Ctrip.com Shares Dropped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Chinese travel services specialist Ctrip.com International (NAS: CTRP) sank 10% Tuesday after its quarterly results disappointed investors.

So what: Slowing revenue growth, coupled with rapidly rising expenses, is forcing Wall Street analysts to lower their price targets on Ctrip yet again. In fact, the stock is flirting with 52-week lows on today's news and is down more than 40% over the past six months.

Now what: For the current quarter, management sees year-over-year revenue growth of 15%-20%, in line with its previous forecast. "In 2012, Ctrip will invest further to enhance the competitive edge of each business line in order to offer the best product with the best service at the best price," said CEO Min Fan. "Ctrip will work tirelessly to strengthen our leadership of the travel industry and rise far beyond the competition." However, given Ctrip's worrisome margin trend, U.S. counterparts like priceline and Travelzoo might actually be better bets at this point.

Interested in more info onCtrip?Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of Ctrip, priceline, and Travelzoo. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Ctrip. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Fool's disclosure policy always gets a perfect score.

Copyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.