TripAdvisor (NASDAQ: TRIP) recently launched its instant booking feature for independent hotels that enables travelers to book the hotel of their choice directly on the TripAdvisor website.
Back in November 2014, TripAdvisor signed up 31 connectivity providers certified as TripConnect Premium Partners, which made the service available to more than 50,000 independent hotels and bed & breakfasts.
On January 8, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt downgraded his rating on TripAdvisor Inc from Buy to Hold and cut his price target from $87 to $78, reasoning that hotels have been signing up for the company’s instant booking feature at a slower rate than expected.
Devitt noted, “This delay combined with underwhelming core business metric growth and increasing growth contributions from acquisitions bring into question the near-term prospects of the core meta-search product.” Although the analyst is positive on the long term potential of the company’s instant booking feature, “the lack of visibility into key near-term drivers of the company's growth story and the uncertainty around its ability to be an industry disrupter lead us to the sidelines for 2015.”
Scott Devitt has rated TripAdvisor 8 other times since October 2011, earning a 67% success rate recommending the stock and a +14.7% average return per recommendation.
In the past year, Devitt has made 48 successful ratings out of 80 total, earning a 60% success rate recommending stocks and a +17.0% average return per recommendation.
However, Deutsche Bank analyst Lloyd Walmsley has an optimistic view on Trip Advisor’s instant booking feature, reiterating a Buy rating on the stock with a $102 price target on January 8.
Walmsley explained, “Our updated analysis shows a growing footprint of hotel supply on TripAdvisor Instant Book (IB), despite no meaningful announcements around new IB partners.” In addition, “When TripAdvisor increases the exposure of this footprint to a higher percentage of traffic, we expect it to be a positive impact on revenue per hotel shopper.”
Lloyd Walmsley has rated TripAdvisor 12 other times since September 2012, earning a 70% success rate recommending the stock and a +28.4% average return per recommendation.
Walmsley has made 32 successful recommendations out of 56 total over the past year, earning a 57% success rate recommending stocks and a +15.7% average return per recommendation.
On average, the top analyst consensus for TripAdvisor on TipRanks is Hold.
To see more recommendations for TripAdvisor, visit TipRanks today!
