By Mackenzie Tatananni

Shares of Expedia Group climbed in premarket trading Friday after the online travel agency posted fourth-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street expectations.

The stock jumped 11% to $191.20 on the heels of a strong report for the December quarter. Adjusted earnings of $2.39 a share beat forecasts of $2.09, while revenue of $3.18 billion came in ahead of the $3.07 billion consensus estimate.

Total gross bookings in the fourth quarter increased 13% from the previous year, while booked room nights and lodging gross bookings each rose 12%. Bookings for Expedia's business-to-consumer and business-to-business segments accelerated 9% and 24%, respectively, in the quarter.

In a note Thursday, Truist Securities analysts wrote that the "high-quality" earnings report was "very encouraging into 2025." Highlights included sequential acceleration in Expedia's B2B business from the previous year, strong results in Europe and the Asia Pacific, and bookings growth among the company's three core brands.

In spite of the many positives, the analysts noted that U.S. domestic leisure trends remain discouraging at a macro level, and reiterated a price target of $163 and a Hold rating on the shares.

Benchmark analysts raised their price target on Expedia stock to $225 from $200 and reiterated a Buy rating. In their view, Expedia's reinstated quarterly dividend of 40 cents a share, starting in March, was "the cherry on top."

The analysts also nodded to the appointment of eBay's Scott Schenkel as chief financial officer. "We suspect there is some hope that guidance will be both more consistent and, ultimately, conservative going forward, " they wrote.

As Expedia stock rose on Friday, shares of competitors weren't moving much. Booking Holdings and Tripadvisor were up 1.7% and 0.1%, respectively.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com

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February 07, 2025 08:28 ET (13:28 GMT)

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