Tag Archives: mar

Qunar’s Airline Battle Won’t Slug No. 1 Chinese Agency Ctrip: ITG

Qunar ‘s ( QUNR ) ongoing dispute with China’s airlines won’t hurt China’s No. 1 online travel agent Ctrip.com ( CTRP ), which is expected to report March-quarter travel sales that doubled vs. last year, ITG analyst Henry Guo said. Ctrip and Qunar stocks split on the stock market today , with shares of Ctrip 1.7%, as Qunar fell 1.5%. IBD’s 11-company Leisure-Travel Booking industry group was up a fraction. For Q1, Guo expects Ctrip to report 4.19 billion to 4.29 billion yuan ($640 million to $650 million), topping the consensus view for 4.16 billion yuan. Ctrip hasn’t yet set a date for its Q1 earnings release. That outperformance would follow a months-long battle with flagship carrier Air China — along with some other local airlines including Hainan Airlines and its Hong Kong Airlines unit, as well as China Eastern’s Shanghai Airlines — over fees charged by booking agents such as Qunar. Ctrip acquired a stake in Qunar after the two formed a partnership last year. In the wake of airlines’ refusal to list on Qunar.com, the site now directs users to Ctrip.com or to airlines’ official websites, Guo wrote in a research note. “We believe this should help drive Ctrip’s organic transportation revenue growth and partially offset Qunar’s air-ticketing weakness,” he wrote. Hotel occupancy in China fell to 53.1% in Q1 from 53.6% in the prior quarter, Guo said, but revenue per available room surged 2.2% year over year, “suggesting improved monetization for the whole hotel industry.” At the same time, he says  InterContinental Hotels Group ( IHG ) and Hilton Worldwide ( HLT ) reported 8.3% and 8% year-over-year growth for their Chinese operations, respectively, and Marriott International ( MAR ) saw revenue per available room in Asia rise 6.8% vs. last year. Guo expects Ctrip to report a 76% to 86% jump in accommodations sales vs. the year-earlier quarter, topping the company’s guidance for 70%-80% growth. He sees Ctrip’s travel segment more than doubling revenue. Packaged tours — one of Ctrip’s growth engines — has benefited from outbound travel to high-demand destinations like Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, Guo wrote. Relaxed visa requirements have helped fuel outbound travel. He expects 52% year-over-year growth in this segment.

Apple Supplier Integrated Device Rated Buy; Discount ‘Unwarranted’

Apple ( AAPL ) Watch supplier Integrated Device Technology ( IDTI ) is outgrowing the broad chip market with “superior” financial returns, a Needham analyst wrote Monday as he initiated coverage of the stock. But Integrated Device stock hasn’t recovered from a Feb. 2 nosedive that saw shares plunge 27% on the company’s massive March-quarter guidance miss. Wall Street had set the high bar after Integrated Device acquired privately-held ZMDI in December. Shares are now down 23% for the year. Intraday on the stock market today , Integrated Device stock was down more than 1%, near 20, despite Needham analyst N. Quinn Bolton’s buy rating and 26 price target. Integrated Device stock trades at an “unwarranted” discount to rivals, Bolton wrote in his research note. The company leads in its bread-and-butter wireless charging market with design wins at Samsung, Apple, LG, Ikea and Marriott ( MAR ). Bolton estimates the market will be a $500 million opportunity by 2020. By 2019, the market for memory interfaces — which improve computer memory bandwidth in servers — will grow to a $452 million opportunity from $144 million in 2011, Bolton estimates. “Though we expect a pause in Integrated Device’s memory interface revenue in 2017 as Broadwell-based servers ramp, we forecast a resumption in growth in 2018 as Intel ‘s ( INTC ) Purley platform ramps,” he wrote. Sales of high-performance, energy-efficient analog/mixed-signal chips will grow to $138 million in 2018 from $5 million in 2014, he says. Integrated Device diversified into that segment with its ZMDI acquisition.

TripAdvisor Expands Hotel Partnership With Marriott

TripAdvisor (TRIP) stock traveled higher Wednesday after the online travel site announced an expanded partnership with hotel chain Marriott International (MAR). TripAdvisor will add Marriott’s global hotel portfolio to the TripAdvisor Instant Booking platform. Starting this summer, travelers shopping for hotel rooms on TripAdvisor will be able to book any of Marriott’s more than 4,200 hotels worldwide without leaving the TripAdvisor website.