How Analysts View Priceline After Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 9:50AM EST · Published May 5, 10:50AM EDT

How Analysts View Priceline After Earnings — © Thinkstock

Priceline Group Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) reported its first-quarter financial results before the markets opened on Wednesday. This company has been the center of attention of late, following a sex scandal between former CEO Darren Huston and an employee. This earnings report took the heat off a little, but questions remain about management and the overall direction of this company.

24/7 Wall St. has included some highlights from the earnings report, as well as what some analysts said afterward.

The company said it had $10.54 in earnings per share (EPS) on $2.15 billion in revenue. That compares to consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $9.66 in EPS on revenue of $2.12 billion. In the same period of last year, the company posted EPS of $8.12 and $1.84 billion in revenue.

In the second quarter, the company expects room nights booked to increase by roughly 15% to 22% year over year, as well as total gross travel bookings to increase by 11% to 18%.

Priceline also expects to have EPS in the range of $11.60 to $12.50 and revenue to increase by 7% to 14% in the second quarter. The consensus estimates call for $14.98 in EPS on $2.65 billion in revenue.

As for its business segments, Priceline reported:

Agency revenues totaled $1.50 billion.
Merchant revenues totaled $470.0 million.
Advertising and other revenues totaled $178.1 million.

Jeffery H. Boyd, chairman and interim CEO of Priceline, commented:

The Priceline Group delivered strong top line growth and attractive margins in the first quarter. Growth in room night reservations of 31% reflects continued solid execution in the market for global travel. … The Group is looking forward to continued investments in product, service and branding that will drive long-term growth for our leading brands.

A few analysts decided to weigh in on Priceline following the earnings report:

Benchmark has a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $1,440 from $1,525.
Oppenheimer reiterated an Outperform rating.
JPMorgan reiterated an Overweight rating.
Goldman Sachs reiterated a Neutral rating.
Morgan Stanley reiterated an Equal Weight rating.
Jefferies reiterated a Buy rating.
Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a Buy rating.
JMP Securities reiterated a Market Outperform rating.
Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating but lowered its price target to $1,580 from $1,600.
Piper Jaffray reiterated a Buy rating.
RBC Capital reiterated a Buy rating with a $1,700 price target.

Shares of Priceline were trading at $1,251.02 on Thursday, with a consensus analyst price target of $1475.04 and a 52-week trading range of $954.02 to $1476.52.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

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.