What Happened?
Shares of digital advertising platform The Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) fell 5.9% in the afternoon session after the stock continued to pull back as reports revealed that Publicis informed its clients to avoid the ad-tech platform following an audit report that found issues with its billing practices and fee transparency.
The report found that The Trade Desk applied fees to extra charges not permitted under their agreement, billed clients for tools without clear approval, and raised questions about potential hidden mark-ups. The negative news prompted downgrades from investment firms Stifel and Rosenblatt.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy The Trade Desk? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
The Trade Desk’s shares are very volatile and have had 27 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was about 23 hours ago when the stock dropped 6.7% on the news that French advertising company Publicis told clients to avoid the platform following a failed third-party audit. The audit alleged that The Trade Desk improperly applied fees to tools clients were automatically opted into without authorization and failed to prove that media costs were invoiced without hidden markups. According to sources, The Trade Desk denied the findings, claiming the auditor requested data that would violate confidentiality agreements.
The Trade Desk is down 37% since the beginning of the year, and at $23.74 per share, it is trading 73.6% below its 52-week high of $89.76 from August 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of The Trade Desk’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at only $338.99.
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