Move Inc. (MOVE): Can Zillow Inc (Z) and Trulia Inc (TRLA) Go Much Higher in Share Price?

However, user growth is also important, and that is where Move Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE) falls short. Despite having more experience as a company, Move Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE) has been passed in terms of unique monthly users this past year by both Zillow and Trulia. As more users flock to each site, that leaves fewer users for Move Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE), and more importantly, it gives less incentive for their paying advertisers to pay their fees when they can move to either Zillow or Trulia to attract more potential customers.

Can Zillow and Trulia go higher?
As long as Zillow Inc (NASDAQ:Z) and Trulia Inc (NYSE:TRLA) can show revenue, membership, and paying subscription growth, they are capable of seeing much higher share prices. Whether net income stays negative or possibly swings to the positive is just an added bonus of owning any of these stocks. However, if any of these three companies show a surprise to the negative in any category, the other two will likely also suffer in share price.

Nevertheless, the Internet age can only help both in acquiring more users. It is much cheaper, convenient, and more efficient to browse potential homes from the comfort of your computer than it is to drive around town for hours to visit just a dozen or so homes, at most, per day.

However, brand name is everything. Within any industry — especially those related to the Internet based on history — there are dozens of competitors that have faded in the background, were bought out, or were shut down. For every Amazon.com, there have been many extinct competing businesses that very few even remember today. While it is nice to produce a positive net income in the early stages of a growing company, it limits the ability to increase company reinvestment costs when the window of opportunity in some cases is a matter of months, not years, to build a solid user base.

Brand name is why I believe the online real estate marketplace is a race between Zillow and Trulia. Move Inc. (NASDAQ:MOVE) is simply falling too far behind in terms of revenue and user growth, producing a gap that looks to only widen in the coming years.

The article Can Zillow and Trulia Go Much Higher in Share Price? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Michael Carter.

Michael Carter has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Google, and Zillow. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Google, and Zillow.

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