By Connor Hart

Expedia Group's first quarter was hurt by weaker-than-expected travel demand to and from the U.S., a trend that Chief Executive Ariane Gorin warned is continuing in the current quarter.

Shares fell 7.4%, to $156.50, in after-hours trading, after the online travel agency widened its net loss and logged lower-than-expected sales during the recent quarter. Through Thursday's close, the stock has gained 50% in the past year.

Approximately two-thirds of Expedia's business comes from the U.S., where consumers are spending less on travel, in part due to jitters over President Trump's trade war and the prospect of higher prices on everything from cars and clothes to toys and tech.

At the same time, international travelers are currently less likely to visit the U.S., Gorin said. She said on a call with analysts that fewer Canadians traveled to the U.S. during the recent quarter, while European travelers favored destinations in Latin America over cities in the U.S.

Demand trends continued to cool in April, the Seattle company's chief executive said. This was particularly evident in the U.S., which she attributed to the Easter holiday.

Other travel companies have pointed out weakness in the U.S. market.

Data from Booking Holdings, which owns brands such as Booking.com and Kayak, showed that some Americans truncated the length of their trips and shortened their booking windows during the recent quarter, Chief Executive Glenn Fogel said last week. And Trivago Chief Executive Johannes Thomas said last week that travelers have been trading down to hotels with fewer stars and opting for trips closer to home in an attempt to save money.

Expedia after the bell on Thursday posted a loss of $200 million, or $1.56 a share, in the March quarter, compared with a loss of $135 million, or 99 cents a share, a year earlier.

Adjusted per-share earnings came in at 40 cents, topping the 35 cents that analysts polled by FactSet expected.

Revenue increased 3.4%, to $2.99 billion. Analysts modeled sales of $3.01 billion.

Business-to-consumer sales fell 1.5%, to $1.96 billion, which was offset by business-to-business sales, which jumped 14%, to $947 million. Third-party revenue through Trivago rose to $85 million from $70 million a year ago.

The number of booked nights increased 6.4%, to 107.7 million, compared with analyst projections for about 108.5 million.

Total gross booking climbed 4.3%, to $31.45 billion. Analysts were looking for gross bookings of $31.76 billion.

Write to Connor Hart at connor.hart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 08, 2025 18:13 ET (22:13 GMT)

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