Online travel services company Priceline (PCLN) reported a better-than-expected jump in quarterly profit as hotel bookings rose and forecast current-quarter earnings largely above estimates.
Shares of the company, which operates Booking.com, Priceline.com and Kayak.com, rose 6.09% in extended trading on Thursday.
Priceline said it expected an adjusted profit of $28.30 to $29.80 per share for the third quarter ending Sept. 30. Analysts on average were expecting $28.99 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
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The company expects revenue to rise between 12% and 17%. Analysts were expecting revenue of $3.57 billion.
The Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said hotel bookings rose 24.4% in the second quarter, while car rental bookings rose 7.6%.
Total gross bookings increased 19.4% in the quarter.
The company’s net income rose to $580.64 million, or $11.60 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $517.0 million, or $9.94 per share, a year earlier.
Priceline CEO on Leading Leaders
Excluding items, Priceline earned $13.93 per share.
Revenue rose 12.1% to $2.56 billion.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of $12.69 per share and revenue $2.58 billion.
Rival Expedia (EXPE) reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue last week as bookings slowed due to “network and infrastructure stability issues” related to integration of Orbitz (OWW), which it bought last year.
Up to Thursday’s close of $1,359.99, Priceline’s stock had risen 7.54% this year.
