Yelp (YELP) PT Lowered to $44 at Evercore ISI
Evercore ISI analyst Lee Horowitz lowered the price target on Yelp (NYSE: YELP) to $44.00 (from $46.00) while maintaining a In Line rating.
The analyst comments "We are reiterating In Line rating on YELP in the wake of a Largely Meet & Lower Q1 EPS, and modestly trimmed PT to $44. Q1 Revenue was in-line with the Street, with a solid beat on EBITDA, tho mgmt. is leaning into an investment cycle, with Q2 Revenue & EBITDA guide missing the Street, and FY24 Revenue guide reiterated, tho FY24 EBITDA guidance range tightened down driven by a fresh cycle of investment. We think the company is exploring an interesting set of opportunities (SEM to drive Services lead gen, an AI assistant to drive more effective Services match, and Yelp Fusion AI API that better leverage 3P Gen AI tools to surface Yelp content), which could all unlock potentially material future upside for Yelp. Encouragingly, the company is seeing promising signals from these early investment (esp. SEM lead gen) that gives mgmt. greater confidence in leaning into these product cycles in a more meaningful way. That said, with no Revenue flow-thru baked into the FY24 guide, the timing and magnitude of these investment payback would be key for investors in the next couple of quarters."