- Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) has surged to fresh highs after beating Q2 EPS estimates (and posting in-line revenue) on the back of a 20% Y/Y increase in gross bookings to $15.1B. Bookings growth was slightly better than Q1's 19%, and better than feared given forex headwinds - a strong dollar respectively had 8% and 10% impacts on bookings and revenue growth.
- On the earnings call (transcript), CFO Mark Okerstrom reiterated full-year guidance for 10%-15% adjusted EBITDA growth (exc. the recently-divested eLong). "Though Q2 came in a bit better than expected, we plan to put that upside back into the business mostly in Q3 to drive continued growth."
- CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted the core Expedia and Hotels.com platforms continued seeing strong growth, as did Travelocity. He also suggested Expedia could follow up its acquisitions of Travelocity and (pending DOJ approval) Orbitz by acquiring assets in overseas markets, where Priceline (PCLN) and its Booking.com platform loom large. "[F]or the time being, we've got plenty on our plates ... We want our revenue outside the U.S. to be bigger than our revenue in the U.S."
- U.S. bookings rose 18% Y/Y in Q2 to $9.3B, and international bookings (pressured by forex) 25% to $5.8B. Hotel room nights rose 35% (28% organic) to 50.6M, while revenue/night fell 16%. Air tickets sold rose 26% (20% organic), and revenue/ticket fell 10%. Sales/marketing spend rose 19% Y/Y to $885.5M, but tech/content and cost of revenue growth was more moderate.
- Priceline is following Expedia higher ahead of its Aug. 5 Q2 report.
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Expedia's Q2 results, PR