Cantor Fitzgerald's Review of Yelp is Positively Glowing

A new report from Cantor Fitzgerald today upgrades its view of Yelp YELP from Hold to Buy. CF cites the sell-off of Yelp from its high of $24.03 on 11/1/12 to its more recent average of $18.82 per share. The report places heavy emphasis on the efficiency of Yelp's salesforce because they have reduced sales expenses and sales growth has outpaced salesperson growth. Internet traffic metrics for October also show a big increase in traffic, which is a trend that is expected to continue into the 2013 fiscal year. Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find local businesses and boasts an average of 84 million unique visitors each month. Yelp makes money by selling ads to local businesses. The businesses reviewed by Yelp cannot change their reviews or add new ones, a feature they say that their competitors do not share. Since the company's $15 a share IPO on March 2, 2012, the stock has risen as high as $31.96 per share and has fallen as low as $14.10 per share. As of midday trading on Tuesday, November 27, the stock is moving at $19.57 per share, up 3.05%.