I'm willing to bet that most investors wish they'd bought shares of then-obscure digital advertising technology company The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) when it went public in 2016. It closed its first day of trading around $3 per share (adjusted for its stock split), meaning a $10,000 investment then would be worth $200,000 today.

Already a 20-bagger, many investors believe it's far too late to buy The Trade Desk stock. And indeed, there is at least one risk for investors to be aware of. But you may be surprised by just how early it may be in The Trade Desk's journey as a business.

Valuing a stock is a complex exercise full of nuance. This applies to valuing The Trade Desk stock as well. But let's keep things simple: The price-to-sales (P/S) valuation for The Trade Desk stock right now is around 18, which is about double what it was when the company went public. The chart below helps illustrate this.

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Source Fool.com