10 Best Affordable Growth Stocks to Buy for the Next 5 Years

8. The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD)

James Heaney from Jefferies maintained a Hold rating on The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD), along with the price target of $22 on March 24. He said that Omnicom is carrying out an independent audit of the company after Publicis decided to drop The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) as a recommended demand-side platform. Analyst James Heaney noted that there are still limited details about the situation, but the development has drawn more attention to the company’s higher take rate compared to others in the industry. The firm also said that it expects other large advertising holding companies to start similar reviews.

In a separate update, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Mrak Kelley downgraded The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) from Buy to Hold on March 18. He also lowered the firm’s price target on the stock from $48 to $26. The downgrade follows a report by AdAge stating that Publicis is no longer recommending The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) to its clients after a third-party review found that the company did not pass an audit related to its services agreement with the agency.

We’re now at a point that we’re not quite sure how conservative current 2026 estimates might be if the company does, in fact, lose some of its client base as a result of this audit (and perhaps other agencies may follow suit in a similarly public fashion).

Stifel said that it still views The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) as a leading platform for digital ad buyers and expects the issue with Publicis could be resolved. However, it does not see any clear short-term catalyst that could improve investor sentiment.

The Trade Desk, Inc. (NASDAQ:TTD) provides a demand-side platform (DSP) for digital advertising, offering data-driven ad buying, targeting, and analytics services. The company deals with advertisers, agencies, and brands that want to run and optimize digital ad campaigns across channels like video, mobile and TV. Its clients include Omnicom Group, WPP, and Publicis Groupe. It was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in California, United States.