TripAdvisor (TRIP) Shares Down Again as Street Considers Google as a Travel Competitor

Shares of TripAdvisor (Nasdaq: TRIP) have remained in negative territory throughout Thursday's session despite major averages which are up about 0.8 percent. Shares of TripAdvisor are currently trading at $25.43, down 1.3 percent from Wednesday's close.

It seems many firms on Wall Street need more time and data before getting off the sidelines. Analysts at both Morgan Keegan and Raymond James initiated coverage on the stock with hold-equivalent ratings this morning. Last week, UBS and Barclays initiated coverage on TRIP with Neutral and Equalweight ratings, respectively. Analysts at Lazard Capital and Morgan Stanley were a little more decisive, issuing Buy and Underweight ratings, respectively.

The neutral Wall Street stance may stem from recent debates on whether Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE) retained value after spinning off TripAdvisor. Additionally, reports of further diving into the travel sector by Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) has raised concern. Google is effectively putting it's recent acquisition of ITA Software to good use by offering websurfers direct prices for travel searches and therefore moving Expedia (and competitors) down in the search rankings. Airlines have cheered Google's move considering the middleman (travel sites) get cut out of the deal.

Once more clarity on the direction of the economy is established, and consumer spending picks up, the travel industry as a whole will reap the benefits. The neutral stance, at this point, may be the place to stay.

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