Jefferies Reiterates Its Buy On Expedia Following Positive Earnings

Jefferies is reiterating its Buy rating and $31PT on Expedia

to reflect good 1Q and improving fundamentals on Hotels, which should translate into faster top-and-bottom line growth in 2H, solid growth in TripAdvisor, which bodes well for its planned spin-off, and attractive valuation at 6.5x fwd EBITDA supported by its SOTP. TripAdvisor (

) growth remained strong, with revenue up 30%Y/Y, showing that mgmt is managing this business quite well despite headwinds from Google Places. TA Media Network ad revenues of $94M grew 32% Y/Y and accounted for 11% of total revenues. Hotels.com gross bookings showed material acceleration, growing 39% Y/Y in 1Q form 12% in FY10. Room night growth accelerated across all regions, largely due to better conversions following changes to the platform. Arguably, similar changes planned for Expedia.com brand should yield into faster revenue growth in 2H. Mgt. reiterated guidance for mid-single digit growth in FY11 OIBA with improving results on the top/bottom lines in the remaining quarters. Jefferies is tweaking its FY11 estimate to $3,848M in revs and $1.89 in NEPS, from $3,742M and $1.85. EXPE closed at $24.68