Expedia’s Management Optimistic On Expansion Opportunity

Analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities maintain their “buy” rating on Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) and set a price target of $30.00 after their meeting with the CEO of Expedia.

According to the Firm, “Clearly, Expedia has lagged its competition in Europe, a highly fragmented hotel market, but it is making progress upgrading infrastructure to help close the gap. Mgmt highlighted key initiatives, including: 1) build up its agency inventory base, 2) improving site conversion in Europe (relevance on agency/merchant search results) and 3) build marketing platform in-house.”

They further added “We think this (controlled ramp in marketing spend) is a positive given that is lowers long-term operating cost in the model and builds strong internal IP in the business.”