Priceline Impresses With Earnings and Strong Revenue Guidance

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.

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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.