Priceline.com shares nearly tripled over the last year. Does it have further room to run? Mark Mahaney, Internet research director at Citigroup Investment Research, shared his views.
“We continue to like this stock, there’s a lot of secular growth,” Mahaney told CNBC.
“This company has executed really well and has the same management team that has gone through the boom and the bust, and they have rebuilt that business extremely well."
"And they’ve got a very nice international presence, so we like the asset.”
Mahaney ranked the online travel company’s management team as the top three in the Internet space, next to Amazon.com and Netflix .
Mahaney also has a “buy” rating on rival firm Expedia — but still prefers Priceline .
“They have leading market shares in Europe, but they have a new play on the Asia markets, which is growing triple digits on triple digits,” he said. “Expedia doesn’t have that much international exposure. That’s the big edge that Priceline has.”
Despite the attractive factors of the company, Mahaney warned that there are risks that come with investing in the stock.
“There is a commodity risk and it’s reflected in the valuation,” he said. “This is a 30 to 40 percent earnings grower that trades at 20 times earnings…The market is concerned about the competitive risk and the recovery in corporate travel and how that could negatively impact this business.”
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More Market Analysis:
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Disclosures:
Citigroup owns shares of PCLN. Mahaney does not own shares of EXPE.
No immediate information was available for Khan or his firm.
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