Most others rely heavily on SMBs, and our platform is largely concentrated on the large global advertisers. So we see the effects that are directly impacting them.” He called the current situation “a short-term negative,” adding that the company’s emphasis on major brands “is almost always a positive, but just in this moment, it’s negative because of how uniquely they’re being affected.”
For the second quarter, Trade Desk reported earnings of $0.18 per share, matching Wall Street estimates. Revenue came in at $694 million, topping expectations of $686 million, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The company projected third-quarter revenue of at least $717 million — roughly in line with forecasts compiled by LSEG.
Following the results, at least 11 analysts cut their price targets on the stock, bringing the median target down to $84, per LSEG data. Analysts at MoffettNathanson noted that as Trade Desk continues to sign more brands to joint business plans, agencies may respond by bringing more media buying in-house.
“In an unusual development, TTD decelerated and grew slower than Meta’s 22%, which marked an acceleration, prompting worries that closed gardens are growing faster than the open Internet,” said Rosenblatt Securities analyst Barton Crockett.
“TTD is also meaningfully exposed to large brands, which are facing tariff pressures.”
Separately, the company announced Thursday that Alex Kayyal will become chief financial officer effective Aug. 21, succeeding Laura Schenkein.
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