Expedia shares could be in trouble, according to Piper Sandler. The bank downgraded shares of the travel company to underweight from neutral. Analyst Thomas Champion also lowered his price forecast of $135, down from $174, implies that shares of Expedia could decline 20% from Thursday’s close. The downgrade comes after Expedia reported mixed first-quarter results. While earnings exceeded expectations, revenue came in slightly below a FactSet estimate. On top of that, the company lowered its gross booking guidance for 2025. “The commentary around U.S. inbound travel & the B2C business was discouraging and suggests a tough slog from here. It could also get incrementally worse,” the analyst wrote. “Management comments on the topline leave us concerned. Expedia’s heavy U.S. concentration leads us to believe this name is vulnerable to further softening in travel demand.” EXPE YTD mountain EXPE YTD chart Champion added that inbound travel to the U.S. fell 7%, while travel from Canada plummeted 30%. “Expedia’s heavy US concentration leads us to believe this name is vulnerable to further softening in travel demand,” he added. “Comments suggest that full-year guidance extrapolates the trends in April through the balance of the year. We hope that’s the case, but the compares get steadily more challenging with 2024 B2C growth acceleration from -3% in 1Q24 to 1%, 4%, and 9% through the balance of the year.” Shares were down 10% on Friday morning following the company’s release. Year to date, shares have fallen around 9%. Analysts are split on the stock. LSEG data shows that 15 of 37 who cover Expedia rate it a buy or strong buy, while more than 20 have a hold rating on it.
