Earnings Results

Tripadvisor CEO to depart next year; stock drops after earnings

CEO transition ‘is a surprise, but new management will ultimately likely be welcomed,’ analyst says

The earnings from online-travel company Tripadvisor didn’t pack the same punch as results from its peers, said an analyst.

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Shares of Tripadvisor Inc. were off 9% in after-hours trading Monday after the company posted weaker-than-expected results and also announced that its chief executive plans to leave his post next year.

The company saw third-quarter revenue double to $303 million from $151 million a year earlier, while analysts tracked by FactSet had been expecting $307.3 million.

“We are very excited about the progress we are making in our key initiatives with a focus on the long-term, even as we remain cautiously optimistic about near-term travel trends,” Chief Executive Steve Kaufer said in a release.

Tripadvisor TRIP, -0.49% generated net income of $23 million, or 1 cent a share, reversing course from a loss of $23 million, or 36 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. On an adjusted basis, Tripadvisor earned 16 cents a share, whereas it posted a 17-cent adjusted loss per share in the year-prior period. Analysts tracked by FactSet were modeling 24 cents a share in adjusted earnings.

“[A]fter BKNG and EXPE posted sizable beats, which boosted Trip’s stock,” the latest results from Tripadvisor “will disappoint,” wrote Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke.

The company also announced Monday that Kaufer plans to depart from his role in 2022 but will remain in the position until Tripadvisor names a successor after a review of external and internal candidates. Kaufer is a co-founder of Tripadvisor, having launched the company in 2000.

The news of Kaufer’s plans to step down “is a surprise, but new management will ultimately likely be welcomed,” Clarke wrote.

Shares of Tripadvisor are down 6.4% over the past three months as the S&P 500 SPX, +0.09% SPX, +0.09% has added 6.0%.

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