TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) saw its stock plunge by over 5% in after-hours trading on November 6, 2024, despite reporting better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter. The travel company's revenue for the quarter fell short of Wall Street estimates, raising concerns about its growth prospects amid ongoing competitive pressures.

For the three months ended September 30, TripAdvisor posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.50, surpassing the consensus analyst estimate of $0.44. However, the company's revenue of $532 million was slightly lower than the expected $527.9 million, representing a 0.2% year-over-year decline.

While TripAdvisor's earnings performance exceeded expectations, the revenue miss appeared to overshadow the positive earnings surprise, triggering a sell-off in the company's shares. Analysts cited competitive challenges and concerns over the company's ability to drive top-line growth as potential factors behind the stock's decline.

The company's core Brand Tripadvisor segment, which includes its hotel meta-search and media business, reported a 12% year-over-year decline in revenue to $255 million, primarily due to a 17% drop in branded hotels revenue. However, the Viator experiences and dining segment grew by 10% to $270 million, and the TheFork dining reservations platform achieved record financial performance with revenue of $49 million, up 17% year-over-year.

In a conference call with analysts, TripAdvisor CEO Matthew Goldberg acknowledged the ongoing headwinds in the company's legacy hotel meta offering but expressed confidence in the growth potential of the experiences and dining segments. Goldberg stated that the company is leveraging generative AI and other technologies to enhance customer service and product recommendations, with the aim of driving higher conversion rates.