Priceline.com Inc (PCLN) Could Beat Google Inc (GOOG) to $1,000

It’s been five months since I offered up four stocks that could get to $1,000 before Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

One of them went on to do exactly that. Two of the other three don’t have much of a shot to hit four figures any time soon. However, then we get to Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN).

It’s going to be quite the footrace between these two.

The search engine leader continues to trade at a higher level than the fast-growing travel portal, but Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN)’s making up ground here. Priceline stock has gone on to climb 29% to hit $888.63. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) — with its 14% gain in that time — closed at $905.09 yesterday.

I’m a fan of both companies, but I still believe that Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) will be the first of the two dot-com darlings to break through the $1,000 barrier.

Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN)’s latest move higher came on a 4% pop yesterday, with the Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt boosting his rating from equal weight to overweight. Devitt also pushed his price target to $1,010, becoming the first of the nearly two dozen major analysts following Priceline to offer up a four-figure goal.

There are already a few analysts — including Bernstein Research’s Carlos Kirjner and CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets’ James Lee — perched at $1,000 price targets when it comes to Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG).

Neither stock may seem cheap these days. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) is trading at 20 times this year’s projected earnings and 17 times next year’s forecast. Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN)’s fetching pricier multiples of 23 for this year and 19 come 2014.

Both companies have earned their markups, though Priceline is growing faster. Wall Street’s betting on 16% growth at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) for both this year and 2014. Analysts see Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) growing at a healthy 23% clip in 2013 and a still respectable 20% rate next year.

The competitive climate may seem to give Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) the leg up here given the cutthroat nature of travel portals and Google’s safe standing as the global leader in search, but Priceline’s been finding ways to grow a lot faster than its market for years.