Priceline.com Thrives on Earnings (PCLN)

priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) has managed to beat its earnings expectations.  Gross travel bookings were $4.96 billion and that generated $225.7 million in income. Adjusted earnings came to $5.37 in earnings per share outside of items and the Thomson Reuters…

Published February 27, 2012, 4:14pm ET · 1 min read

priceline.com Incorporated (NASDAQ: PCLN) has managed to beat its earnings expectations.  Gross travel bookings were $4.96 billion and that generated $225.7 million in income. Adjusted earnings came to $5.37 in earnings per share outside of items and the Thomson Reuters consensus target was $5.05 EPS.

The online travel giant is targeting first quarter adjusted earnings of $3.80 to $3.90 per share against estimates from Thomson Reuters of $3.72 EPS.

Gross travel bookings in the first quarter are expected to rise 10% while total gross travel bookings are expected to be up 33% to 38% due to a 41% to 46% growth in international travel bookings.

The news was good enough so far.  Shares are up over 4% at $617.00 in the after-hours after closing at $591.52.  Go ahead and count that as a 52-week high if these gains stay on the books.  The prior 52-week range was $411.26 to $597.00 since the stock hit a 52-week high today.

It seems that the question to ask is “What currency woes?”

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Jon C. Ogg

Jon Ogg has been a financial news analyst since 1997. Mr. Ogg set up one of the first audio squawk box services for traders called TTN, which he sold in 2003. He has previously worked as a licensed broker to some of the top U.S. and E.U. financial institutions, managed capital, and has raised private capital at the seed and venture stage. He has lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as New York and Chicago, and he now lives in Houston, Texas. Jon received a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance at University of Houston in 1992. www.247wallst.com.

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