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Ahead of the Bell: Analyst downgrades Crtip.com on value

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May 7, 2008

NEW YORK—A Piper Jaffray analyst lowered his rating on Ctrip.com International Ltd. Wednesday, saying shares of the Chinese online travel company have reached a fair price following a recent run-up.

Ctrip.com International Ltd. shares set an all-time high Monday, and are up almost 40 percent since Jan. 24.

Analyst Aaron Kessler, who has a price target of $68 on Ctrip.com's U.S.-traded shares, cut his rating to "Neutral" from "Buy." Shares closed at $66.82 Tuesday.

The company is scheduled to report its first-quarter results on May 14. Kessler predicted the company will exceed Wall Street's estimates. But because of February snowstorms in China, he said the company's profit will beat expectations by only 2 cents or 3 cents per share, and investors may expect more.

In the fourth quarter, Ctrip.com's profit topped Wall Street estimates by 4 cents per share.

Shares of Ctrip.com fell $2.17, or 3.2 percent, to $64.65 in premarket trading.

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