LendingTree(TREE) Plunges 6.80% on Mixed Q1 Results, Lowered Price Target

LendingTree(TREE) shares plummeted 6.80% intraday, marking the third consecutive day of decline and reaching its lowest level since March 2025, with a cumulative drop of 31.78% over the past three days.

The strategy of buying TREE shares after they reached a recent low and holding for 1 week yielded moderate returns over the past 5 years. The annualized return was 23.54%, which is significant but below the market average. This suggests that while the strategy avoided some downturns, it missed out on broader market gains. The $1,000 investment grew to $2,433.42, indicating substantial, but not exceptional, growth..

Truist Financial recently adjusted its price target for LendingTree from $72 to $60, following the company's mixed first-quarter results and future outlook. Despite this reduction, Truist maintains a Buy rating, highlighting LendingTree's extensive scale, diverse revenue streams, and optimism about the recovery in the insurance sector and normalization of interest rates, which could benefit the Home and Consumer segments.

LendingTree's first-quarter revenue growth across all three business segments, particularly the 71% year-over-year growth in the insurance segment, has positively impacted its stock performance. However, the slower-than-anticipated recovery in the insurance segment, high mortgage rates suppressing demand for new home buyers, and declining student loan business are seen as negative factors affecting the company's stock price.

Analysts have varied price targets for LendingTree, with a consensus average target of $63.67, implying significant upside from the current price. The average brokerage recommendation is "Outperform," indicating positive sentiment among analysts despite the recent challenges faced by the company.