• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 11 hours ago

Even against the broader industry backdrop of the potentially powerful Amazon DSP looking to take on big independent DSP the Trade Desk, TTD stock rose sharply higher earlier this week.

The stock rose 14% on Tuesday morning, due to the inclusion of the company in the bigger S&P 500 index. On Wednesday, stock settled in with little change in mid-day trading at $81.27.

While the company’s stock move has seen gains as a result of joining one of the premiere stock market indexes, a broader picture seems to show the Trade Desk regaining its footing among investors: That is, returning to overdelivering on its quarterly estimates in the marketplace for the last few years.

Chiefly, that means seeing rising results to its connected TV media buying, especially as an “independent”-focused DSP. 

This is something for which Amazon DSP has now looked to make inroads.

While the Amazon DSP was originally focused on its own video platforms -- Amazon Prime Video, Fire TV, and FreeVee (now incorporated into Prime Video -- it now has expanded its purview.

Amazon DSP has made recent ad inventory deals with Walt Disney, with that company Real-Time Ad Exchange -- as well as an earlier Roku deal giving it access to Disney, Paramount Global, Warner Bros. Discovery, Fox Corp. 's Tubi. ad inventory.

Analysts also guess Trade Desk’s Kokai, media buying  platform -- one that incorporates futuristic  artificial intelligence will aid in more efficient digital ad buying. 

All this could compete with Amazon AI infused efforts on its DSP. On the other hand, Vasilios Lambos, chief executive officer of Lambos Digital says “while [Trade Desk’s] UID 2.0 helps create persistent user identifiers, it’s inherently less accurate than Amazon’s login-based, real-time behavioral targeting.”

Now, it is understandable that a revenue miss by any company can be an issue. But The Trade Desk stock cratered down 40% to 50% earlier this year.

Even with the sharp increase now being included in the S&P 500, there is still some concern -- because Amazon, with all its e-commerce wherewithal, can sway brands to come its way. 

In addition to eCommerce, some buyers believe Amazon has an advantage with automotive brands and local retail advertisers that can directly connect to purchase behavior.

Trade Desk believes its platform provides wider  transparency, and the "open-web" is what advertisers and brands have been clamoring about for some time. For many, Amazon DSP is just the opposite of that. 

In addition, TTD has access to third-party inventory sources -- a broader connection with premium and data publishers.

The Trade Desk stock is still down 32% year-to-date.