The Trade Desk, Inc. Just Beat EPS By 15%: Here's What Analysts Think Will Happen Next

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) investors will be delighted, with the company turning in some strong numbers with its latest results. Trade Desk beat earnings, with revenues hitting US$739m, ahead of expectations, and statutory earnings per share outperforming analyst reckonings by a solid 15%. This is an important time for investors, as they can track a company's performance in its report, look at what experts are forecasting for next year, and see if there has been any change to expectations for the business. So we collected the latest post-earnings statutory consensus estimates to see what could be in store for next year.

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Following the latest results, Trade Desk's 36 analysts are now forecasting revenues of US$3.34b in 2026. This would be a notable 20% improvement in revenue compared to the last 12 months. Per-share earnings are expected to leap 27% to US$1.14. Before this earnings report, the analysts had been forecasting revenues of US$3.34b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$1.09 in 2026. So the consensus seems to have become somewhat more optimistic on Trade Desk's earnings potential following these results.

See our latest analysis for Trade Desk

There's been no major changes to the consensus price target of US$67.44, suggesting that the improved earnings per share outlook is not enough to have a long-term positive impact on the stock's valuation. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company's valuation. There are some variant perceptions on Trade Desk, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$135 and the most bearish at US$34.00 per share. So we wouldn't be assigning too much credibility to analyst price targets in this case, because there are clearly some widely different views on what kind of performance this business can generate. As a result it might not be a great idea to make decisions based on the consensus price target, which is after all just an average of this wide range of estimates.

Looking at the bigger picture now, one of the ways we can make sense of these forecasts is to see how they measure up against both past performance and industry growth estimates. We would highlight that Trade Desk's revenue growth is expected to slow, with the forecast 16% annualised growth rate until the end of 2026 being well below the historical 24% p.a. growth over the last five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 3.0% annually. So it's pretty clear that, while Trade Desk's revenue growth is expected to slow, it's still expected to grow faster than the industry itself.

The Bottom Line

The most important thing here is that the analysts upgraded their earnings per share estimates, suggesting that there has been a clear increase in optimism towards Trade Desk following these results. Happily, there were no major changes to revenue forecasts, with the business still expected to grow faster than the wider industry. The consensus price target held steady at US$67.44, with the latest estimates not enough to have an impact on their price targets.

Following on from that line of thought, we think that the long-term prospects of the business are much more relevant than next year's earnings. At Simply Wall St, we have a full range of analyst estimates for Trade Desk going out to 2027, and you can see them free on our platform here..

We don't want to rain on the parade too much, but we did also find 1 warning sign for Trade Desk that you need to be mindful 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.