Expedia Shares Drop On Lower Guidance, Analyst Downgrades: Details

Expedia Group, Inc. EXPE shares are trading lower Friday after the company reported first-quarter results and lowered its full-year guidance.

The Details:

Expedia reported quarterly losses of 21 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of losses of 24 cents by 12.5%. 

Quarterly sales came in at $2.89 billion, beating the analyst consensus estimate of $2.81 billion by 2.81% and representing a 8.41% increase over sales of $2.67 billion from the same period last year. 

Total gross bookings were $30.2 billion, an increase of 3% compared to 2023, and lodging gross bookings were $21.9 billion, an increase of 4% compared to 2023. Hotel bookings were up 12% compared to 2023.

“Our first quarter results met our guidance with a revenue and earnings beat but with less robust gross bookings. We saw continued momentum in B2B, Brand Expedia and Advertising. However, Vrbo’s recovery following the recent re-platforming has been slower than anticipated, which has put pressure on gross bookings,” said Peter Kern, CEO of Expedia Group.

Outlook:

“Given the Vrbo drag and the rate of acceleration in B2C thus far, we are lowering our full year guidance to a range of mid to high single digit top line growth with margins relatively in line versus last year. Despite this slower than expected acceleration, the underpinning of the work we have done on the platform is in place and I have every confidence in the teams to continue to leverage these capabilities to drive even stronger growth,” Kern said. 

Analysts React: 

BMO Capital analyst Brian Pitz downgraded Expedia from Outperform to Market Perform and lowered the price target from $165 to $145 following the print. 

Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion also downgraded the stock from Overweight to Neutral and lowered the price target from $175 to $145.

Mizuho maintained Expedia with a Neutral rating and lowered the price target from $140 to $135.

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EXPE Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, Expedia shares are down 10.8% at $121.40 at the time of publication Friday. 

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