Piper Jaffray: Priceline.com Unique Visitors Drops 21% Y/Y

Piper Jaffray has published a research report on travel services, including Expedia EXPE, Orbitz Worldwide OWW, Priceline.com PCLN, and TripAdvisor TRIP. In the report, Piper Jaffray writes, "European web traffic to OTAs has decelerated during Q1 through February along with the overall travel industry. The weakness is most pronounced in Southern Europe as well as in the UK. Revenue per available room growth decelerated to 0.0% y/y during Feb marking the first non-positive growth since Nov '09. Passenger air traffic for six European airlines grew +1% y/y during Feb. Meanwhile, OTA web traffic within Europe at eight travel sites is decelerating in Q1 through Feb at +25% y/y growth vs. +38% in Q4. We note booking.com (Priceline) unique visitors decelerated to +40% y/y during Q1 through Feb vs. +61% y/y during Q4, while 2 Key Expedia sites decelerated to +19% during Q1 through Feb vs. +22% in Q4. Reiterate an Overweight rating on both PCLN & EXPE and remain Neutral on TRIP and OWW." Piper Jaffray maintains its Overweight ratings on PCLN and EXPE, while maintaining Neutral on TRIP and OWW.