Booking Holdings
and
Expedia
both reported strong revenue in the first quarter as bookings soared amid robust travel demand. However, the stocks were moving in opposite directions early Friday, with
Expedia
up around 6% and
Booking
down 3%.
That may seem even stranger given that Booking (ticker: BKNG) beat earnings expectations while
Expedia
(EXPE) missed estimates.
But the bar for Booking was high headed into earnings—the stock has risen nearly 30% this year and is trading close to all-time highs. Expedia, on the other hand, is up less than 2% as of Thursday’s close, underperforming the
S&P 500.
Booking’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization also missed expectations, another reason that investors were left slightly disappointed.
Earnings from the online travel websites both add to the body of evidence that points toward surging summer travel demand.
Expedia said total gross bookings rose 20% to $29.4 billion, while lodging bookings hit a record of $21.1 billion. Its quarterly revenue of $2.67 billion was also a first-quarter record for the company. “The first quarter saw strong travel demand driven by increasing international travel, major city travel, and the reopening in Asia,” CEO Peter Kern said.
Booking reported a 44% year-over-year increase in gross travel bookings to $39.4 billion—a quarterly record—while revenue climbed 40% to $3.8 billion.
Booking reported adjusted earnings of $11.60 a share on sales of $3.78 billion in the first quarter. Analysts were expecting profit of $10.57 on sales of $3.74 billion.
Expedia reported a loss of 20 cents a share on sales of $2.67 billion. The consensus was for a profit of 2 cents a share on sales of $2.66 billion.
Write to Callum Keown at [email protected]
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