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Evercore ISI Upgrades Yelp to Outperform, Shares Gain 8%
Financial Modeling Prepยท 2025-10-13 20:27
Core Viewpoint - Evercore ISI upgraded Yelp Inc. from In Line to Outperform, raising the price target to $45.00 from $37.00, resulting in an over 8% increase in shares intra-day on Monday [1] Group 1: AI Initiatives and Market Potential - Yelp is viewed as an emerging AI beneficiary, with new initiatives like the AI Receptionist/Host service, which could represent a total addressable market of approximately $13.8 billion based on 7.7 million claimed business locations priced at $149 per month [1] Group 2: Growth Catalysts - Several catalysts for near-term growth include rapid expansion in data licensing to AI platforms, currently at a $10 million annual run rate, with API call volume increasing 20x year-over-year through August 2025 [2] - A growing referral stream from ChatGPT users is expected to enhance Yelp's reach among younger consumers [2] - A new delivery partnership with DoorDash is anticipated to nearly double the number of restaurants enabled for on-platform delivery [2] Group 3: Financial Outlook - Potential upside from ongoing litigation against Google could mirror the DOJ's recent antitrust victory in the search case [3] - Cost discipline, reduced stock-based compensation, and share buybacks are expected to support GAAP EPS growth of 15% year-over-year in 2025 and 23% in 2026 [3]