Trade Desk (TTD) shares have been under immense pressure in recent sessions as Wall Street firms continue to issue bearish notes on the marketing automation specialist.
Following disappointing first-quarter earnings last week, TTD has received downgrades from analysts at HSBC, KeyBanc, Oppenheimer, and William Blair.
Additionally, Scotiabank and Guggenheim have trimmed their price targets on Trade Desk as well. Including recent declines, TTD stock is down more than 45% versus its year-to-date high.
Why Is Wall Street Turning Its Back on Trade Desk Stock
Major concerns driving this wave of negativity surrounding Trade Desk shares center on structural shifts in digital advertising.
In 2026, ad dollars are increasingly migrating into walled gardens such as Amazon (AMZN) Ads, Walmart (WMT) Connect, and retail media networks — capturing spend that previously flowed through open-web, demand-side platforms like Trade Desk.
In its recent note to clients, HSBC specifically highlighted deteriorating relationships with agency partners that account for more than 40% of TTD’s billings.
Additionally, Publicis’ decision to stop using Trade Desk’s platform over transparency concerns was cited as emblematic of a DSP market that has grown vastly more competitive.
AI Concerns Are Hurting Sentiment on TTD Shares
Analysts are also turning bearish on TTD shares as the artificial intelligence (AI) narrative, which had provided some support for the bull case, is also being challenged.
OpenAI’s launch of a self-service advertising product with a cost-per-click bidding model brings yet another competitor, potentially limiting the scope for a meaningful Trade Desk partnership.
While Trade Desk has introduced Koa Agents for agentic AI media planning, Wall Street firms view the AI advertising opportunity as unproven and insufficient to offset structural headwinds.
Investors should also note that TTD currently sits decisively below its key moving averages (MAs) with an RSI in the early 40s, indicating further room to the downside before the stock hits oversold territory.
What’s the Consensus Rating on Trade Desk
Despite the aforementioned downgrades, Wall Street’s consensus rating on Trade Desk stock remains at “Moderate Buy.”
According to Barchart, the mean price target for TTD is still set at nearly $28, indicating potential upside of roughly 30% from current levels.
This article was created with the support of automated content tools from our partners at Sigma.AI. Together, our financial data and AI solutions help us to deliver more informed market headline analysis to readers faster than ever.
On the date of publication, Wajeeh Khan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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