Expedia Inc. EXPE has announced changes at its management level
The online travel booking company recently appointed Mark Okerstrom as its new chief executive officer (CEO) and president of the company.
Okerstrom succeeds Dara Khosrowshahi, who recently left Expedia and accepted Uber’s offer of becoming its new CEO. However, Khosrowshahi will continue to remain on the company’s board.
Following news of Dara Khosrowshahi joining Uber, investors were not happy, leading to a decline in the company’s share price. However, the investors cheered the news of Okerstrom’s appointment as the company’s new CEO, which saw the company’s share price rising by more than 3%.
More Into The headlines
Given that Okerstrom had been working with Expedia since 2006, he knows the business quite well. He had served in responsible positions at Expedia. Most recently, he worked as chief financial officer and executive vice president of operations.
Expedia Chairman, Barry Diller, said, “Okerstrom was Khosrowshahi's principal partner in operating the company and therefore this transition is as natural as water flowing down a snow-packed mountain,” adding, “There was no other candidate that the board considered”.
Stock Price Performance
Expedia has built a very strong position and an extensive portfolio across hotel, air and car-related services. Undoubtedly, these have contributed significantly to the company’s impressive 32.4% share price surge over the last one year.
However, the stock has underperformed the industry it belongs to on a year-to-date basis. The company’s shares have gained only 31.0% compared with the industry’s growth of 49.4%.
Bottom Line
Expedia Inc. is one of the leading online travel companies in the world. Its growth plan for both domestic and international markets remains encouraging. Also, its agency business looks good, which is undoubtedly benefiting from the Expedia Traveler Preference Program (ETP) initiative.
We believe that the appointment of Okerstrom will lead to a smooth transition and continue to drive the recent momentum for the company.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Expedia has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A few better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Lam Research Corporation LRCX, Stamps.com Inc. STMP and PetMed Express, Inc. PETS, each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Lam Research delivered a positive earnings surprise of 4.44%, on average, in the trailing four quarters.
Stamps.com Inc. delivered a positive earnings surprise of 30.64%, on average, in the last four quarters.
PetMed Express came up with an average positive earnings surprise of 10.78% in the trailing four quarters.
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