In a report published Thursday, Stifel analyst Scott Devitt downgraded the rating on TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ: TRIP) from Buy to Hold, and removed the $87.00 price target.
In the report, Stifel noted, “We are downgrading TripAdvisor shares from a Buy to a Hold with a $78 fair value. We recognize that TripAdvisor has evolved into an impressive vertical search platform for travel. However the transition down the booking funnel, a key focus for investors, has been slower than expected. 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. Furthermore we see increased marketing spend, due to industry-wide ROI pressure, as a potential drag on margin expansion. Overall we are positive on the long-term potential of the platform, but 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.”
TripAdvisor closed on Wednesday at $70.84.
Latest Ratings for TRIP
| Jan 2015 | Stifel Nicolaus | Downgrades | Buy | |
| Dec 2014 | Buckingham Research | Initiates Coverage on | Neutral | |
| Nov 2014 | Credit Suisse | Initiates Coverage on | Outperform |
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