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Online travel agent Expedia ( EXPE ) late Wednesday posted Q4 earnings and revenue that missed Wall Street expectations, but executives said currency would be less of a factor this year and that they’ve seen no impact, at least not yet, from the steep drop in global stock markets at the start of this year. Shares were up after hours. Ahead of the earnings report, analysts were cautious on global macroeconomic concerns and competition with rivals Priceline ( PCLN ), TripAdvisor ( TRIP ) and privately held Airbnb. Expedia stock, though, was up 13% in after-hours trading, as executives seemed to assuage some fears in comments on the company’s earnings conference call with analysts. Shares of Priceline and TripAdvisor were each up 4% after hours. For Q4, Expedia said sales grew 29% to $1.7 billion, while earnings per share ex-items dropped 22% to 77 cents. The consensus estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters called for $1.71 billion and $1 EPS ex items. In Q4, recently acquired Orbitz and HomeAway added $177 million and $20 million, respectively, to Expedia’s top line — which would have been $1.5 billion without them. Gross bookings rose 40%, in Q4, driven by a 28% increase from the company’s acquisitions. The strong dollar cost the company 5% of Q4 revenue growth and 9% of gross bookings growth, Expedia said. Expedia purchased HomeAway, which is focused on vacation rentals, in part because it’s a hedge against Airbnb, a firm that lets people rent out accommodations in their home to travelers. Private investors have valued Airbnb at over $20 billion — though as of late, mutual funds have been under fire for failing to properly value hot startups, such as ride-booking firm Uber and cloud storage provider Dropbox. Barclays analyst Paul Vogel said the Orbitz and HomeAway acquisitions would make it tough to estimate Expedia’s results. Expedia spent over $6 billion on those acquisitions. “There are a number of moving parts within Expedia that we believe have created an uncertain backdrop around forecasts and expectations,” Vogel wrote in a research note Tuesday. TripAdvisor is set to report Q4 earnings Thursday after the close, while Priceline is set to report earnings Feb. 17 before the open. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News