Pricline.com Reports Strong Q3 Results; Outlook Misses Estimates (PCLN)
Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN), a global online travel company offering a range of travel services, reported strong third-quarter financial results. However, the company’s outlook for the current quarter fell short of Street estimates.
Despite a weaker than expected forecast for the current quarter, Priceline.com shares are higher in after-hour trading today. At last check, the stock was up 1.77% to $518.03 in after-hours trading. Earlier the stock had closed 0.85% lower at $509 in regular trading.
For the fourth quarter, Priceline.com expects earnings to come in between $4.90 per share and $5 per share. The company expects fourth-quarter revenue to rise between 27% and 32%. Analysts forecast the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company to report a profit of $5.13 per share on a 36% rise in revenue in the fourth quarter.
The weaker than expected forecast for the fourth quarter comes even as the company reported solid third-quarter results. During the third quarter, the company’s gross bookings rose 56%, beating analysts’ estimates. The company’s international bookings rose 73%, while its domestic bookings rose 13% in the third quarter.
Priceline.com’s hotel-room nights climbed 47% in the third quarter of 2011. Rental car-days, meanwhile, rose 36% in the third-quarter of 2011. The company’s airline ticket volume rose 7.7% in the third quarter of 2011.
For the third quarter of 2011, the company reported a profit of $469.5 million, or $9.17 per share, compared with $223 million, or $4.41 per share reported for the same period in the previous year. The company’s revenue for the third quarter of 2011 jumped 45% to $1.45 billion. The company’s third-quarter earnings and revenue growth came in ahead of the guidance it gave in August.
Priceline’s gross margin for the third quarter of 2011 improved from 66.50% to 75.70%.
CEO Jeffery Boyd said that the company is pleased with the solid momentum seen in the third quarter of 2011.
Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht. |