Aug 5, 2026 earnings call — Raised full-year guidance after strong quarter
Raised full-year gross bookings to $129.5 billion-$130.8 billion, implying growth of 8%-9%.
Revenue $4.3B (est $4.2B) · EPS $5.76 (est $5.22) · Next-quarter revenue outlook $4.7B–$4.8B
Key quotes
"We now expect gross bookings of $129.5 billion-$130.8 billion, representing growth of 8%-9%, and revenue of $16.05 billion-$16.22 billion, representing growth of 9%-10%."
"In B2B, alongside investing in our existing partnerships, we continue building toward our vision of a one-stop travel shop for partners, in May, announced our intent to acquire CarTrawler, the leading B2B car rental and insurance platform."
Analyst Q&A 10
How AI and ads affect bookings
Q (Eric Sheridan · Goldman Sachs): How do AI-native channels, on-site AI features, and traditional advertising work together to drive return on ad spend and conversion over the medium to long term?
A: They split AI work into two groups. One group uses AI now to improve recommendations, ranking, personalization and thus conversion. The other group builds natural-language features and agents that today don't convert much but give over 60% more traveler intent data and should help over time; they are also testing AI experiences outside their brands like ChatGPT and Google to bring more travelers in.
"In that first bucket, it's using AI for better recommendations, for better ranking, for personalizing the UX and the content." — Ariane Gorin (CEO)
B2B partner advantages and marketing efficiency
Q (Justin Post · BofA): What advantages do you offer B2B partners and how sticky are the contracts? Also, after the recent marketing gains, is there more marketing efficiency left to capture?
A: They said B2B remains competitive but large, and Expedia brings supply, content, technology, servicing, and partner integration; some relationships are exclusive and B2B runs as a standalone business investing to be a one-stop travel shop (CarTrawler and Tiqets). On marketing, they cut inefficient spend and redirected to more productive channels which helped margins, and those structural improvements should endure while they continue to make cost progress; they raised full-year EBITDA margin expansion guidance to 150 to 175 basis points and noted overheads were flat while revenue rose 14%.
"However, the structural improvements that we've made on the marketing program are going to endure and give us a base to drive further efficiencies off going forward." — Derek Andersen (CFO)
Geography trends and margin timing
Q (Douglas Anmuth · JPMorgan): How have views on geographies changed, especially Europe and APAC? And explain the back-half margin dynamics with Q3 moderation and stronger Q4.
A: They said the business is geographically balanced and they will lean into geographies with stronger demand while supply can respond; over time demand rebounds across the world. On margins, Q3 faces headwinds from lapping prior cost reductions and FX, but their efficiency work continues and the full-year plan expects margin expansion later in the year as some Q3 pressures ease.
"We have some FX net headwinds that'll impact us in Q3 that are really a factor on the margin as well." — Derek Andersen (CFO)
B2B competition and higher costs
Q (Jed Kelly · Oppenheimer): Where is the B2B competitive landscape and why did B2B overhead increase this quarter?
A: They said the addressable B2B market is large with many competitors across offline retail, other OTAs, loyalty and corporate agencies, so Expedia focuses on a strong value proposition and service to win partners. The B2B cost rise reflects investments to build the one-stop travel shop, digestion of the Tiqets acquisition in Q2, and some FX hedging geography effects showing up in the P&L.
"One aspect of that is that we had the digestion of Tiqets and that acquisition in Q2, that would have weighed a little bit on the cost that you're seeing." — Derek Andersen (CFO)
Search channels and bookings vs nights
Q (Ken Gawrelski · Wells Fargo): What's happening in organic search (SEO and AEO) amid search changes, and what's the second-half outlook for ADRs and the difference between bookings and room nights growth?
A: They said organic search is stable to slightly up; AEO is one of their fastest-growing channels while SEO has been soft but stabilized after focused testing and using AI to improve technical and content. For the second half they assume healthy demand led by a strong U.S. market, note some secondary impacts from the Middle East on jet fuel and ticket prices, and expect tougher comps that will slow growth more on bookings than on room nights.
"A number of quarters ago, we organized a small team to look at organic across the board, AEO and SEO, and they've increased testing velocity, both technical and content." — Ariane Gorin (CEO)
AEO channel and new CEO views
Q (Lloyd Walmsley · Mizuho): What surprised the new CEO most and where are the biggest opportunities? Also, why is AEO meaningful for Expedia and how are you approaching it?
A: They said AEO is still a small channel but one of their fastest-growing channels; Expedia organized early with a team, is working on brand value propositions, full content, technical work, and exploring connectors or micro apps where available. The new CEO said he was excited by the scale, leading consumer brands, B2B platform, team quality, and the chance to grow through execution and efficient scaling.
"As I said, it's one of our fastest-growing channels." — Ariane Gorin (CEO)
B2C margin expansion drivers
Q (Cameron · Cantor Fitzgerald): What drove the B2C margin expansion this quarter and what runway do you see into 2027?
A: They said bookings grew 8% while marketing spend was up only 1%, helped by their strongest U.S. growth in 15 quarters. Margin gains came from product improvements (recommendations, ranking, funnel and checkout optimizations), supply growth (record May sale), strong performance from top-tier loyalty members, marketing leverage and new agentic systems for personalized ads at scale; the team sees more room to improve though they're pleased with the progress.
"I would say it came from really pulling on all of the levers of the marketplace, improvements in the product, whether that is recommendations, ranking, improvements all along the funnel." — Ariane Gorin (CEO)
Advertising growth and World Cup effect
Q (Mark Mahaney · Evercore): How is advertising revenue traction progressing, including rolling ads into Vrbo? Also, was the World Cup material to Q2 or Q3 results?
A: They said advertising growth was stable versus Q1 and Q2 and there is room to sustain healthy growth by expanding geography, extending ad solutions into B2B and Vrbo, and monetizing more site areas; Vrbo ads are very early but seen as an opportunity. On the World Cup, bookings came in late, the impact on the quarter was relatively modest overall and showed more in ADRs than room nights.
"On Vrbo specifically, it's very early there, but we are excited about the opportunity to build on that over time, but it's early." — Derek Andersen (CFO)
US/Mexico recovery and B2B margin drivers
Q (Kevin Kopelman · TD Cowen): How have U.S. and Mexico trips progressed after the security incident, and why did B2B sales and marketing tick down year-over-year?
A: They said U.S. and Mexico trips have normalized. On B2B margins, drivers include partner mix and partner promotional activity that persisted into Q2, and the pace of their own investments to grow the business; they are investing in new lines of business, product capabilities and sales to grow beyond their 70,000 partners while staying committed to efficiency and margin expansion.
"Yeah. I would say we've seen a normalization. Yeah. We've seen a normalization." — Ariane Gorin (CEO)
Attach rates and Uber partnership
Q (Naved Khan · B. Riley): Which products are driving attach rates in Expedia, and any early read on the Uber partnership and its contribution to guidance?
A: They said they won't comment on individual partners and the Uber partnership is not expected to be material to guidance. On attach, it depends on trip start: a flight often leads to lodging or car attachments, a hotel can lead to car or insurance; better personalization and UX placement of attach messaging have driven record attach rates and they see additional runway to increase multi-item trips.
"I'm not going to comment, and it's not going to be material to our guidance." — Ariane Gorin (CEO)