Yelp stock might merit only a one-star review for 2020.
The widespread shutdown of indoor dining has weighed heavily on the online recommendation service. Yelp shares have lost 20% of their value this year, trading at a recent $26.53 and underperforming the
Nasdaq Composite index by more than 60 percentage points.
Yet changes in its business model, combined with hopes for a reopening of the economy as Covid-19 vaccines arrive, give reason to think that Yelp (ticker: YELP) can reach for the stars.
Yelp is trading for a modest two times estimated forward sales, well below
TripAdvisor (TRIP) at 3.5 times and
Booking Holdings (BKNG) at eight times. And really, the stock is even cheaper: Yelp ended September with almost $600 million in cash. That’s close to 30% of its market cap of just $2 billion. The company has also vowed to buy back stock in the current quarter.
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During the great kiddie-pool shortage of 2020, parents scrounged far and wide for options to keep their kids cool and entertained through the lockdown. Plastic tubs may soon be forgotten in the garage, but consumers who installed the real thing will be paying to maintain their pools for years to come, pandemic or not. And that’s great news for
Shares of Pool Corp. (ticker: POOL), which distributes swimming-pool supplies and the equipment professionals use to maintain, refurbish, and replace pools, haven’t had an easy time of late. As an obvious beneficiary of the Covid-19 pandemic, the stock soared 130% from its March 2020 low through its November high. Yet like many stay-at-home stocks, it sold off on recent headlines about a potential coronavirus vaccine it’s down 7% since its peak, to about $365 recently.
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The pandemic can’t end soon enough for airlines, but investors have priced the carriers’ shares as if the end is in sight.
Airline stocks have climbed sharply as vaccine approvals have lifted hopes for travel, and they are no longer bargains. The sector has gained 39% since early November, versus 13% for the S&P 500. While a few stocks look appealing as longer-term bets, investors might need to ride out some turbulence.
Airlines have hardly found their wings. Domestic travel is hovering at 35% of prepandemic levels, while international is down more than 80%. A $15 billion cash infusion from Washington, part of the new stimulus package, would help cover payrolls and avoid more furloughs at companies such as
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