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Technology Stocks : Booking Holdings (formerly Priceline) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tech101 who wrote (2569)	5/2/2001 1:47:51 AM
From: Michael Auth	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 2743

KEEPING IT GOING Analysts are hopeful that Priceline.com can enter an era of sustained profitability and leverage its established brand to continue to increase revenues. But Expedia and Travelocity are formidable competitors that each attract more than twice Priceline.com's 3 million monthly visitors. The wild card in the equation could be Orbitz, which has been in talks with both Priceline.com and Hotwire about partnering. It was feared that Orbitz could quickly make the likes of Expedia and Travelocity, which are both straightforward fare finders, irrelevant. On the other hand, Priceline.com can continue to act as a last resort for airlines to sell their unused inventory at fire-sale prices. Were a deal between Orbitz and Priceline.com to become a reality, we could see the stock go on another tear. Orbitz, however, has yet to prove to several states' attorneys that its business is not anticompetitive and monopolistic. It does seem that Priceline.com, and indeed the entire online travel industry, has righted the ship at last. Even with its gains of Tuesday, the stock is still trading at a discount to its peers with a 2002 price-to-earnings ratio of 47, versus that of Travelocity (56) and Expedia (231). So at $6.59 and with profitability in sight, it looks like Priceline.com's price is finally right.