Priceline overcast by underwhelming outlook

Priceline shares hit turbulence on Monday evening after the online travel and booking company’s predictions for profits in the current quarter failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations.

The company’s shares dropped almost 7 per cent in after-hours trading. The drop came after the Connecticut-headquartered company — which operates travel sites including Kayak, Booking.com, OpenTable and its namesake Priceline.com — said it is looking for net income between $625m and $655m in the current quarter, or $12.60 to $13.20 per diluted share. Analysts had been expecting net income of $733m, or about $14.70 per share, according to Factset.

The chilly reception comes despite third-quarter earnings that exceeded investors’ expectations. For the three months ending September 30, Priceline revenue increased 22 per cent from the same period a year earlier to $4.4bn, exceeding expectations for sales of $4.33bn, according to Factset.

Net income rose 240 per cent year-over-year to $1.7bn, or $34.43 a share, edging past predictions for income of $1.6bn, or $33.47 a share.

Priceline chief executive Glenn Fogel said in a statement: that the “seasonally busy” third quarter saw “solid growth and operating results.”

Priceline shares have risen almost 30 per cent since the start of 2017.