NEW YORK (AP) [—] Shares of Expedia and TripAdvisor soared Thursday, even though the travel website companies reported differing results for the fourth quarter.
Expedia’s results were worse than Wall Street expected as costs piled up related to its acquisition of Orbitz, the company reported late Wednesday. But Expedia, which also runs Travelocity, Hotwire and other travel-related websites, said the number of hotel room nights booked in the quarter rose 39 percent.
Shares of Expedia Inc., based in Bellevue, rose $8.23 or 8.7 percent, to $102.58 in afternoon trading
Meanwhile, TripAdvisor, which was spun off from Expedia in 2011, surprised Wall Street Thursday with better-than-expected earnings and revenue as more people booked hotel rooms after coming to the site. The company said revenue from hotel bookings rose 4 percent to $260 million.
Based in Needham, Massachusetts, TripAdvisor is a review website for hotels and attractions and makes most of its money when people click to book a hotel on another site.
The company is rolling out a new feature that lets users book a hotel room without leaving TripAdvisor. The company said more users are coming to TripAdvisor through a mobile device and it’s easier for them to book within the same site. Instant booking was added to its site in the U.S. and U.K. in September, and is coming to more countries this year.
Shares of TripAdvisor Inc. jumped $7.78, or 14.3 percent, to $62.13 in afternoon trading Thursday.
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