Why TripAdvisor Shares Took Off

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 travel information website TripAdvisor (NAS: TRIP) soared 18% Wednesday after its quarterly results flew past Wall Street estimates.

So what: TripAdvisor's wide first-quarter beat -- adjusted EPS of $0.38 on revenue of $183.7 million versus Wall Street's view of $0.33 and $174.4 million -- seems to be reigniting optimism over the company's growth prospects. There was some concern leading up to the report that higher sales and marketing costs would weigh on profits, but today's report puts those worries to rest.

Now what: On a conference call yesterday, the company said it now expects full-year revenue growth in the top half of its prior estimate range of mid- to high teen growth. "Our travel community has never been stronger with over 60 million reviews and opinions and adding content at a rate of more than 40 contributions per minute," noted President and CEO Steve Kaufer. "We continue to extend our market leadership position through real-time innovation across desktop, tablet and mobile and are thrilled with the opportunities in front of us." However, with the stock already up nearly 60% since being spun off from Expedia in late 2011, much of that opportunity might already be baked into the price.

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At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Brian Pacampara owns no position in any of the companies mentioned. 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.

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