Norwalk, Conn.-based Priceline (PCLN) said it earned $2.02 a share, excluding special items such as stock-based compensation, in the second quarter. That's up 30% from the year-earlier quarter and way above the $1.75 consensus estimate of 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
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Rivals Orbitz (OWW) and Expedia (EXPE) recently reported second-quarter earnings that shattered analyst views by 16 cents and 7 cents, respectively, but their results continue to lag Priceline's. Orbitz saw its sales fall 19% from a year earlier, while Expedia's sales fell 3% and profit fell 5%.
Part of the reason why these companies are successful is they are generally pretty good at delivering low prices. However, people are buying from these companies. I find that point very interesting given the current environment.
1 comment:
i enjoy your blog and usually find the information very useful. but i have to take exception with this item.
are you saying things are getting better because earnings are better? we don't know, because we aren't told, but likely PCLN earnings are better because costs were cut rather than sales increased. more unemployed workers is not better.
and "better than consensus" earnings means nothing other than analysts are wrong as usual, or more likely, management has carefully steered estimates to a point where they could be exceeded. and what is the point of "excluding . . . items such as stock-based compensation"? heck, why not exclude "wages paid" too?
the only useful information i see here is that OWW and EXPE had lower YoY sales. not good
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