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Priceline Q2 View Yanks Partner TripAdvisor Ahead Of Q1 Earnings

Priceline ‘s ( PCLN ) Q2 guidance miss following its CEO’s unexpected resignation weighed on travel stocks Wednesday, tugging shares of partner TripAdvisor ( TRIP ) ahead of the smaller agency’s Q1 earnings report, slated for late Thursday. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , IBD’s 11-company Leisure-Travel Booking industry group was down 8.5% and hit a two-month low, led by a 9% dip in Priceline stock . Shares of TripAdvisor and Expedia ( EXPE ) were down nearly 4% and 2%, respectively. TripAdvisor is the third in the trio to report Q1 earnings. Expedia’s blow-out Q1 report drove the group up 1.6% last Friday. For Q1, the consensus of 26 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expects TripAdvisor to report $370.5 million in sales and 46 cents earnings per share minus items, up 2% and down 15%, respectively, vs. the year-earlier quarter. On a year-over-year basis, it would be the second time in four quarters Tripadvisor’s EPS has fallen and the biggest EPS decline since December 2013. Sales would decelerate for the sixth consecutive quarter. The consensus models $110.16 million earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), down 13% vs. $127 million in the year-earlier period. TripAdvisor didn’t provide guidance during its February Q4 earnings report, noting it would no longer offer an annual sales and EBITDA outlook. Though, CFO Ernst Teunissen cautioned that instant booking would likely continue to dilute near-term results. TripAdvisor and Priceline last year inked a partnership where some of Priceline’s online travel brands participate in TripAdvisor’s instant booking platform.

Shopify Falls As Losses To Widen Despite Soaring Revenue

Shopify ( SHOP ) shares fell Wednesday after the e-commerce software provider forecast bigger full-year losses and some investors sold after a recent jump in the stock. The full-year operating loss will be $41 million to $47 million, Shopify said, compared with a previous forecast of $36 million to $42 million. Last month, Shopify secured new office space in Toronto that can accommodate as many as 700 employees, signaling more spending by the company. The operating loss for the first quarter was $9.7 million, the company said, compared with $3.5 million a year earlier. The stock fell 4.4% to 29.39 in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Shopify’s first-quarter revenue and its sales forecast exceeded analysts’ estimates. However, that wasn’t enough after a 31% climb in the shares over the past three months had raised hope for even better performance. “Some investors are taking the profits — some of the very substantial profits they’ve made over the past three months,” said Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “The stock implied a very good quarter.” Revenue in the three months ended March 31 surged 95% to $72.7 million, Ottawa-based Shopify said in a statement, beating the average analyst estimate of $66.9 million. In the second quarter, sales will range from $79 million to $81 million, above the $74.8 million average analyst estimate. The Canadian company also forecast full-year sales of $337 million to $347 million, compared with a previous forecast of $320 million to $330 million and analysts’ estimates of $327.9 million. Mobile orders surpassed those on desktop for the first time in the first quarter, Shopify said, as just over 51% of orders came from mobile devices. An integration with the Facebook ( FB ) Messenger app makes it easier for merchants to engage in “conversational commerce” with customers, Shopify said. “The era of mobile commerce has officially arrived,” founder and Chief Executive Officer Tobi Lutke said in the statement. “Mobile orders from Shopify merchants surpassed those of desktops in February, and have continued to climb since.”

It’s Not Just Apple, Smartphone Market Is Declining Overall

Apple ( AAPL ) shares have tanked since the company late last Tuesday reported its first year-over-year decline in iPhone sales and guided handset sales lower for the current quarter. But it’s not just Apple. The overall smartphone market is in decline as users see little reason to upgrade to new handsets. “The smartphone decline is just beginning and we don’t see any reason that the overall smartphone market will recover going forward,” Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang said in a research report Wednesday. “Smartphone demand is becoming a big issue and smartphone features are not boosting demand anymore.” Those were among his key takeaways from Q1 earnings reports released so far by smartphone makers and their component suppliers. He predicts that technology upgrades will slow for smartphones. He does not see virtual reality and augmented reality applications boosting smartphone sales in the near term. And Apple faces downside risk from expectations possibly being too high for the upcoming iPhone 7, Zhang said. “The market might think the worst is over after the June-quarter guidance,” he said. On Tuesday, Apple stock rose 1.6% to 95.18, ending an eight-day losing streak . But shares turned south again on Wednesday and were down more than 1%, near 94, in afternoon trading on the stock market today . Last month, research firms Juniper Research and Strategy Analytics reported that global smartphone shipments fell, for the first time ever, on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter. RELATED: Apple Investors Worry That Glory Days Are Over