Results: The Trade Desk, Inc. Beat Earnings Expectations And Analysts Now Have New Forecasts

It's been a good week for The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) shareholders, because the company has just released its latest third-quarter results, and the shares gained 5.0% to US$125. Revenues were US$628m, approximately in line with expectations, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) performed substantially better. EPS of US$0.19 were also better than expected, beating analyst predictions by 13%. Following the result, the analysts have updated their earnings model, and it would be good to know whether they think there's been a strong change in the company's prospects, or if it's business as usual. So we gathered the latest post-earnings forecasts to see what estimates suggest is in store for next year.

View our latest analysis for Trade Desk

After the latest results, the 36 analysts covering Trade Desk are now predicting revenues of US$2.95b in 2025. If met, this would reflect a huge 28% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Statutory earnings per share are predicted to jump 70% to US$1.06. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$2.94b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.06 in 2025. So it's pretty clear that, although the analysts have updated their estimates, there's been no major change in expectations for the business following the latest results.

It will come as no surprise then, to learn that the consensus price target is largely unchanged at US$119. It could also be instructive to look at the range of analyst estimates, to evaluate how different the outlier opinions are from the mean. There are some variant perceptions on Trade Desk, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$150 and the most bearish at US$40.00 per share. Note the wide gap in analyst price targets? This implies to us that there is a fairly broad range of possible scenarios for the underlying business.

One way to get more context on these forecasts is to look at how they compare to both past performance, and how other companies in the same industry are performing. We can infer from the latest estimates that forecasts expect a continuation of Trade Desk'shistorical trends, as the 22% annualised revenue growth to the end of 2025 is roughly in line with the 26% annual growth over the past five years. Compare this with the broader industry, which analyst estimates (in aggregate) suggest will see revenues grow 3.8% annually. So it's pretty clear that Trade Desk is forecast to grow substantially faster than its industry.

The Bottom Line

The most obvious conclusion is that there's been no major change in the business' prospects in recent times, with the analysts holding their earnings forecasts steady, in line with previous estimates. Fortunately, they also reconfirmed their revenue numbers, suggesting that it's tracking in line with expectations. Additionally, our data suggests that revenue is expected to grow faster than the wider industry. There was no real change to the consensus price target, suggesting that the intrinsic value of the business has not undergone any major changes with the latest estimates.

With that said, the long-term trajectory of the company's earnings is a lot more important than next year. We have forecasts for Trade Desk going out to 2026, and you can see them free on our platform here.

You should always think about risks though. Case in point, we've spotted 1 warning sign for Trade Desk you should be aware of.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.