Yelp Analysts Warn That Stock Is Fully Valued (YELP)

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) is not getting what would be considered a ringing endorsement from Wall Street analysts after its quiet period expiration has ended. In fact, it looks outright cautious in the research calls.  Now that the quiet period has ended, here are some of the initiations we have seen from Wall Street analysts this morning:

• Started as Neutral at Goldman Sachs with a $28 target;
• Started as Neutral at Citigroup with a $28 target;
• Started as Perform at Oppenheimer with a $23 target;
• Started as Hold at Jefferies with a $23 target.

This is certainly not the first time that the entire group of underwriters has been cautious on a hot initial public offering, but we must admit that it is highly unusual even in a world where the Wall Street analysts are far more removed from the underwriting process compared to years in the past.

Yelp was one of our TOP 17 IPOs TO WATCH IN 2012, but this proves yet again that price matters.

Yelp’s biggest problems are that it is highly dependent upon Google, it makes little to nothing from mobile search results, and ultimately that future growth rates are going to be nearly impossible to compare to the past.  Shares are down 3.5% at $24.90 and the post-IPO range is $19.36 to $31.96.

JON C. OGG