Predicting a “brighter year ahead,” Expedia Group Inc. said Thursday that the impact of the omicron variant on travel was not as severe as previous COVID-19 disruptions.
Expedia Group’s EXPE total gross bookings were $ 17.5 billion in the fourth quarter, an increase of 131% year over year and down 25% compared with the fourth quarter of 2019. The company said that was the lowest quarterly decline last year when compared with pre-pandemic numbers.
“The travel industry and traveling public prove more resilient with each passing wave, and we continue to expect a solid overall recovery in 2022, barring a change in the trajectory of the virus,” Expedia Chief Executive Peter Kern said in a statement. On the company’s earnings call, he said “the world has gotten accustomed to the pandemic” and that it will “perhaps enter an endemic stage.”
Despite slightly missing revenue expectations, Expedia shares rose as high as 6% after hours, after increasing 0.3% in the regular session to close at $ 197.52.
Giving a more detailed view of the company’s recovery, Chief Financial Officer Eric Hart said on the earnings call that total bookings were down 27% in December compared with 2019, improved to down 11% in January, and were “up vs. 2019 in the most recent weeks.”
Kern also said the travel rebound has varied across different places, and that because some big cities and international destinations have not bounced back as quickly from the pandemic yet, he expects Expedia to benefit when they do.
The travel-booking company reported fourth-quarter net income of $ 276 million, or an adjusted $ 1.06 a share, adjusted for stock-based compensation and other costs. That compared with a loss of $ 412 million, or $ 2.64 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue rose to $ 2.28 billion from $ 920 million in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 80 cents a share on revenue of $ 2.29 billion.
For the full year, Expedia reported $ 72.43 billion in gross bookings and $ 8.6 billion in revenue. It posted a net loss of $ 269 million, or $ 1.80 a share. Adjusted earnings were $ 1.65 a share. Analysts had expected earnings of $ 1.33 a share on $ 8.63 billion in revenue.
Expedia stock has risen 9.3% year to date, compared with the S&P 500 Index SPX, which has fallen 5.5% so far this year.