Travel technology giant Expedia missed the mark on its 2017 earnings report Thursday, sending its stock tumbling in after-hours trading.
The company reported $10.05 billion in revenue for the 2017 financial year, compared to analyst predictions of $10.11 billion. It missed its earnings per share by a wider margin, reporting $4.30 compared to an expected $4.61.
Gross bookings increased $2.4 billion, or 14 percent, over this time a year ago to $19.8 billion in the fourth quarter.
Expedia’s stock, already down after another volatile day for the markets, immediately dropped more than 15 percent after market close to $103.35 and was still dropping at 1:30 Pacific Time.
The numbers don’t end there: In the fourth quarter of 2017, Expedia reported $2.32 billion in revenue compared to expectations of $2.36 billion and earnings per share of $0.84 compared to an expected $1.15.
The results follow a time of change at the tech company: Longtime Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi left the company in September to head up Uber. In his absence, longtime COO Mark Okerstrom has taken the helm as Expedia’s CEO. This marks the second earnings report the company released under Okerstrom’s leadership.
On a call with investors, Okerstrom acknowledged the financial shortfall and laid out how the company is setting up for the future.
“2017 was a year of change for Expedia across many dimensions,” Okerstrom said. “And though the year did not end up as we planned from a financial perspective, we hit some important milestones and made huge progress in a number of areas. Importantly, we spent the last quarter aligning the organization strategically and operationally to execute on our ambitious plans. And we are now firmly in execution mode.”
