Morgan Stanley Feels Confident in Expedia Following MS 2014 TMT Conference

In a report published Tuesday, Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt reiterated an Equal-Weight rating on Expedia EXPE. In the report, Morgan Stanley noted, “Mark Okerstrom, CFO, reiterated that Hotwire has found its footing and expects performance to stabilize / improve in 2014. Mr. Okerstrom discussed that sales and marketing spend would likely not see near-term leverage, as Expedia is focused on gaining share through marketing on a wide variety of channels. Regarding advertising on TripAdvisor, Mr. Okerstrom is open to working with the company on new initiatives, such as assisted booking, as long as Expedia will be able to maintain its brand presence. "This morning, Julie Bradley, CFO of TripAdvisor, explained that assisted booking would launch sometime in 2014, and has been in talks with multiple OTAs, although no specific partners have yet been mentioned.” Expedia closed on Monday at $76.70.