Company Reports

In 2026, Tripadvisor announced it would sell its dining brand TheFork and continue to allocate more resources to its leading experiences businesses that we think holds moaty characteristics, rather than its lagging hotel metasearch business, which we believe does not have a competitive advantage. We see this shift in focus as prudent and in line with our long-held view that the company's metasearch platform (where barriers to entry are lower than in online travel agency bookings) faces growing competition from mass market agentic artificial intelligence search products. We believe this competition will keep marketing costs elevated and cause its hotel-branded business to lose revenue share, blocking it from holding a network advantage during the next 10 years. To this point, Tripadvisor’s metasearch hotel revenue decreased 8% in 2025 and we estimate sales will decline 6% on average annually during 2026-35.

In 2026, Tripadvisor announced it would sell its dining brand TheFork and continue to allocate more resources to its leading experiences businesses that we think holds moaty characteristics, rather than its lagging hotel metasearch business, which we believe does not have a competitive advantage. We see this shift in focus as prudent and in line with our long-held view that the company's metasearch platform (where barriers to entry are lower than in online travel agency bookings) faces growing competition from mass market agentic artificial intelligence search products. We believe this competition will keep marketing costs elevated and cause its hotel-branded business to lose revenue share, blocking it from holding a network advantage during the next 10 years. To this point, Tripadvisor’s metasearch hotel revenue decreased 8% in 2025 and we estimate sales will decline 6% on average annually during 2026-35.

Tripadvisor's second-quarter revenue decreased 7%, with the experiences segment up 3% and the hotels business down 21%. Adjusted EBITDA dropped 21% driven by marketing deleverage. Shares were down 20% during early Aug. 6 trading.

On June 15, Tripadvisor announced a put option agreement to sell TheFork, its European online restaurant reservation and management platform, to American Express for $700 million in cash. The deal is expected to close at year-end. Shares are up roughly 5%.

In late 2025, Tripadvisor announced it would allocate more resources to its leading experiences and restaurant businesses that we think hold moaty characteristics, rather than its lagging hotel metasearch business, which we believe does not have a competitive advantage. We see this shift in focus as prudent and in line with our long-held view that the company's metasearch platform (where barriers to entry are lower than in online travel agency bookings) faces growing competition from mass market agentic artificial intelligence search products. We believe this competition will keep marketing costs elevated and cause its hotel-branded business to lose revenue share, blocking it from holding a network advantage during the next 10 years. To this point, in the first quarter, Tripadvisor’s metasearch hotel business remained soft, with revenue decreasing 29%.

Tripadvisor's first-quarter revenue decreased 4%, with its hotels business down 23%, experiences up 8%, and dining rising 23%. Adjusted EBITDA declined 50%, weighed by lower sales, higher marketing spending, and a mix of higher-cost experiences.

In late 2025, Tripadvisor announced it would allocate more resources to its leading experiences and restaurant businesses that we think holds moaty characteristics rather than its lagging hotel metasearch business that we believe does not have a competitive advantage. We see this shift in focus as prudent and in line with our long-held view that the company's metasearch platform (where barriers to entry are lower than in online travel agency bookings) faces growing competition from mass market agentic artificial intelligence search products. We believe this competition will keep marketing costs elevated and cause its hotel-branded business to lose revenue share, blocking it from holding a network advantage during the next 10 years. To this point, in the fourth quarter, Tripadvisor’s metasearch hotel business remained soft, with revenue decreasing 14%.

Tripadvisor's shares moved 10% higher during Feb. 17 trading on the announcement of activist firm Starboard Value looking to take control of the firm's board of directors. Starboard has been pressing Tripadvisor to explore asset sales and cost cuts since last year.

Tripadvisor's fourth-quarter sales were flat, as the 10% and 18% growth in experiences and dining, respectively, was offset by a 15% decline in the hotel and other (metasearch) business. Adjusted EBITDA margins fell to 10.9% from 17.8% on higher marketing investment.

Tripadvisor's hotel metasearch business (26% of third-quarter sales) searches travel websites for content and displays results to users. This business is in direct competition with traditional and AI searches. The firm's third-quarter hotel metasearch sales were down 5% and just 73% of 2019's level.

In late 2025, Tripadvisor announced it would allocate more resources to its leading experiences and restaurant businesses that we think holds moaty characteristics rather than its lagging hotel metasearch business that we believe does not have a competitive advantage. We see this shift in focus as prudent and in line with our long-held view that the company's metasearch platform (where barriers to entry are lower than in online travel agency bookings) faces growing competition from mass market artificial intelligence search products. We believe this competition will keep marketing costs elevated and cause its hotel-branded business to lose revenue share, blocking it from holding a network advantage during the next 10 years. To this point, in the third quarter, Tripadvisor’s metasearch business remained soft, with revenue decreasing 8%.

In late 2025, Tripadvisor announced it would allocate more resources to its leading experiences and restaurant businesses that we think holds moaty characteristics rather than its lagging hotel metasearch business that we believe does not have a competitive advantage. We see this shift in focus as prudent and in line with our long-held view that the company's metasearch platform (where barriers to entry are lower than in online travel agency bookings) faces growing competition from mass market artificial intelligence search products and wide-moat companies Alphabet and, in the future, Amazon and Meta. We believe this competition will keep marketing costs elevated and cause its hotel-branded business to lose revenue share, blocking it from holding a network advantage during the next 10 years. To this point, in the third quarter, Tripadvisor’s metasearch business remained soft, with revenue decreasing 8%.

Tripadvisor's third-quarter sales increased 4%, led by 9% growth in experiences (41% of EBITDA in the quarter). EBITDA margins were down 80 basis points to 22.2% on higher marketing spending. The company announced a strategic realignment that will focus resources on its experiences business.

Tripadvisor has a network of user-generated reviews and travel content (experiences, restaurants, and hotels) and an industry-leading experiences and restaurants position. In the second quarter of 2025, Tripadvisor's Viator (experiences brand) and TheFork (dining brand) continued to perform well, with revenue increasing 7% and 11%, respectively. We like that it continues to allocate capital toward the experiences vertical, as we see Tripadvisor and this $300 billion market having strong growth opportunities in the online travel space. Tripadvisor's leading global experience position is witnessed by Booking and Expedia moving away from building a presence in the vertical organically and instead partnering to use Tripadvisor's content. We think that the company might reengage exploring an initial public offering of its experience platform and think its Viator brand could fetch 2-3 times 2024 sales, or about $12-$17 per share. Meanwhile, Tripadvisor's online restaurant booking platform is also the market's leading international network, rivaled only by Booking's OpenTable, which leads in the United States.

Tripadvisor sales increased 7%, with its Viator (experiences) and TheFork (dining) brands up 11% and 28%, respectively. Meanwhile, its hotel metasearch revenue dropped 3% amid ongoing intense competition. EBITDA margins increased to 20.2% from 19.4% due to marketing efficiencies at Viator.

Shares of Tripadvisor increased 18% during July 3 trading, as activist firm Starboard Value announced a 9% stake in the company.

In the first quarter of 2025, Tripadvisor's metasearch business saw improved auction pricing, although volumes remained anemic (unquantified), as US consumer sentiment presents a headwind. Also, intense metasearch competition blocks Tripadvisor from holding a network advantage over the next decade, despite the continued rise in industry online penetration and the company's ongoing investment in experiences (Viator) and dining (TheFork) segments, which we think exhibit network moat characteristics.

First-quarter sales increased 1%, with experiences and dining platforms up 10% and 12%, while its hotel metasearch segment dropped 7% despite encouraging pricing stabilization amid intense competition. EBITDA margins fell to 11% from 11.8% due to higher marketing costs.

Shares of our online travel coverage dropped 5%-9% on April 3 after President Donald Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, with select countries facing higher tariffs.

In the near term, US consumer sentiment presents a headwind. Also, intense metasearch competition blocks Tripadvisor from holding a network advantage over the next decade, despite the continued rise in industry online penetration and the company's ongoing investment in experiences (Viator) and dining (TheFork) segments, which we think exhibit network moat characteristics.