LIVE
TTD
The Trade Desk, Inc. · Technology
$19.21
-0.36% this month
VERSUS
⟷
COMPARE
META
Meta Platforms, Inc. · Technology
$656.73
+15.83% this month
Scoreboard verdict
Across AI score, momentum, valuation, upside, operating margin
TTD
2
META
2
Comparison scoreboard
MIXED SETUPAI Score
TTD 41.1
META ✓53.0
1Y Return
TTD -74.53%
META ✓-8.47%
Fwd P/E
TTD ✓8.94
META 18.42
Target Up.
TTD ✓+26.60%
META +23.78%
Op. Margin
TTD N/A
META 40.62%
Metrics last refreshed: 7/14/2026
Quick take
TTD vs META: The Trade Desk vs Meta Platforms Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
The Trade Desk is an independent open internet programmatic platform benefiting from advertiser diversification away from Meta, while Meta is the largest social advertising walled garden with first-party data advantages. Meta has better near-term ROAS with AI-powered Advantage+; Trade Desk benefits when advertisers seek open internet reach.
TTD vs META is open internet programmatic DSP versus social advertising walled garden — Trade Desk wins if CTV advertising scale and advertiser diversification from social to open internet continue; Meta wins if Advantage+ AI continues improving ROAS and keeps advertising budgets concentrated in Facebook and Instagram.
Live analysis · updated 7/14/2026
TTD and META are closely matched — they split the tracked metrics evenly. META has delivered stronger 1-year price return (-8.47% vs -74.53%), though TTD has the better forward P/E setup (8.94x vs 18.42x for META). Analyst consensus implies similar upside for both: +26.60% for TTD and +23.78% for META.
Normalized 1Y performance
TTD
META
Recent returns
TTD
META
Analyst price targets & sentiment
TTD · 30 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Hold (2.5/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$11.00
analyst high$38.00
analyst mean$24.32
current price$19.21
+26.6% upside to analyst mean
META · 62 analysts
STRONG BUYHOLDSTRONG SELL
Strong Buy (1.5/5.0)
Price target range
analyst low$466.00
analyst high$935.00
analyst mean$828.34
current price$656.73
+23.8% upside to analyst mean
Who should consider this stock?
TTD may suit investors who:
- →believe advertisers will continue diversifying from social media walled gardens toward CTV and open internet
- →want independent programmatic exposure without Meta's regulatory and privacy risk concentration
- →value Trade Desk's CTV positioning as streaming TV audiences grow and linear TV advertising declines
- →prefer a smaller, faster-growing advertising technology company vs Meta's scale
META may suit investors who:
- →prefer the largest social advertising platform with first-party data advantages and AI-powered targeting improvement
- →value Meta's 2B+ daily active people as an unmatched advertising audience scale
- →believe Advantage+ AI continues improving ROAS, justifying continued budget concentration in Meta
- →want social advertising scale with upside from WhatsApp monetization and AI features
Performance & AI score
| Metric | TTD | META |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 41.1 | 53.0 |
| AI rank | #1069 | #345 |
| Latest close | $19.21 | $656.73 |
| 1M return | -0.36% | +15.83% |
| 6M return | -47.94% | +0.56% |
| 1Y return | -74.53% | -8.47% |
$10,000 invested — hypothetical growth (dividends reinvested)
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | TTD | META |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $2.55K (-74.5%) started 2025-07-14 | $9.11K (-8.9%) started 2025-07-14 |
| 5Y ago | $2.61K (-73.9%) started 2021-07-14 | $19.07K (+90.7%) started 2021-07-14 |
| 10Y ago | $63.82K (+538.2%) started 2016-09-21 | $56.52K (+465.2%) started 2016-07-14 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
Valuation & upside potential
| Metric | TTD | META |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $9.03B | $1.7T |
| Trailing P/E | 21.83 | 24.33 |
| Forward P/E | 8.94 | 18.42 |
| Price/Sales | 3.04 | 10.30 |
| EV/Revenue | 2.80 | 7.93 |
| Analyst target | $24.32 | $828.34 |
| Target upside | +26.60% | +23.78% |
Growth, profitability & risk
| Metric | TTD | META |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 11.80% | 33.10% |
| Earnings growth | -20.00% | 62.40% |
| EPS growth | -20.00% | +62.40% |
| FCF margin | +19.17% | +11.89% |
| Operating margin | N/A | 40.62% |
| Profit margin | 14.57% | 32.84% |
| ROIC proxy | 16.74% | 32.93% |
| Return on equity | 16.74% | 32.93% |
| Dividend yield | 0.00% | 0.31% |
| Beta | 1.04 | 1.25 |
| Debt/equity | 17.26 | 35.61 |
| Current ratio | 1.68 | 2.35 |
| Quick ratio | 1.64 | 2.11 |
Drawdown & downside risk
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
1Y risk snapshot
TTD max drawdown80.69%
META max drawdown33.45%
TTD max wkly drop42.53%
META max wkly drop16.52%
5Y risk snapshot
TTD max drawdown87.58%
META max drawdown76.74%
TTD max wkly drop42.53%
META max wkly drop30.98%
10Y risk snapshot
TTD max drawdown87.58%
META max drawdown76.74%
TTD max wkly drop42.53%
META max wkly drop30.98%
Performance metrics by period
| Period | Metric | TTD | META |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | -74.53% | -8.90% |
| CAGR | -74.56% | -8.94% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -1.83 | -0.17 | |
| Max drawdown | 80.69% | 33.45% | |
| Max daily drop | 38.61% | 11.33% | |
| Max wkly drop | 42.53% | 16.52% | |
| 5Y | Growth | -73.91% | +89.81% |
| CAGR | -23.57% | +13.68% | |
| Sharpe ratio | -0.13 | 0.41 | |
| Max drawdown | 87.58% | 76.74% | |
| Max daily drop | 38.61% | 26.39% | |
| Max wkly drop | 42.53% | 30.98% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +538.21% | +462.56% |
| CAGR | +20.80% | +18.86% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.55 | 0.53 | |
| Max drawdown | 87.58% | 76.74% | |
| Max daily drop | 38.61% | 26.39% | |
| Max wkly drop | 42.53% | 30.98% |
Business comparison
| Category | TTD | META |
|---|---|---|
| Company | The Trade Desk, Inc. | Meta Platforms, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Communication Services |
| Industry | N/A | Internet Content & Information |
| Core business | Independent buy-side programmatic advertising platform for CTV, audio, display, and mobile across the open internet. Trade Desk does not compete with publishers for ad revenue. | Social media conglomerate with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the Reels short-video platform. Meta's advertising business is one of the largest globally, powered by first-party social graph data and AI-driven ad targeting. |
| Investor focus | CTV advertising spend, UID2 adoption, retail media integration, and revenue growth from incremental budget shifts from social to open internet. | Daily active people growth and engagement, ad revenue per user (ARPU) expansion, AI-driven ad performance improvement (Advantage+), and Reality Labs investment level. |
TTD strengths
- →Trade Desk benefits when advertisers diversify away from Meta and Google — open internet spend captures that budget
- →CTV growth is the most significant structural driver as streaming TV displaces linear TV viewership and advertising
- →UID2 and privacy-safe targeting give advertisers alternatives to relying on Meta's first-party social data
META strengths
- →Meta's first-party social graph data (2B+ daily active people) enables targeting precision that open internet alternatives cannot fully replicate
- →Reels has successfully captured short-video attention that was shifting to TikTok — Meta's engagement story is re-accelerating
- →Advantage+ AI-powered automated advertising has significantly improved advertiser ROAS, making Meta more competitive vs manual targeting alternatives
Risks to watch — TTD
- →Meta's ROAS (return on ad spend) improvements from AI have made it more competitive vs open internet buys
- →CTV ad prices can be volatile and measurement standardization across streaming platforms lags Meta's measurement capabilities
- →Trade Desk has no media ownership — it must access publisher inventory through supply paths that Meta controls for its own inventory
Risks to watch — META
- →Apple's ATT privacy framework permanently reduced Meta's ability to track iOS users off-platform, reducing targeting precision
- →Regulatory scrutiny across EU, FTC, and DOJ creates ongoing compliance risk for Meta's data use and ad practices
- →Reality Labs (metaverse/AI glasses) is a significant ongoing loss that reduces Meta's overall earnings power while the market is unproven
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