Tripadvisor Inc (TRIP), Expedia Inc (EXPE): Is This Stock Tripping?

But the real beauty about Priceline is that even without being able to penetrate the U.S. market, the rebound in the European market holds solid growth prospects. Global online travel sales are expected to move from $141 billion in 2012 to $176 billion by 2016. Over this same time period, the company’s ratio of online sales to total travel sales in Europe is is expected to move from 45% in 2012 to 50% by 2016.

Its European exposure provides a solid growth opportunity given the region’s rebound from the debt crisis and rise in the travel industry. Its booking.com site only holds about 6% of the European hotel market, leaving tons of room for growth.

Bottom line

All in all, both Expedia and TripAdvisor still trade well in excess of Priceline…

But that’s not the only reason Priceline is the best bet. Priceline also has the best balance sheet, with the lowest debt-to-equity ratio.

When you couple it’s growth, Priceline trades at a PEG ratio 1.3, compared to TripAdvisor’s 2.3 and Expedia’s 1.4. Priceline is the industry leader and should be one of the big benefactor’s of a rebounding economy and increased travel.

The article Is This Stock Tripping? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Marshall Hargrave has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Priceline.com and TripAdvisor. The Motley Fool owns shares of Priceline.com and TripAdvisor. Marshall is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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