Expedia Takes A Hit On Revenues And Net Income, Shares Soar
Although the number of booking transactions handled by the company actually saw a small uptick, gross bookings decreased 5%. As a result, revenues went down 3% (from $795 million in 2008 to $770 million) and operating income decreased a staggering 33%.
On the upside, Expedia’s flight and hotel bookings rose 10% in the second quarter compared to the first quarter following some expense-cutting measures and airline fare cuts. The company’s second-quarter profit was $41 million, or 14 cents per share.
And while earnings fell 57%, Expedia’s results beat Wall Street expectations, sending shares up 13% at $20.73 in recent trading on Nasdaq. The stock has more than doubled this year, up about 37% in the past month.
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Expedia, next to online travel agency Expedia.com, owns a number of properties in the field, including Hotels.com, TripAdvisor and Hotwire.