Priceline.com is set to become the S&P 500's first ever $1,000 stock as pitchman William Shatner fuels domestic growth and as international units gain market share in countries slow to transfer over to online travel bookings.
The amazing part is that the stock heads toward this feat with a reasonable valuation when compared to competitors and other high growth Internet companies, investors and analysts said.
"Priceline's comeback is almost as remarkable as Shatner's," said Simon Baker of Baker Avenue Asset Management. "Their recent blowout numbers were particularly impressive. Crank the dial to 1,000 and 'Beam me up Scotty.'"
Shares of Priceline are up more than 70 percent since bringing back Shatner of "Star Trek" fame back as its star in U.S. advertisements one year ago (after "killing" him off seven months prior in an ad).
The stock went into warp drive last week after the company reported net income had jumped 24 percent in the second quarter, as travel bookings climbed 38 percent. Even more impressive, international bookings surged 44 percent (ex-currency costs) in the period, marking the fifth quarter in a row of 40 to 45 percent growth for that metric, according to Piper Jaffray.
(Read more: The Street's fave small firm is crushing the market)
At least 17 Wall Street analysts came out with glowing reports after the earnings release, raising their targets to above $1,000. The average target price of those analysts is $1,133.
Standard & Poor's confirmed there has never been a $1,000 a share member in the 56-year history of the S&P 500, even during the dot-com bubble that gave birth to Priceline. Of course back then, many companies would split their shares before getting close to that milestone.