Orlando, FL 4/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Shares of Expedia Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) rose more than 20 percent before the opening bell Friday on the heels of its better-than-expected first-quarter results.The online travel company swung to a first-quarter loss, but its adjusted results handily beat Wall Street's expectations. Its revenue also climbed 12 percent.
Expedia, which also operates Hotels.com, the corporate travel-management business Egencia and other subsidiaries, handled 18 percent more transactions than a year ago, including a 24 percent jump in room nights rented, but average room rates were flat.
The stock was up $6.84, or 21 percent, to $39.39 in premarket trading Friday. The stock has traded in a wide range over the past year, from a low of $27.28 to a high of $65.78.
In a note to clients Friday, Citi analyst Mark Mahaney suggested that booking trends both in the U.S. and overseas indicate growth is accelerating.
He raised his revenue expectations for the year by about 4 to 5 percent and his earnings per share forecast by 3 percent.
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Austin, TX 11/21/11 (StreetBeat) --Expedia Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE) has purchased Renren Inc.'s interest in Chinese online travel company eLong Inc. (Nasdaq: LONG) for about $72.4 million, the companies said Monday.