Forensic Analysis · Technology / Software · as of Aug 10, 2026
Trade Desk, Inc. (TTD)
A forensic read on Trade Desk, Inc. built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
A · High-quality compounder
Forensic grade
Safe
Financial health
4.2
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
19.4
P / E (ttm)
17.8%
ROE
$6.2B
Market cap
18.5%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (red flags, auditor quality, say on pay, board independence). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Trade Desk, Inc. earns an A (High-quality compounder) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 4.2, placing it in the Safe zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by shareholder returns.
What the filings flag
173% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $1.4B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 173% of free cash flow. More than free cash flow generated — and beyond operating cash too, so the extra is coming from debt or cash reserves, which isn't sustainable indefinitely. Counting the $491M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 235%.
+14.5%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +14.5% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not total assets (see the Forensic Screens card's differently-scaled Sloan Accrual Ratio for that read). Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by receivables up +13% against revenue +18%. This is the ninth straight fiscal year of building accruals — an even longer streak than the 3-year mark that already signals a materially stronger tell. The cash-flow cross-check is more mixed: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 32% of net operating assets, diverging from the balance-sheet accrual read.
-0.4%/yr
FY2022–FY2025
Share count.Diluted share count changed -1% over the last 3 years to FY2025 (-0.4%/yr). Roughly flat — buybacks ($1.4B) are about offsetting stock comp ($491M), not shrinking the count. Per-share value isn't being meaningfully helped or hurt by the count.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$2.90B
Revenue Growth YoY+18.5%
Revenue CAGR (3yr)+22.4%
Net Margin15.3%
Free Cash Flow$795.7M
Return on Equity17.8%
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Trade Desk, Inc.'s actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?