Expedia Group shares were up more than 6% in after-hours trading after the company reported its first quarter financials Monday, with revenue up 81% year-over-year to $2.2 billion. The Seattle-based tech giant also beat estimates with an adjusted net loss of $0.47 per share, down from a loss of $2.02 per share in the year-ago period.
“All in, while we are keeping an eye on various macro indicators including inflation and ongoing geopolitical tensions, we continue to see positive indicators for a strong recovery in leisure travel this summer,” Expedia CEO Peter Kern said in a statement. “We are also pleased to see city, business, and international travel coming back, three components key to the complete return of travel.”
Update: Expedia shares were down more than 13% Tuesday; a number of analysts cut price targets following the Q1 earnings.
Expedia’s total gross bookings were up 58% year-over-year to $24.4 billion, but down 19% from the first quarter of 2019 before the pandemic.
Kern’s sentiment about the return of travel is in line with a new report from Deloitte for the 2022 travel industry outlook. “While pandemic concerns continue to curtail travel spending, pockets of pent-up demand and pandemic-driven lifestyle shifts point to encouraging travel industry trends in the year ahead,” the report said.
In March, Expedia said it was blocking the ability to book travel into or out of Russia in a response to that country’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Expedia has been restructuring its business and unifying its behind-the-scenes technologies. It recently hired six new tech executives from companies such as Amazon and Google.
