UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades Expedia to Buy, Raises PT Following Soldi 3Q Results

In a report published Thursday, Bank of America analyst Justin Post upgraded the rating on

from Neutral to Buy, and raised the price target from $60.00 to $75.00. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We are upgrading Expedia to Buy (from Neutral). Expedia has underperformed the sector at down 19% YTD (vs. Internet large caps +69% and NAS +30% YTD), and we think improving trends and Travelocity commentary will improve sentiment into 2014. Our upgrade is based on: 1) stabilizing trends at Expedia and Hotwire brands (sooner than we thought); 2) increased visibility on Travelocity partnership; 3) less marketing deleverage; 4) positive view on ETP; 5) signs of tech. expense leverage after a multi-year investment cycle; 6) less risk to Street 2014 EBITDA ests;. and 7) relatively undemanding valuation at 14x our revised 2015 EPS of ~$4.40.” Expedia closed on Wednesday at $49.96.