Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) Shares Hit Near Highs On Solid Earnings – PCLN, OWW

Online travel portal Expedia Inc(NASDAQ:EXPE) on Thursday posted a quarterly income that fell 18 percent, though its adjusted earnings were ahead of analyst estimates.

Net income fell to $171.5 million, or $1.21 per share, from $209.5 million, or $1.50 per share, a year earlier, when results were helped by businesses that Expedia no longer owns.

The company said that excluding the cost of stock-based compensation and other items, profit from its continuing operations came to $188 million, or $1.32 per share, up from $180.5 million, or $1.28 per share, a year ago.

Analysts, who usually exclude such items, expected $1.26 per share.

Revenue rose to $1.20 billion from $1.02 billion, beating analysts' forecast of $1.17 billion.

Shares in Expedia jumped $6.20, or 12.10 percent, to $57.45. The shares are up 98 percent for the year.

Despite the slowdown in the travel industry, the company showed strong growth in Europe, Asia and North America where revenues from hotel bookings rose 17 percent.

The portal's core business is selling hotels stays through its own site and on Hotels.com.

Bookings of hotels rooms rose 27 from a year earlier though average room rentals were lower compared to last year and the company's revenue for each night fell about 6 percent.

Airline tickets sold also rose 11 percent from a year earlier but the average revenue realisation per ticket fell 19 percent.

Shares of Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.(NYSE:OWW) were also boosted by 12.16% to $2.49 and Priceline.com Inc(NASDAQ:PCLN) climbed 3.21% to $575.76.

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