What happened
Shares of TripAdvisor (TRIP 3.06%) were down 12.9% as of 2:50 p.m. EDT Thursday after the online travel site announced mixed second-quarter 2018 results. TripAdvisor's quarterly revenue grew 2% year over year, to $433 million, and translated to adjusted net income of $58 million, or $0.41 per share, up from $0.38 per share in the same year-ago period.
Analysts, on average, were looking for slightly lower earnings of $0.40 per share on higher revenue of $435 million.
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So what
TripAdvisor's top-line growth was driven by a 22% increase in non-hotel revenue but partially offset by a 4% decline in hotel revenue. User reviews also grew 24% year over year, to 661 million, and average monthly unique visitors on TripAdvisor's branded websites grew 10%, to 456 million. At the same time, average monthly unique hotel shoppers fell 3%, to 149 million, driven by initiatives to improve profitability at TripAdvisor's paid online marketing channels.
Still, TripAdvisor CEO Steve Kaufer said he was "pleased" with their results, adding: "Operational changes have been taking hold, our product and marketing initiatives continue to align with the needs of consumers and partners alike, while our investments in newer initiatives position our platform for future profitable growth."
Now what
TripAdvisor may well be taking the right steps to drive longer-term revenue growth and is doing an admirable job boosting profits in the meantime. But with shares already up more than 50% over the past year leading into this report, it's obvious the market wanted more.
