Yelp Inc. (YELP)
Communication Services
- Fundamental
- 4
- Sentiment
- 3
- Technical
- 2
Do Nothing: YELP is in a persistent downtrend — price 21.14 below SMA20 (22.39), SMA50 (24.36) and SMA200 (25.55) with MACD negative (-0.91/-0.87) and ADX 10.5 (no trend) — chart scores 2 (below the 3 floor), and any pullback/oversold dip-buy would additionally be countertrend (price below the SMA50 with MACD < 0, and below a declining SMA200 without a momentum reclaim).
Company overview
Yelp Inc. operates a digital platform connecting consumers with local businesses across various sectors such as dining, retail, and healthcare. The company offers promotional tools, including advertising and business profile enhancements, and provides services like Yelp Reservations and Waitlist. Yelp also licenses its data through Yelp Fusion and has a strategic partnership with Grubhub for food delivery.
Fundamental
goodYelp demonstrates strong cash flow and profitability with low leverage, but faces growth and margin pressures post-acquisition.
Yelp shows strong cash generation and solid profitability relative to its market value. Trailing valuation looks inexpensive (P/E ~11.71, EV/EBITDA ~5.24, EV/Sales ~0.94) alongside a very high free-cash-flow yield (~21.85%). Profitability remains healthy (TTM ROE ~18.61%, EBITDA margin ~17.98%, net margin ~8.59%) and leverage is low (net debt/EBITDA ~0.11) with moderate financial-strength signals (Altman Z-Score ~2.61; Piotroski 6). SEC filings indicate no going-concern language and disclose covenant compliance, but they also show a meaningful capital-structure shift in 2026: cash dropped to ~$94M and Yelp drew ~$100M on its revolver after a ~$271M AI-related acquisition, while interim results show slower growth and lower net income versus the prior year. Overall, the setup is attractive on value and balance-sheet resilience, but the near-term growth/margin trajectory and integration execution risk keep it from the very top tier.
Sentiment
fairMedia and retail sentiment are mildly positive post-earnings, but lack clear forward catalysts.
The near-term narrative is dominated by the Q2 results (released 2026-08-06), with last ~14d media tone mildly positive (polarity_score ≈ +0.19) but still flagging advertising/macro sensitivity. The 30–90d baseline sample is too sparse to compute a reliable sentiment delta, and the legal screen shows no regulator-confirmed investigations.
Technical
weakYelp remains in a downtrend with price below key moving averages and no confirmed bullish setup.
Run anchored to runDate 2026-09-15 (21:59 UTC); bar vintage dataAsOf 2026-09-15 (0-trading-day lag). Trend: below SMA20/50/200 and EMA9/21; daily VWAP 21.29 overhead. Momentum: MACD negative and repairing, RSI 38 off oversold, ADX 10.5 (no trend). Volume: 20-day avg dollar volume ~$24.0M and recent 3-session ~$20.4M — both far above floors; up-day vs down-day volume mildly constructive (09-11 +4.06% on 1.35M shares) but not decisive. Events: confirmed earnings 2026-11-05 AMC sits outside the 15-trading-day horizon (2026-10-06) and outside the ±3-day entry blackout (through 09-18); no dividend ex-dates and no splits on the filtered calendars. Overnight-gap gate passed (max regular-session gap 2.11% over the 2-session window; 2.48% over the widened fetch). Recent-liquidity gate passed. Minimum-ATR floor passed (ATR 4.73% of price). The recent action resembles an oversold reversal attempt, but any pullback/oversold limit entry would be countertrend: price 21.14 is below the SMA50 (24.36) with MACD below zero, and also below a declining SMA200 (25.55) with the SMA50 under the SMA200 and no confirmed momentum reclaim (histogram -0.03) — a dip-bid into a live downtrend, not a support pullback. With technicalScore 2 below the 3 floor, no tradable setup exists.
In-depth analysis
Valuation
- The P/E ratio indicates the stock is attractively valued relative to earnings.
- The EV/EBITDA ratio suggests the company is trading at a low multiple relative to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
- The EV/Sales ratio shows the company is valued cheaply relative to its sales.
- The PEG ratio is not meaningful due to negative growth assumptions.
- The free cash flow yield is high, indicating strong cash generation relative to market value, but sustainability is a concern.
Profitability
- The return on invested capital is mixed, indicating moderate efficiency in generating returns from investments.
- The EBITDA margin is mixed, reflecting moderate operational profitability.
- The net margin is mixed, showing moderate profitability after all expenses.
- The gross margin is very strong, indicating efficient production and service delivery.
- The return on equity is healthy, reflecting efficient use of shareholder capital.
Growth
- The revenue CAGR is mixed, showing moderate historical growth.
- The EPS CAGR is very strong, indicating robust earnings growth over time.
- The EBITDA CAGR is healthy, showing solid growth in operational earnings.
Risk
- The low net debt to EBITDA ratio indicates strong leverage management.
- The current ratio is very strong, indicating excellent short-term liquidity.
- The low beta suggests the stock is less volatile than the market.
- The Altman Z-score is mixed, reflecting moderate financial health.
- The interest coverage ratio is very strong, indicating ample ability to cover interest expenses.
Discounted Cash Flow
Callout
DCF outputs suggest high upside but are highly assumption-sensitive, indicating caution in relying on these estimates.
Trade plan
- Entry
- 0.00
- Protective stop
- 0.00
- Reward : risk
- 0.00 : 1
Catalysts to watch
- Ongoing process — timing TBD
You’re looking at 2026-09-15 — more than 2 trading days ago.
Subscribers saw this then, and see today’s score, verdict and trade plan now.
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Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.