Yelp Faces Uphill Battle As Instagram, TikTok Take Over Review Space, Analyst Says

Yelp Inc YELP filed an antitrust lawsuit against Alphabet Inc's GOOG GOOGL subsidiary Google in August. According to BofA Securities, growing competition from online food delivery platforms is expected to keep putting pressure on Yelp’s growth.

Analyst Nitin Bansal initiated coverage of Yelp with an Underperform rating and a price target of $30.

The Yelp Thesis: Yelp’s usage is declining, as is evident from the platform’s shrinking user base, Bansal said in the initiation note.

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According to Sensor Tower, Yelp mobile MAUs (monthly active users) have contracted by 70% since 2018 and are down 5% year to date, with the BrightLocal survey suggesting that alternate review platforms like Instagram and TikTok are becoming more popular, he added.

"The company also faces strong competition from Google that creates challenges in growing review share," the analyst wrote. He further stated that increasing competition in the Restaurant, Retail & Other segment, which accounts for roughly a third of the company's total revenues, will continue to impact the platform’s growth outlook.

"We see downside risk to Street’s 2025/26 estimates and expect downward revisions to pressure multiple," Bansal said.

YELP Price Action: Shares of Yelp were down 3.1% to $33.35 at the time of publication on Monday.

Read More: Alphabet Loses Antitrust Suit Over Google Search Dominance: Report

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