Piper Jaffray Analyst Olson Discusses the Future of Online Travel Stocks
NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Entering the July 4th weekend, online travel stocks Priceline (PCLN) and TripAdvisor (TRIP) are both up today, however, they have been hit hard after Brexit. Despite that, Piper Jaffray managing director and senior research analyst Mike Olson sees little cause for concern.
On CNBC's "Power Lunch" today, Olson reiterated that "unless there's a broader unraveling of the EU, I think in general this is a buying opportunity."
Indicating that although Priceline and Expedia (EXPE) are not at pre-Brexit levels, consumer traveling is based on sentiment. He feels there will be "no imminent shock to consumer sentiment of wage growth, deployment or an impact of GDP."
Commenting on the decline of the British Pound and other European currencies, and whether or not this could spike an uptick in travelers to Brittan and Europe, Olson added "we don't necessarily expect that that will have a significant impact or offsetting impact on Europe travel trends." He said 90% of hotel room bookings within Europe stem from European travelers.
Focusing on the futures of online travel stocks, Olsen concluded "We expect upside for Q2. Travel trends pre-Brexit Q2 is tracking at least flat if not up in a lot of markets as far as occupancy, average daily rates."