Yelp Stock Spikes on Pacific Crest Upgrade, Sees Advantage Unmatched By Competitors

YELP GOOGL

Yelp Inc. (YELP - Free Report) closed up 1.94% to $33.37 on Tuesday with a key analyst upgrade. Pacific Crest, well known for their equity analysts, upgraded Yelp stock from “Sector Weight” to “Overweight” with a price target of $43.00.

Pacific Crest analysts say that Yelp’s ease and utility of their self-service product are “underappreciated,” and their competition is overly focused on. Self-serve is a platform Yelp offers which lets businesses manage their own advertising.

Analyst Brad Erickson of Pacific Crest says Yelp’s sentiment cannot be matched by competitors Google (GOOGL - Free Report) and Facebook . He is talking about how businesses feel that Yelp is the most effective way to reach consumers who are ready to decide where to eat or get a haircut.

The equity research team had conversations with 30 local ad customers. None of the 30 businesses looked to allocate their Yelp budget to Google because people who look up places on Google, at the end of the day, have “lower intent” to make purchases.

Additionally, Mr. Erickson’s “channel checks” show that Yelp is producing value for its customers, and is protected from big competitors like Facebook and Google. With that, he believes Yelp can effectively capture the $60 billion of local ad spending shifting online.

“Conversations with 30 local ad customers raised our conviction that Yelp is delivering value to its customers, while staying insulated from larger competitors like Google and Facebook. With over $60 billion of offline local ad spending shifting toward online, we believe Yelp remains well-positioned to capitalize on this,” wrote Mr. Erickson.

Analysts show 18 buy ratings, 13 hold ratings and 2 sell ratings for Yelp stock.

Stocks that Aren't in the News. Yet.

You are invited to download the full, up-to-the-minute list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 "Strong Buys" free of charge. Many of these companies are almost unheard of by the general public and just starting to get noticed by Wall Street. They have been pinpointed by the Zacks system that nearly tripled the market from 1988 through 2015 with a stellar average gain of +26% per year. See these high-potential stocks free >>

Zacks Names "Single Best Pick to Double"

From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.

It’s a little-known chemical company that’s up 65% over last year, yet still dirt cheap. With unrelenting demand, soaring 2022 earnings estimates, and $1.5 billion for repurchasing shares, retail investors could jump in at any time.

This company could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in little more than 9 months and NVIDIA which boomed +175.9% in one year.

Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>