Expedia May Post 17% Gross Bookings Growth For Q2

Analysts at Benchmark reiterate their "buy" rating on Expedia EXPE. The target price for EXPE is set to $31. EXPE is scheduled to report its Q2 earnings after the market closes on July 29. According to Benchmark, Expedia “could show 17% y/y gross bookings growth in 2Q10, leading to 9% y/y revenue and 1% OIBA growth even after factoring in the negative impact from the volcanic eruption and a weaker Euro.” “Online domestic spending on travel grew 8% y/y in June, a sequential improvement from the 7% y/y growth witnessed in both May and April. Air travel spending rose 10% y/y in June and 9% y/y in May and spending on hotels increased 5% y/y in June and 6% y/y in May. Rising air ticket prices, low-single digit growth in hotel occupancy and increasing transaction volumes all likely contributed to the growth,” the analysts say. “For 2Q10, we forecast a 17% y/y increase in total gross bookings to $6.6 billion, with domestic bookings up 14% y/y and international bookings growing by 25% y/y. Net revenue may be $838 million, up 9% y/y, reflecting an anticipated 100bp y/y reduction in revenue margin. OIBA may grow by 1% y/y to $214 million, impacted by anticipated further deleveraging and the travel interruption from the volcano. Adjusted EPS could be $0.40 with free cash flow per share of $0.51,” the analysts mention. More Analyst Ratings here.