The manga that's sparking fears of a megaquake in Japan
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Forbes
an hour ago
- Forbes
Buy, Sell, Or Hold Tripadvisor Stock?
CHINA - 2025/03/07: In this photo illustration, A woman browses Tripadvisor website on her laptop. ... More (Photo Illustration by Serene Lee/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Tripadvisor stock (NASDAQ: TRIP) surged 8% on July 2 — significantly surpassing the S&P 500's modest 0.47% increase — after activist investor Starboard Value revealed a stake exceeding 9% in the online travel company. The approximately $160 million investment caused shares to climb another 7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday. The timing of Starboard's action is significant. Tripadvisor has faced challenges lately, with shares declining roughly 15% over the past year, and the company has been considering strategic options since early 2024. This process commenced shortly after Tripadvisor entered into a $435 million agreement to acquire its majority stakeholder, Liberty TripAdvisor, last December. In January, the firm also revealed that it received a non-binding proposal from a strategic bidder. Despite the activist enthusiasm, Tripadvisor's fundamentals paint a more serious picture. Nevertheless, those looking for growth with less volatility than individual stocks may want to look into the High Quality portfolio, which has outperformed the S&P 500 with returns exceeding 91% since its inception. Separately, refer to Seagate Stock to $85? Valuation: Not a Bargain At first sight, Tripadvisor may seem attractively priced, exhibiting a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 1.0 compared to the S&P 500's 3.1. However, a more detailed examination uncovers a significantly less appealing valuation. The company trades at a price-to-free cash flow (P/FCF) ratio of 61.3, nearly three times the S&P 500's 20.9, and a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 41.1, well above the benchmark's 26.9. These high multiples imply that investors are paying a substantial premium for a company exhibiting lackluster financial results. Additionally, see our analysis on Tripadvisor's valuation. Revenue Stalled and Margins Are Weak Tripadvisor's top-line growth has slowed, with revenue rising only 1.4% in the past 12 months and just 0.8% year-over-year in the most recent quarter. This deceleration raises questions about the company's capability to sustain future growth. Concurrently, Tripadvisor is facing difficulties in converting sales to profits. Its operating margin stands at a modest 6.5% for the last four quarters, while its free cash flow margin is merely 5.8%, well below the S&P 500's 14.9%. The company's net margin is even more concerning at 2.9%, compared to 11.6% for the overall market. These disappointing profitability indicators highlight Tripadvisor's struggles in providing shareholder value. Financial Health: Mixed Picture Tripadvisor's balance sheet showcases a mixed scenario. The company has $1.3 billion in debt, leading to a debt-to-equity ratio of 68.9%—considerably higher than the S&P 500 average of 19.4%. However, this leverage is somewhat balanced by a strong cash position, with $1.2 billion in cash and equivalents representing a substantial 42% of total assets. While the elevated debt level raises some concerns, Tripadvisor's solid liquidity offers a meaningful safety net. Resilience in Downturns: Troubling History Historically, Tripadvisor stock has underperformed during market downturns. In the 2022 inflation-driven selloff, TRIP fell 60.5%, more than double the S&P 500's 25.4% decline. Similarly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the stock declined 53.9%, again trailing the broader market. Notably, Tripadvisor has yet to recover its pre-pandemic heights and currently trades around $15—less than a quarter of its 2021 peak—highlighting its limited resilience in volatile conditions. Our dashboard How Low Can Stocks Go During A Market Crash captures how key stocks performed during and after the past six market crashes. The Bottom Line Tripadvisor falls short in the areas that matter most. While its growth has been reasonable, that momentum is clearly diminishing. Profitability remains extremely weak, and although the company's financial situation is relatively stable, it is far from indestructible. Its performance in economic downturns has been exceedingly poor, and the current valuation appears disconnected from its fundamental aspects. Even with renewed interest from activist investor Starboard Value, Tripadvisor presents a weak case for long-term investors. Its high valuation, alongside sluggish growth, narrow margins, and a history of underperformance in turbulent markets, renders it an undesirable investment. While it would be advisable to steer clear of TRIP stock for the time being, you might consider the Trefis Reinforced Value (RV) Portfolio, which has outperformed its all-cap stock benchmark (a combination of the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 benchmark indices) to yield strong returns for investors. Why is that? The quarterly rebalanced mixture of large-, mid-, and small-cap RV Portfolio stocks has offered a responsive strategy to capitalize on favorable market conditions while limiting losses when markets decline, as explained in RV Portfolio performance metrics.
Condé Nast Traveler
2 hours ago
- Condé Nast Traveler
The Best Hotels in Japan for 2025 Stays
From Shiguchi's hot tub—a giant rock, sliced in half, its excavated interior filled with volcanic onsen water—the dazzling whites of the valley are broken only by an ink-line of trees and the scarlet legs of a woodpecker in a nearby birch tree. Such is life at this escapist nirvana in a wild corner of Niseko, on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido. Named after a traditional Japanese carpentry technique that joins beams without nails, Shiguchi is about connection: between humans and nature, art and architecture, and possibly bathers and birds. English artist, collector, and longtime resident Shouya Grigg, who was also behind the area's beloved Zaborin ryokan, meticulously relocated five old kominka farmhouses from across Japan. Shiguchi's heartbeat is its gallery and restaurant, Somoza, where impressive woodwork is tempered by shelves of ceramics, abstract paintings, and walls of glass framing valley views. Days might be whiled away drinking matcha in a floating tatami mat space wrapped in steel screens, discovering Ainu art artifacts in the lower-level gallery space, or talking art with Grigg over dinners of wild Niseko, from foraged mushrooms to melt-in-the-mouth venison. Pathways cut into walls of snow lead to five spacious and atmospheric villas, with high-tech kitchens, rock or cypress bathtubs, and deliciously soft Babaghuri pajamas. Sturdy timberwork is the backdrop for antique furniture, fire stoves, and artworks. But the real privilege here is switching off and tuning in to the rhythms of the woodpeckers. —Danielle Demetriou
News24
2 hours ago
- News24
Residents told to evacuate after 1 000 earthquakes hit Japan island amid ‘risk of collapsed houses'
A Japanese island has been hit with 1 000 earthquakes. Authorities urged residents to evacuate. There was no tsunami risk from Thursday's earthquake. Japanese authorities urged the 89 residents of a small southern island to evacuate after a strong earthquake on Thursday, the latest of more than 1 000 recent jolts to hit the area. Residents were urged to evacuate to 'a school playground in Akuseki Island', a municipal official told AFP. Akuseki is part of the Tokara island chain south of Kyushu region, which has been rattled by 1 031 quakes since 21 June. No major damage has been reported. On Thursday, a 5.5 magnitude quake struck near Akuseki. The previous day a jolt of the same size was also recorded. READ | One dead, dozens hurt as 5.8-magnitude Turkey earthquake felt in Greece, Egypt Seven of the 12 remote Tokara Islands are inhabited, with around 700 residents in total. There was no tsunami risk from Thursday's quake, according to Ayataka Ebita, director of the earthquake and tsunami observation division of the Japan Meteorological Agency. 'In areas where the tremors were strong, there is an increased risk of collapsed houses and landslides,' he told reporters. Please be aware of earthquakes of similar magnitude for the foreseeable future. Ayataka Ebita A similar period of intense seismic activity in the Tokara area occurred in September 2023, when 346 earthquakes were recorded, according to the JMA. Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific 'Ring of Fire'. The archipelago, home to around 125 million people, typically experiences around 1 500 jolts every year and accounts for about 18% of the world's earthquakes. In 2011, a magnitude-9.0 quake triggered a tsunami that left 18 500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. Yasunari Itayama/Yomiuri/The Yomiuri Shimbun via AFP Quakes are extremely hard to predict, but in January a government panel marginally increased the probability of a major jolt in the Nankai Trough off Japan in the next 30 years to 75% to 82%. The government then released a new estimate in March saying that such a 'megaquake' and subsequent tsunami could cause as many as 298 000 deaths and damages of up to $2 trillion. This week, the government released a report saying much more needed to be done to prepare for such a megaquake. Some foreign tourists have held off coming to Japan due to unfounded fears fanned by social media that a major quake is imminent. Causing particular concern is a manga comic reissued in 2021 which predicted a major disaster on 5 July 2025. 'We are aware that such tales are circulating, but that is a hoax,' Ebita at the JMA said. 'With today's science and technology, it is not possible to predict earthquakes.'
