Expedia Stock Gains 4.2%, Goldman Sachs Ups Rating & TP

EXPE GRPN TRIP W

Expedia Group, Inc.’s (EXPE - Free Report) price target was recently increased more than 12% to $140 from $125 by Goldman Sachs. The analyst also raised its rating from Neutral to Buy.

Following the news, Expedia’s shares inched up 4.2% in response, eventually closing at $113.09. However, its shares have lost 11.8% in the past year compared with the industry’s decline of 9.3%.

 

 

Analysts at Goldman Sachs remain optimistic about the company’s future growth prospects. They expect Expedia to outperform the market in the near future. The analysts believe that the bookings will continue to accelerate in the upcoming quarters.

Expedia, with technical advancements on its platform and customer friendly services, will continue to enhance travel experience for users.

In the last reported quarter, Expedia recorded gross bookings of $24.7 billion, which improved 11.3% year over year but declined 4.6% sequentially. Revenues increased 13.9% sequentially and 10.4% on a year-over-year basis to $3.28 billion. Top-line growth of the company was driven by robust performance of HomeAway, Brand Expedia, Expedia Partner Solutions and Hotels.com. Further, improving stayed nights and expanding lodging portfolio drove the results.

The company is expected to report fourth-quarter results on Feb 7.

Conclusion

In this data-driven world, the online travel space has gained significant momentum, thanks to the increasing penetration of internet usage.

Further, growing proliferation of smartphones on a worldwide basis has made it easier for travelers to book flight and train tickets, hotel rooms, as well as rental cars at vacation spot, to name a few, from anywhere just by signing into an e-commerce travel site.

Reportedly, the global travel industry is projected to grow 12% over a period of 2017-2023.

We believe Expedia is well poised to reap benefits from this rapidly growing market on the back of technical advancements and robust travel services.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Expedia currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include TripAdvisor, Inc. (TRIP - Free Report) , Groupon, Inc. (GRPN - Free Report) and Wayfair Inc. (W - Free Report) . While TripAdvisor sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), both Groupon and Wayfair carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth rate for TripAdvisor, Groupon and Wayfair is currently pegged at 14.1%, 3% and 18%, respectively.

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