Trade Desk names interim CFO amid stock turbulence
Leadership change follows 70% share decline in 2025, company reaffirms strong Q4 revenue guidance
The Trade Desk has appointed Tahnil Davis as interim chief financial officer, effective January 24, 2026, as the digital advertising platform navigates a period of significant market turbulence following a 70% share decline in 2025 that made it the worst performer in the S&P 500 Index.
Davis, who has served as the company's chief accounting officer for nearly 11 years, succeeds Alex Kayyal, whose brief five-month tenure as CFO ended abruptly. Kayyal had been appointed to the role on August 21, 2025, succeeding Laura Schenkein, who herself departed the position earlier that year. The rapid leadership turnover comes at a sensitive moment for the Ventura, California-based company.
Despite the executive uncertainty, The Trade Desk reaffirmed its fourth-quarter revenue guidance of at least $840 million, representing approximately 18.5% year-over-year growth excluding political advertising. Adjusted EBITDA guidance remains at approximately $375 million. The company is scheduled to report full fourth-quarter earnings in mid-February 2026.
The stock fell 4.4% to $34.95 in Tuesday trading, continuing its struggle below the 50-day moving average of $38.49. Shares are hovering just above their 52-week low of $34.00, a dramatic fall from the 52-week high of $125.80 reached earlier in the year. The decline has erased more than $45 billion in market capitalization, leaving the company valued at approximately $17.9 billion.
Analysts have mixed views on whether the recent pessimism is warranted. While maintaining a consensus "Buy" rating with an average price target of $57.76—implying roughly 65% upside from current levels—Citizens downgraded the stock from "Market Outperform" to "Market Perform" on January 23, 2026. The downgrade cited intensifying competition, particularly from Amazon's expanding demand-side platform capabilities, and concerns that generative AI could lower switching costs between advertising platforms.
The company's growth deceleration has been a primary concern for investors. Revenue growth in the third quarter of 2025 reached approximately 18% year-over-year, the slowest rate since early 2022. Management attributed the slowdown to broader macroeconomic uncertainty that led companies to scale back advertising spending. Analysts project further deceleration to 13% growth in the fourth quarter, though the company maintains that the weakness is temporary rather than structural.
Amazon's emergence as a direct competitor represents perhaps the most significant competitive threat. The e-commerce giant has been aggressively expanding its advertising business beyond its own properties, leveraging its vast retail media dataset to challenge The Trade Desk's market position. Additionally, evolving data privacy regulations have made it more challenging for all advertising technology companies to obtain the data necessary for precise targeting.
Despite these headwinds, The Trade Desk maintains several competitive advantages. The company's customer retention rate exceeds 95% for the 11th consecutive year, and its Kokai platform has been adopted by 85% of clients for ad purchases. International markets now account for 13% of total revenue and are growing faster than domestic sales.
Management has expressed optimism about 2026, forecasting a return to growth acceleration. The broader programmatic advertising market continues to expand, with U.S. programmatic display spending expected to exceed $203 billion in 2026, representing 12.5% year-over-year growth. Connected television and programmatic audio represent key growth vectors, with programmatic audio spend projected to reach $2.6 billion in 2026.
The Trade Desk's position as a neutral, independent platform across multiple channels—including connected TV, audio, and retail media networks—remains a durable competitive advantage against proprietary platforms operated by larger technology companies. However, investors will be closely watching the upcoming earnings report for signs that the leadership transition and competitive pressures are impacting execution.