Skift Take
A theory made the rounds several years ago that Tripadvisor would be the next Booking.com. OK, that didn't happen, but dealt a bad hand by Google, Tripadvisor has been busy remaking itself. It's been a very long and uneven slog.
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Bold words from Richard Clarke, managing director of financial firm AllianceBernstein, who argues in an investment report that Tripadvisor is "both the best stock to play the release of pent-up demand but also an attractive long-term business transformation story as it diversifies away from under-pressure Metasearch."
Based largely on Tripadvisors' experiences, dining reservations, display advertising, Plus subscription service, and new trip-planning Reco features, Clarke argued that while the analyst consensus forecasts that Tripadvisor revenue in 2023 will fall below 2019 levels, he believes it will be around 9 percent greater.
"We increase our Target Price to $40, 14% potential upside and rate it Outperform," Clarke wrote.
Tripadvisor is certainly transforming itself in a process that has been under way for several years. But I'm skeptical about whether Tripadvisor has