In a note about the monetization of big data collection, Evercore ISI singled out Priceline as being particularly good at this practice because the travel site uses algorithms to increase hotel bookings and other travel services.
Evercore upgraded the stock to buy from hold.
"In terms of execution, Priceline's growth leads peers on 2x the base, the company is expanding into large and underpenetrated markets, and it is doing more for its hotelier customers in the way of enterprise services, which we see as creating additional stickiness for it as a platform, especially among independents," analyst Ken Sena wrote. "Priceline shares offer scale advantage, execution track record, and value."
Because of Priceline's technological prowess, Sena makes it one of his top big data investment ideas alongside Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba and Google.
"Fewer platforms will handle greater need. The result is that the amount of data handled by businesses is set to explode," he wrote. "This supports the 'software is eating the world' view of things, particularly as machine learning and generative design begins to find its way into a growing number of industries."
