Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) received a lot of attention from a substantial price increase on the NASDAQGS over the last few months. The company's trading levels have reached its high for the past year, following the recent bounce in the share price. With many analysts covering the large-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock's share price. However, what if the stock is still a bargain? Let's examine Expedia Group's valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there's still a bargain opportunity.
Is Expedia Group Still Cheap?
According to our price multiple model, which makes a comparison between the company's price-to-earnings ratio and the industry average, the stock price seems to be justfied. We've used the price-to-earnings ratio in this instance because there's not enough visibility to forecast its cash flows. The stock's ratio of 22.07x is currently trading slightly below its industry peers' ratio of 24.55x, which means if you buy Expedia Group today, you'd be paying a decent price for it. And if you believe that Expedia Group should be trading at this level in the long run, then there's not much of an upside to gain over and above other industry peers. Is there another opportunity to buy low in the future? Since Expedia Group's share price is quite volatile, we could potentially see it sink lower (or rise higher) in the future, giving us another chance to buy. This is based on its high beta, which is a good indicator for how much the stock moves relative to the rest of the market.
Can we expect growth from Expedia Group?
Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it's the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. With profit expected to grow by 65% over the next couple of years, the future seems bright for Expedia Group. It looks like higher cash flow is on the cards for the stock, which should feed into a higher share valuation.
What This Means For You
Are you a shareholder? EXPE's optimistic future growth appears to have been factored into the current share price, with shares trading around industry price multiples. However, there are also other important factors which we haven't considered today, such as the financial strength of the company. Have these factors changed since the last time you looked at EXPE? Will you have enough confidence to invest in the company should the price drop below the industry PE ratio?
Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on EXPE, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around industry price multiples. However, the optimistic forecast is encouraging for EXPE, which means it's worth further examining other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to take advantage of the next price drop.
Keep in mind, when it comes to analysing a stock it's worth noting the risks involved. While conducting our analysis, we found that Expedia Group has 1 warning sign and it would be unwise to ignore this.
If you are no longer interested in Expedia Group, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.