Credit Suisse Assumes Coverage of TripAdvisor At Neutral

Stephen Ju of Credit Suisse assumed coverage of TripAdvisor TRIP on Monday (due to the departure of the primary analyst) with an unchanged Outperform rating and $105 price target. “Our thesis remains unchanged as the fruits of TripAdvisor's work to execute a transformation (Meta) to improve the consumer value proposition by increasing users' ability to more reliably compare hotel prices are still unrealized,” Ju wrote. The analyst adds that based on his internal surveys, there is a “high inclination” to use the Meta product and that the number of users aware of the offering still remains low. According to Ju, a “modest” hike in the conversion of the roughly 60 percent of hotel shoppers currently not using TripAdvisor as a price comparison tool will yield an “outsized” financial impact on the company. Under TripAdvisor's model, TripAdvisor will benefit as it will generate “incremental” revenue on “little incremental” costs.