Why The Trade Desk Stock Slumped 20% Last Month

Shares of The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) fell 20% last month, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. As an advertising demand-side platform (DSP), the company is struggling to compete with large technology players for advertising dollars in the connected TV (CTV) market and just saw its CFO depart. Shares of the stock are down 81% from all-time highs as of this writing on February 5th, 2026.

Here's why The Trade Desk was down again last month, and whether it is a buy right now.

A quick CFO departure

The Trade Desk's business was already under pressure. And then, its CFO decided to leave after only five months on the job. On Monday, January 26th, The Trade Desk issued a press release stating that its prior CFO -- second in command at the business -- Alex Kayyal had resigned effective January 24th.

A few items stand out as suspicious in this release. First, Kayyal had only been on the job for five months. Second, the resignation was handed in on a Saturday, an atypical time to make a decision like this. Third, it had nothing to do with the business's financial performance, as the company reiterated its fourth-quarter guidance. This indicates that Kayyal was let go for non-financial performance, which has investors nervous about executive culture at the business.

At the same time the CFO chair keeps rotating, The Trade Desk is facing a slowdown in revenue growth. Revenue was up just 18% year over year last quarter for the advertising DSP, slower growth than its competitor, Amazon. Amazon has made a large push to build a DSP for advertisers for streaming internet TV, which has been The Trade Desk's specialty. It looks like Amazon may be gaining market share, which has investors nervous about Trade Desk's future growth.

Image source: Getty Images.

Should you buy The Trade Desk stock?

The Trade Desk's stock is down 80%, but it still trades at a premium price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 30, which is above the market average. This is much lower than its historical P/E ratio, which was pushing above 100, but is expensive nonetheless.

A declining P/E ratio can offset some of the executive turnover and Amazon competition risks, but it is not like The Trade Desk is trading at an earnings ratio of 10. With multiple CFOs in less than a year, The Trade Desk looks like a risky stock to buy, even after this current drawdown.

Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.