Expedia Group, Inc. EXPE is currently one of the top-performing stocks in the technology sector, and an increase in share price and strong fundamentals signal its bull run. Therefore, if you haven’t taken advantage of the share price appreciation yet, it’s time you add the stock to your portfolio.
The company has performed extremely well in the past months and has the potential to carry on the momentum in the near term as well.
Why an Attractive Pick?
Share Price Appreciation: A glimpse of the company’s price trend shows that the stock has had an impressive run on the bourses over the past three months. Expedia has returned 11.48%, comparing favorably with the S&P 500’s market gain of 0.53%.
Solid Rank & Value Score: Expedia carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has a Value Score of B. Our research shows that stocks with a Value Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 offer the best investment opportunities. Thus, the company appears to be a compelling investment proposition at the moment.
Northward Estimate Revisions: For the current year, 11 estimates have moved north over the past 60 days against one southward revision, reflecting analysts’ confidence in the stock. Over the same period, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year has increased 9%. Also, for fiscal 2019, the Zacks Consensus Estimate has inched up 9% over the same time frame to $6.04.
Strong Growth Prospects: The company’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2018 earnings of $5.24 reflects year-over-year growth of 21.86%. Moreover, earnings are expected to register 15.26% growth in fiscal 2019. The stock has a long-term expected earnings per share growth rate of 14.50%.
Growth Drivers: The robust performance of HomeAway, Core OTA, Brand Expedia, Hotels.com, Expedia Partner Solutions and Egencia will continue to accelerate the company’s gross bookings.
Moreover, Expedia’s continuous efforts to strengthen its business in several geographic regions will continue to attract more customers to the platform.
In the last reported quarter, revenues increased 8.6% sequentially and 15% on a year-over-year basis to $2.5 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.46 billion. Also, gross bookings of $27.2 billion were up 15.2% year over year and 37.3% sequentially. The figure came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $26.6 billion.
We believe that Expedia is in a great position to grow sustainably and profitably based on its strong pipeline of enabling technologies, supported by expanding opportunities in the online travel market.
Other Stocks to Consider
Other top-ranked stocks in the technology sector are Littelfuse, Inc. LFUS, Groupon, Inc. GRPN, both sporting a Zacks Rank #1, while Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, holding a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Long-term earnings per share growth rate for Littelfuse, SMC and Amazon is projected at 12%, 6.5% and 30.2%, respectively.
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