TripAdvisor, Inc. TRIP

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
51/100
Moderate

Ranked against 19 peers in Travel Services

About TripAdvisor, Inc.

Tripadvisor, Inc., an online travel company, engages in the provision of travel guidance products and services worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Experiences, Hotels and Other, and TheFork. The Experiences segment operates an online travel agency for tours, activities, and attractions, and acts as travel guidance platforms for travelers to discover, generate, and share authentic user-generated content in the … Full TRIP analysis →

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.82), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • Revenue Growth Consistent Revenue growth volatility is low (stability score 0.76), suggesting sticky customer base.

Key risks

  • Below-Peer Operating Efficiency Operating margin at 29.4th percentile indicates below-peer efficiency.
  • Weak or Negative Cash Flow Cash generation is weak (score 0.38), limiting financial flexibility.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Moderate
71
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where TRIP ranks in Travel Services

TripAdvisor, Inc. ranks #11 of 20 scored companies in Travel Services by moat score — the top 55%. The widest moat in the group is Booking Holdings Inc. Common St (BKNG) at 76/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
7 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. RCL 59/100 Moderate
8 MakeMyTrip Limited MMYT 58/100 Moderate
9 Carnival Plc CUK 54/100 Moderate
10 Carnival Corporation CCL 52/100 Moderate
11 TripAdvisor, Inc. TRIP 51/100 Moderate
12 Lindblad Expeditions Holdings I LIND 45/100 Developing
13 Tuniu Corporation TOUR 45/100 Developing
14 Yatra Online, Inc. YTRA 43/100 Developing
15 Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NCLH 40/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How TRIP scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 71 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 18 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 59 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 50 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 47 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 47 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding TRIP's moat

What is TripAdvisor, Inc.'s moat score?

TripAdvisor, Inc. (TRIP) scores 51 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #11 of 20 scored companies in Travel Services, the top 55%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 19 companies in Travel Services. Its strongest defense is Pricing Power (71/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (18/100).

How does TripAdvisor, Inc. compare with other Travel Services companies?

TripAdvisor, Inc. ranks #11 of 20 scored companies in Travel Services by moat score. The widest moat in Travel Services is Booking Holdings Inc. Common St (BKNG) at 76/100. The companies ranked closest are Carnival Corporation (CCL) at 52 just above it and Lindblad Expeditions Holdings I (LIND) at 45 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 19 companies in Travel Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is TripAdvisor, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for TripAdvisor, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and TRIP scores: Pricing Power (71), Cost Advantage (18), Customer Stickiness (59), Capital Efficiency (50), Resilience (47), Scale & Market Position (47). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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