Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Stock Price Down 10.1% – What’s Next?

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP) shares dropped 10.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $20.03 and last traded at $20.5180. Approximately 598,306 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 1,173,283 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.83.

Key Headlines Impacting Yelp

Here are the key news stories impacting Yelp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on EPS and slight revenue beat — Yelp reported $0.61 EPS vs. $0.47 consensus and revenue of $359.99M vs. ~$358.7M, showing profitability and a solid margin profile that supports near-term cash generation. Yelp Q4 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Yelp says 2025 delivered record net revenue and it’s accelerating AI product investment — management emphasizes new features and product innovation that could drive longer-term engagement and monetization. Business Wire: Yelp Delivers Record Net Revenue in 2025
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and presentation are available for detail on product road map, cost cadence and metric trends — useful for investors digging into margin drivers and sales cadence. Earnings Call Transcript Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: Tepid FY/Q1 revenue guidance and cautious 1Q sales outlook pushed the stock lower — analysts and investors reacted to softer near-term sales guidance despite the quarter’s beat. Zacks: Yelp Q4 Earnings Beat, Stock Dips on Tepid Sales Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Increased AI investment is expected to pressure margins near-term — deep-dive coverage highlights rising R&D and product spend and the risk that AI competition could weigh on local-ad monetization. MSN: YELP Q4 deep dive: AI investments and margin pressures shape outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction coverage notes shares falling on the combination of cautious guidance and execution risks around AI and revenue trends. MSN: Why Yelp shares are falling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Yelp in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Yelp from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings cut Yelp from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Yelp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

Yelp Stock Down 8.3%

The company has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.52.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.14. Yelp had a net margin of 10.23% and a return on equity of 20.33%. The business had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $358.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.39, for a total value of $821,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 756,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,719,384.62. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine Barone sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $450,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $943,050. The trade was a 32.30% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 261,106 shares of company stock worth $7,260,184 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Yelp

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of YELP. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Yelp by 553.8% during the third quarter. Optimus Prime Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 850,000 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $26,520,000 after buying an additional 720,000 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in Yelp by 399.0% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 725,214 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $24,853,000 after acquiring an additional 579,894 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 268.1% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 753,173 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $25,811,000 after purchasing an additional 548,586 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Yelp by 217.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 551,212 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $18,890,000 after purchasing an additional 377,441 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Yelp by 1,144.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 351,006 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $12,029,000 after buying an additional 322,810 shares during the period. 90.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Yelp

Yelp is a digital platform that connects consumers with local businesses through user-generated reviews, ratings and multimedia content. The company’s flagship offerings include the Yelp website and mobile applications for iOS and Android, where users can search for and discover restaurants, shops, service providers and other points of interest. In addition to crowd-sourced reviews and photographs, Yelp provides business profile pages featuring hours, contact information, menus and direct messaging capabilities.

Yelp generates revenue primarily through advertising services sold to small and medium-sized enterprises.