There is no question that Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) is a success story. Offering hotel reservations in 99 countries in 41 different languages, plus flights, rental cars, cruises, and entire vacation packages, Priceline has done incredibly well. As a result, its shareholders have prospered. I wonder if any of my readers remember the news stories after the .com crash of the early 2000’s in which William Shatner expressed his outrage and regret over being paid primarily in Priceline stock.
Fast forward a decade or so, and those who bought Priceline after the crash did better than those who bought Apple at its lows. After hitting its all-time low of $6.30 in 2002, the stock has flourished since, recently trading around $700 for a gain of 11,000%! As for Mr. Shatner, the exact amount of Priceline stock he received is a mystery, the figure of $600 million seems to be mentioned a lot. Not bad for being a spokesperson!
Priceline has grown into a truly international company, operating under the booking.com and Agoda brands outside of the United States, and earning 82% of its income overseas (mostly in Europe). Priceline began primarily with its “Name Your Own Price” offerings, and began offering retail products in 2003, which as the chart below will tell you, that’s when revenues really began to take off.
Priceline’s general strategy includes becoming the number one travel website by improving functionality, pricing, and content, and maximizing its cross-selling opportunities, such as selling a rental car to purchasers of airline tickets. Since the company has successfully entered the European market, Priceline is hoping to replicate its European success in its next frontier: Asia. Having purchased Agoda, an Asian hotel-booking site, in 2007 and Priceline’s recently announced alliance with CTrip, a Chinese travel service provider; it plans to do just that.
One move that should do wonders for Priceline’s domination is its recently announced deal to purchase Kayak Software Corp (NASDAQ:KYAK) for $1.8 billion. Kayak is well-known for enabling travelers to compare pricing information from dozens of travel sites at once, like a search engine for travelers.
Priceline’s main competition is in the form of Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) and Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:OWW). Expedia (which includes Hotwire and Hotels.com) actually leads Priceline as the most visited travel website in the U.S. with 14.23% of all traffic to Priceline’s 11.62%. Orbitz only gets 5.84%, and both of these competitors lag Priceline in both international exposure and revenue growth (see charts below).
Expedia currently trades at 20.9 times 2012’s earnings, with a forward earnings growth rate of 15% projected for the next three years. Orbitz, by far the smallest of the three companies market-cap wise, trades at 14.5 times earnings, and growth estimates vary wildly, from a 75% year-over-year decline to a 100% annual gain. When you combine that uncertainty with the fact that the company has over $300 million in net debt (more than their market cap!), and Orbitz looks like a spec play at best.
Priceline trades at the highest multiple of the three at 22.5 times 2012’s earnings of $30.91 per share, but for good reason. The company is expected to produce earnings of $37.45 and $44.23 in 2013 and 2014, respectively, for annual growth of 21.2% and 18.1%. Not only is this an incredible growth rate for the valuation, but the company also has the most attractive balance sheet of the three with almost $5 billion in cash and equivalents with no debt. The company also recently announced a $200 million share buyback plan, which should add even more value to the shares.
The bottom line is that Priceline is clearly the best-in-breed in the travel sector. If they have even half of the success in Asia as they have in Europe, the earnings projections mentioned above will prove to be very conservative indeed!
The article This Travel Service Provider Is The Best, Hands Down originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Matthew Frankel.
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