Expedia Edged Down on Decent Profit but Surprisingly Weak Revenue and Bookings

Shares of a travel booking giant Expedia Group (EXPE) fell 11% in premarket trading today, on Thursday August 3, after the company reported Q2 earnings that far exceeded expectations, but showed low growth in sales and bookings compared to consensus foracast.

The company reported a loss of $185 million, or $1.17 a share, in the year-ago period, on a net income of $385 million, or $2.54 a share. Expectations were high, that in sync with the post-Covid reopening and notable acceleration of the air carriers’ business, the travel booking companies should follow suit.

Back to numbers, excluding extraordinary items, adjusted earnings per share of $2.89 beat the consensus forecast of $2.35. Revenue rose 5.6% to $3.356 billion, missing the Wall Street consensus forecast of $3.373 billion. Hotel bookings rose 8.7% to 89.7 million, but, again, missed the expectations of 90.5 million; while gross bookings rose 4.5% to $27.32 billion, below Wall Street forecasts of $28.22 billion.

Still, the company said travel demand "remained strong" during the quarter. The stock had risen 34.7% YTD up until now, compared with the S&P 500's gain of 17.6%.