Priceline Impresses With Earnings and Strong Revenue Guidance
Priceline Group reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Wednesday.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) reported its fourth-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Wednesday. The company had $12.63 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.00 billion in revenue, which compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $11.80 in EPS on revenue of $1.96 billion. In the same period of the previous year, it posted EPS of $10.85 and $1.84 billion in revenue.
Fourth-quarter gross travel bookings totaled $12.0 billion, an increase of 13% over a year ago, and an increase of roughly 24% on a constant currency basis.
In terms of guidance for the first quarter, Priceline expects to see EPS in the range of $9.00 to $9.60 and to see an increase in revenue of roughly 9% to 16% year over year. The consensus estimates call for $9.61 in EPS on $2.07 billion in revenue (the same period from last year had $1.84 billion in revenue).
Darren Huston, president and CEO of Priceline, commented on earnings:
The Priceline Group finished 2015 with a strong 4th quarter, reporting accelerating growth in hotel room nights booked. Globally, our accommodation business booked 99 million room nights in the fourth quarter, up 27% over the same period last year. International gross bookings growth accelerated to 29% on a constant currency basis and the Group’s total gross profit grew by about 23% on a constant currency basis. Booking.com continues to expand and innovate and now has over 850,000 hotels and other accommodations in over 220 countries and territories across the globe, up 34% from last year.
[recirclink id=315258]
Huston continued:
The Group’s brands are starting 2016 with strong momentum. We will continue to invest in our brands to organically grow for the long term using our consistent ROI-driven investment philosophy of creating value.
On the books, the company had cash, equivalents and short-term investments totaling $2.65 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to $4.29 billion in the same quarter from last year.
Shares of Priceline closed Tuesday up 5% to $1,110.68, with a consensus analyst price target of $1,428.04 and a 52-week trading range of $954.02 to $1,476.52. Following the release of the earnings report, the stock was up nearly 11% at $1,231.45 early Wednesday.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics. Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications. A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.
