Expedia gains as Evercore turns bullish, sees 50%-plus upside

Recruit Holdings

17/11/2023 14:19

** Expedia's  EXPE.O  shares up 3.4% at $134.24 premarket
after Evercore upgrades online travel platform to "outperform"
from "in line"
    ** Brokerage boosts PT from $135 to Street-high $200, per
LSEG, implying 54% upside to stock's last close
    ** Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney says EXPE at a "fundamental
inflection point", with probable rev growth acceleration and
EBITDA margin expansion in 2024
    ** Mahaney points to sustainable initiatives, including
roll-out of its OneKey brand loyalty program, and easing comps
    ** New PT based on 15x P/E on 2025 GAAP EPS est of $14.02
and 8x EV/EBITDA on '25 of $3.6 bln, he says
    ** Alongside EXPE upgrade, Mahaney cuts rating on Airbnb
 ABNB.O  to "in line", saying ABNB's relative risk-reward
outlook less attractive than EXPE's
    ** Now, 17 of 34 analysts covering EXPE rate stock "buy" or
"strong buy", 15 have "hold" and 2 rate "sell" or "strong sell",
per LSEG data; Median PT is $125
    ** Through Thurs close, EXPE's stock up 48% YTD
    ** On Weds, shares jumped 6.3% after ValueAct Capital
Management said it bought stake in EXPE, as well as in Indeed's
parent Recruit Holdings  6098.T , saying both firms set to
benefit from smarter pricing, better cost management and shrewd
modernization of the services used to run websites

 (Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed
are his own)
 ((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))