Yelp (NYSE:YELP) Shares Down 10.1% – Here’s Why

Yelp Inc. (NYSE:YELP)’s share price dropped 10.1% during mid-day 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 Stories Impacting Yelp

Here are the key news stories impacting Yelp this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Yelp beat Wall Street on Q4 earnings and reported record net revenue for 2025, showing profitability (Q4 EPS $0.61 vs. $0.47 consensus) and a solid full‑year performance. Business Wire: Yelp Delivers Record Net Revenue
• Neutral Sentiment: The company posted its earnings materials and call transcript (slides and management remarks provide the detail behind results and the investment plan). Investors can review the transcript/slide deck for management’s commentary on AI strategy and product rollouts. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Yelp gave tepid near‑term sales guidance (Q1 / FY2026 revenue range viewed as conservative), and analysts flagged light first‑quarter revenue outlook as the primary reason shares fell despite the beat. Zacks: Stock Dips on Tepid Sales Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Management is accelerating AI investments, which the company says are strategic but which analysts warn will pressure margins and raise near‑term expenses — a concern for investors focused on margin durability. MSN: Q4 Deep Dive — AI Investments and Margin Pressures
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold about $1.7M of stock in early February, which can amplify negative sentiment when investors are already uncertain about guidance and margins. Fool: CEO Sold $1.7M of Shares

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Yelp from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research raised Yelp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on Yelp in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $25.00 target price on Yelp in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore decreased their price target on Yelp from $45.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.50.

Yelp Trading Down 8.2%

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.55.

Yelp (NYSE:YELP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The local business review company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $359.99 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $358.70 million. Yelp had a return on equity of 19.79% and a net margin of 9.94%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Yelp Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Yelp news, insider Craig Saldanha sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.40, for a total transaction of $32,880.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 190,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,230,084.60. This represents a 0.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Jeremy Stoppelman sold 6,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $150,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 964,827 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,348,813.40. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 261,106 shares of company stock valued at $7,260,184 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Yelp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Yelp by 397.4% in the fourth quarter. Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC now owns 259,299 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $7,880,000 after purchasing an additional 207,166 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC acquired a new stake in Yelp in the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Yelp by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 81,939 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 6,101 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its position in Yelp by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 68,279 shares of the local business review company’s stock worth $2,075,000 after acquiring an additional 2,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Yelp by 68.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 80,213 shares of the local business review company’s stock valued at $2,438,000 after purchasing an additional 32,557 shares in the last quarter. 90.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.