Citizens downgraded The Trade Desk Inc. (TTD) to “market perform” from a previous investment rating of “market outperform” on Friday, citing limited near-term catalysts amid intensifying competition in the adtech space, particularly from rival Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN).
The research firm said demand-side platform competition is intensifying, and the adtech firm’s historical structural advantages are eroding. They also pointed out that generative AI is reducing the operational complexity of programmatic advertising and lowering switching costs across DSPs.
“In particular, we believe Amazon is aggressively leaning into its DSP offering, with reported fees as low as a 1% take rate for programmatic guaranteed deals to attract advertisers,” the research firm said.
On the other hand, Citizens noted that newer and smaller DSPs, such as Vibe.co, are unlikely to materially impact TTD’s business in the near term, but they underscore a broader trend among advertisers to try out new DSP partners.
Additionally, open web advertising—excluding CTV and digital audio—remains under pressure, Citizens said, “as walled gardens continue to gain share of overall digital ad spend and AI-driven search and AI Overviews negatively impact publisher traffic and monetization.”
TTD currently does not have a price target from the research firm. The stock lost nearly 68% in value in 2025.