UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Raises Its PT On Priceline.com To $552

Priceline.com's PCLN international bookings growth of +71% y/y in Q4 was ahead of expectations and drove PF EPS of $3.40, or 10% ahead of the Street's $3.09. The outlook for Q1 was also above consensus despite operating deleverage due to strong bookings growth, mostly from international geographies, suggesting the company will see strong leverage in the model in Q2 & Q3. Piper Jaffray expects domestic bookings growth will continue to decelerate, while international will be driven by penetration in new markets and continued leading share in higher growth geographies that currently have a relatively lower percentage of travel booked online. Bottom line, Priceline continues to exceed bookings growth expectations, with additional operating leverage on the horizon. International accounted for 72% of Priceline's total bookings in Q4. Exposure to international positions the company to: benefit from the transition from offline to online travel bookings in countries where online penetration is lower than the US, and take advantage of more disaggregated hotel markets, compared to the domestic market, which makes it difficult for hotels in those markets to take inventory direct in an improving environment. Piper Jaffray has an Outperform rating on PCLN PCLN closed Wednesday at $425.99