Trade Desk (TTD) will likely deliver in-line Q2 results and guidance on Thursday even as it is facing some long-term structural headwinds, Wedbush Securities said in a note Monday.
The investment firm expects the company to report Q2 revenue growth of 9% year on year to $757 million, above the consensus estimate of $752 million, and earnings per share of $0.40, in line with the consensus estimate of $0.40.
Wedbush said Trade Desk seems to have weathered its dispute with Publicis and the "damage was more reputational and political than fundamental."
However, the episode created "lasting pressure" on Trade Desk to "improve fee transparency and platform hygiene, potentially costly for [Trade Desk] in both incremental expenses and a reduction in its competitive edge on pricing," the note said.
Wedbush also noted Trade Desk was "built for open-internet scale and cross-publisher orchestration, while the market is increasingly gravitating toward closed-loop, vertically integrated performance ecosystems like Amazon's."
Wedbush reiterated Trade Desk's neutral rating and $21 price target.
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