Acquisition Of Eat24 Should Give Yelp More Control, Says Brean Capital

Tom Forte of Brean Capital on Wednesday commented in a note that Yelp Inc's (NASDAQ: YELP) acquisition of Eat24 advances its Yelp Platform efforts – where consumers increasingly complete transactions on its platform versus researching merchants on Yelp and finalizing a purchase elsewhere.

"We believe its Yelp Platform efforts could serve as a catalyst for transactions revenue and advertising sales, with the company able to prove ROI to merchants via transaction data," Forte wrote.

The analyst also notes that Yelp can make further acquisitions to expand its Yelp Platform in to other categories such as shopping, home and local services and beauty and fitness.

Forte felt it appropriate to upgrade shares to Buy from Hold while introducing a $50 price target as the acquisition "significantly" expands its Yelp Platform. In addition, the acquisition gives Yelp control over the delivery process and becomes less reliant on third-party operators for execution.