(Reuters) – Expedia shares rose as much as 9.7% in premarket trade on Friday after the online travel agency beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter results, boosted by strong travel demand outside the United States.
Demand has been robust in Asia Pacific, aided by strong cross-border travel and the lifting of some visa restrictions in the region, as well as in Europe, driven by both domestic and long-haul trips from wealthy American travelers.
Expedia also approved the reinstatement of a quarterly cash dividend after suspending it in the second quarter of 2020 due to the uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It declared a first-quarter dividend of 40 cents per share.
Excluding items, Seattle-based Expedia posted quarterly earnings per share of $2.39, higher than average analyst estimate of $2.04, as per data compiled by LSEG.
“Travel demand remained healthy in Q4 despite price increases… Like last quarter, international demand was stronger than in the US,” said Expedia CEO Ariane Gorin on the company’s post-earnings conference call.
Expedia has benefited from integrating all its brands, including Vrbo and Hotels.com, onto a single platform called One Key.
The company’s transition to a consolidated system appears to have improved user experience “supporting the company’s network advantage,” Morningstar analyst Dan Wasiolek said in a note.
Bookings in the company’s consumer business rose 9% in the fourth quarter.
The company expects 2025 gross bookings and revenue growth of 4% to 6% range, it said on the call.
Shares of Expedia trade at about 12.30 times their forward profit estimates, below the 22.91 multiple for rival Booking Holdings, which will report results later this month.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
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