What happened
In recent weeks, travel and tourism has been a reliably popular industry with investors, in contrast to many other sectors of the economy. This reputation was only enhanced by the latest set of fundamentals posted by online travel agency TripAdvisor (TRIP +2.44%).
On the heels of the company's second-quarter earnings release, two analysts at prominent financial institutions raised their price targets at the stock, although there was one big caveat to this. As of Thursday night, TripAdvisor's share price had risen by over 9% week to date, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
So what
TripAdvisor ended last week on a high note, posting a quarterly revenue improvement of nearly 80% year over year. Net income flipped well into the black, and along with that revenue number it trounced the average analyst estimate.
That led prognosticators at both Citigroup and U.K. banking mainstay Barclays to lift their price targets on TripAdvisor stock. The former's Ronald Josey bumped the stock's price target $1 higher; it now stands at $27 per share. Barclays analyst Deepak Mathivanan, meanwhile, increased TripAdvisor's price target by $5 per share for a new target of $22.
On a slightly down note, both are maintaining their not overly bullish recommendations on the shares -- neutral in the case of Josey, and underweight (read: sell) for Mathivanan.
These cautious, and unchanged, recommendations might have been one reason why investors didn't pop TripAdvisor stock higher in the immediate post-earnings period. Another is the price target adjustments from three analysts at other financial institutions, who reduced their targets.
NASDAQ: TRIP
Key Data Points
Now what
Regardless, in these rather wobbly times investors are eager to ride the bull train on any sector that's doing well. With the crypto winter still causing a freeze and other sectors (including financial technology and big tech) leaving investors cold, the rebound of tourism is a hot story by contrast. Expect continued support for TripAdvisor and its peers as long as people keep traveling.
