Shares of The Trade Desk (TTD -0.63%) have been on a tear over the past year, helped by a boost following the company's fourth-quarter and full-year results. The stock has climbed more than 230% over the past 12 months. With such sharp gains, investors are likely wondering how much higher the stock can go.
One analyst thinks there's more upside left, raising his price target by $30 this week.
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The path to $210
Following The Trade Desk's Investor Day earlier this week, Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz (via TheFly) raised his price target for the stock from $180 to $210, reiterating an outperform rating for the shares.
Citing a positive tone from management during the Investor Day presentation, the analyst said he expects more market-share gains, international progress, new services, and ongoing platform improvements to drive further revenue, EBITDA, and free cash flow growth.
The analyst's bullish note comes after commentary from SunTrust analyst Youssef Squali. On Thursday, the analyst said the company's Investor Day presentation captured The Trade Desk's "strong differentiated positioning, product innovation and strategy." Like Schwartz, Squali expects the company to gain further market share in the coming years. The analyst reiterated a buy rating and a $195 price target.
Check out the latest earnings call transcript for The Trade Desk.
Impressive momentum
The Trade Desk executed impressively in 2018. Indeed, the company wrapped up the year with accelerating quarterly revenue growth. Fourth-quarter revenue jumped 56% year over year -- an acceleration from 50% year-over-year growth in Q3.
The Trade Desk's momentum in 2018 was fueled by a massive increase in connected TV ad spend (up ninefold) and 230% and 130% increases in audio and mobile video ad spend, respectively. In addition, the company's competitive position in the market was fortified with the launch of its Next Wave -- essentially, a total overhaul of its digital ad-buying platform. Customers eagerly switched over to the new platform, with adoption at the time of the company's fourth-quarter earnings call in late February at over 70%.
With The Trade Desk seemingly firing on all cylinders, it isn't surprising that the company's programmatic ad-buying platform continued to gain market share last year. Gross spend on its platform rose 51% year over year in 2018, while global programmatic ad spend rose 22%, according to estimates by Magna Global.
Clearly, The Trade Desk's business looks positioned for more strong growth in 2019.
