Written by StockNews.com

Expedia Inc. (Nasdaq:EXPE ) posted mixed fourth-quarter earnings results late Thursday (Feb 9, 2017 | 4:06pm), as profit was much lower than expected, although revenue beat expectations.

The Bellevue, WA-based online travel giant reported adjusted Q4 EPS of $1.17 per share, which was a full $0.20 worse than the Wall Street consensus estimate of $1.37. Revenues rose 23.2% from last year to $2.09 billion, topping analysts’ $2.07 billion view.

Expedia noted that gross bookings gained 8% from the year-ago period to $16.1 billion, while room nights stayed increased 15%. Its HomeAway segment provided $166 million of revenue in the fourth quarter, up 30%. Expedia acquired HomeAway back in 2015 for $3.9 billion.

The company commented via press release:

For the full year 2016, total gross bookings excluding eLong increased 21% (including 1 percentage point of negative foreign exchange impact), driven primarily by 13 percentage points of inorganic impact from acquisitions and growth in Brand Expedia and Hotels.com, as well as in Egencia. Excluding Orbitz, gross bookings increased 10%. Domestic gross bookings increased 24% and international gross bookings increased 17% (including 2 percentage points of negative foreign exchange impact). International gross bookings totaled $26.1 billion and accounted for 36% of worldwide bookings, compared with 37% in the prior year. The decrease in international gross bookings mix was primarily due to the acquisition of Orbitz Worldwide, which disproportionately bolstered domestic gross bookings for the full year 2016.

...Year-to-date, EXPE had gained 8.80% prior to today’s report, versus a 3.15% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

EXPE currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of B (Buy), and is ranked #17 of 44 stocks in the Internet category.