Update Ctrip.com (CTRP)

It’s tempting to say that the 6% drop in Ctrip.com’s (CTRP) shares on August 10 after the company’s August 9 earnings report was just the usual selling on the news by momentum investors who are unhappy that the company only beat Wall Street estimates by 2 cents a share and didn’t raise guidance for its third quarter.

But when you’re looking at a stock that’s trading at 43.5 times projected 2010 earnings per share, I’m not sure there’s any “just” about an earnings report that didn’t shoot out the lights.

There’s just enough in the numbers to concern any investor counting on the company to keep growing earnings by 30%–at a minimum.

Here’s what the company reported.

For the second quarter Ctrip.com, a strong No. 1 in China’s online travel industry, reported earnings of 23 cents a share. That was two cents a share above Wall Street projections and represents year-to-year earnings per share growth of 35%.

Revenue climbed by 46% from the second quarter of 2009 to $103 million. That was above the Wall Street consensus for revenues of $98.9 million.

From there the numbers get a little disconcerting for an expensive growth stock. Read more