Piper Jaffray Reiterates Overweight On Priceline Ahead Of Q3

Shares of Priceline hit a new 52-week high of $1,464.96 on Friday, and shares are now higher by nearly 30 percent year-to-date.

In a report published Friday, Michael Olson of Piper Jaffray maintained an Overweight rating and $1,540 price target ahead of the company's third-quarter earnings report on November 9. The analyst cited continued strength in Europe given stability in the euro, in addition to the positive catalyst of the company's recent instant book agreement with TripAdvisor.

Related Link: Priceline Group Roars To New All-Time High

Europe Trends Remain Strong

Olson noted that Europe accounts for roughly half of Priceline's total bookings. The analyst pointed out three factors that gives him confidence that the company will report strong results for its European operations: 1) European hotel revPAR (revenue per available room) remains "strong" and grew 10 percent year-over-year in the third quarter (versus 10 percent in the prior two quarters), 2) U.S. outbound travel to Europe has been "strong" and grew at a high-single digit rate in the quarter (versus a low-single digit growth rate in prior quarters) and 3) intra-Europe travel has also been "strong."

Priceline To Gain Share From Instant Book

According to Olson, TripAdvisor and Priceline's instant book partnership does not indicate Priceline is losing enough shares within that channel to materially impact its third- and fourth-quarter guidance. In addition, Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) indicated a "lack of interest" in using instant book during its conference call on Thursday, which may suggest that Priceline could gain share from Expedia in the channel in the coming quarters.

Shares of Priceline were maintained with an Outperform rating and unchanged $1,540 price target.

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