Pricelne Blows Out Estimates (PCLN)

priceline.com PCLN just reported first quarter earnings, and the online travel company blew out estimates. It reported earnings of $2.66 per share on revenues of $809.3 million. Wall Street had been expecting earnings of $2.45 per share on $779.45 million. The company said it expects second quarter earnings of $4.70 to $4.90 per share, versus Wall Street estimates of $4.40 per share. "In the 1st quarter, the Group benefitted from strong growth in our global hotel business, particularly at Booking.com and Agoda," said Jeffery H. Boyd, Priceline President and Chief Executive Officer. "Room nights booked grew by 55.8% and our international gross bookings grew by 79% compared to prior year first quarter. The Group's hotel business continues to benefit from improving ADRs, a continuing shift from offline to online bookings, increased penetration of core European and North American markets and outstanding growth in new markets throughout the Asia-Pacific region and South America." Mr. Boyd continued, "The Group's global rental car operations grew rental car days booked by 64.7% in the 1st quarter 2011 as compared to the prior year. A significant portion of this growth can be attributed to the Group's acquisition of TravelJigsaw and its international car hire operations, which continues to grow at impressive rates. Priceline.com's airline ticketing business returned to positive growth in the 1st quarter, with a 2.1% gain in ticket sales and improving growth in opaque ticket sales." Looking forward, Mr. Boyd said, "Globally, we intend to retain our focus on extending our reach in established and new geographic markets and providing an outstanding consumer experience to build the strength of our brands." Shares are down 2% in extended hours trading.