Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) shares trade lower in pre-market after the company’s reported Q4 results, with EPS of $1.26 coming in worse than the consensus estimate of $1.69.
Revenue was up 15% year-over-year to $2.62 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $2.69B. Total gross bookings increased 17% year-over-year as gross bookings for lodging and air grew.
Lodging revenue grew 18% driven by a significant increase of 19% in room nights stayed and average daily rate (ADR) growth of 3%. Air revenue increased 44%, driven by an increase of 47% in revenue per ticket. Advertising and media revenue was up 15% due to growth in Expedia Group Media Solutions. Other revenue was down 4% due to declines in car revenue.
"We begin ‘23 with record app usage and member counts, led by Expedia US, the first of our brands to deploy new capabilities and marketing strategies. This year, we are excited to see these benefits accrue to more of our brands and geographies, driving further growth and margin expansion," said Peter Kern, Vice Chairman and CEO of Expedia Group.
JMP analyst Nicholas Jones weighed in positively after management hinted at solid January trends.
"We do not view 4Q22 results or 2023 commentary as thesis changing, and we look for EXPE to show ongoing progress toward stabilizing market share and for more evidence it is executing against its high-LTV customer acquisition strategy as it rolls out its unified loyalty program, One Key, later this year. Further, we continue to see risk to ADR levels and occupancy rates amid ongoing macro uncertainty and maintain our Market Perform rating."
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) analyst Brian Nowak added:
"We note positives on reaccelerating January demand, loyalty and app metrics, as well as resiliency of leisure travel ADRs."
By Davit Kirakosyan and Senad Karaahmetovic