By George Glover

Shares in online travel agency Expedia Group and vacation rental company Airbnb were moving in different directions on Friday after a pair of earnings results that signaled a difficult year ahead.

Expedia stock dropped 4.2% to $217.70, making it the S&P 500's worst performer ahead of the opening bell. Airbnb jumped 4.9% to $121.67.

Futures tracking the S&P itself were 0.3% lower, as investors fretted about the potential disruptions triggered by artificial intelligence ahead of the release of the January consumer-price inflation report.

Expedia and Airbnb both guided for stronger first-quarter revenue than analysts were estimating, so it's a little puzzling that one stock rose, while the other fell.

The outlook for the two companies in 2026 looks rough. Expedia forecast that its adjusted profit margin to rise by just 1 to 1.25 percentage points, while Airbnb is expecting its margin to be flat.

Online travel companies are grappling with a tough macroeconomic environment, with would-be holidaymakers reluctant to dip into their pockets due to stubborn inflation and a shaky labor market.

The stocks have also struggled to shake off worries tied to the rise of AI. Expedia was one of several stocks to take a beating last week, as investors fretted that the tech will replace many service-based industries.

Cantor analyst Deepak Mathivanan cut his price target for Expedia to $245 from $285 on Friday, warning that "debates on AI risks to online travel agents are likely to persist." Mathivanan cut his target for Airbnb to $121 from $141, citing a sluggish growth trajectory, although he does believe that large-language model chatbots can boost traffic.

The analyst rates both stocks at Neutral.

Expedia late Thursday reported adjusted earnings of $3.78 a share for the fourth quarter, as revenue rose 11% from a year ago to $3.55 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of $3.35 a share and revenue of $3.42 billion, according to a FactSet poll.

Airbnb posted earnings of 56 cents a share for the period, as revenue climbed 12% from a year ago to $2.78 billion. Wall Street was looking for earnings of 67 cents a share on revenue of $2.71 billion.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

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February 13, 2026 08:24 ET (13:24 GMT)

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