During the quarter, Priceline (NASDAQ:PCLN)’s prolific growth continued unabated as total bookings grew 26% year-over-year, on a constant currency basis. We continue to think Priceline is doing an excellent job getting returns on shareholder funds, reinvesting in travel service demand, particularly through its industry leading, $2.6 billion online marketing budget, which grew slightly less than bookings9. While Priceline’s business model revolves around connecting travel industry asset owners (e.g. hotels, rental cars, restaurants) with travelers, we think the Company’s competitive advantage comes from being a highly-efficient, and therefore low -cost provider focused on serving smaller, more fragmented asset owners that lack the scale and marketing reach of Priceline’s global, online properties. In spite of this, the vast majority of Priceline’s profits are generated outside of the US, so recent currency headwinds have had a significant, albeit purely translational, effect on the Company’s “headline” fundamental results. We do not have much of an edge in predicting currencies, however we believe the effects of these headwinds will annualize themselves out of results in the next few quarters, and investors will re-discover that Priceline’s core growth potential and competitive advantage remain intact. Adjusted for net cash on the Priceline balance sheet, we think the Company’s earnings multiple is at a reasonable, mid-to-high teens level, based on 2016 consensus estimates. We think it has been increasingly difficult to find investment opportunities that exhibit such high levels of profitable, organic growth while paying reasonable valuations, so we added to our Priceline weightings during the quarter.
From David Rolfe (Trades, Portfolio)'s Wedgewood Partners third quarter 2015 letter.
