Expedia CEO: Despite record-high gas prices, 'people are still traveling'

Rising gas prices across the US haven't yet derailed holiday travel plans.

"People are still traveling, and if we just look at the searches for Labor Day, they were up 35%. The places people were searching for were more vacation destinations, like Las Vegas or places in Mexico," Expedia Group (EXPE) CEO Ariane Gorin told Yahoo Finance at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Tech Conference (video above). "When we look out to the fall, the searches are more for cities like Chicago, Boston, New York, which are expensive. We certainly are seeing more use of our budget filter or our all-inclusive filter. So people are looking for good deals, and they continue to prioritize travel."

According to AA, the national average gas price on Labor Day was $4.15 per gallon. That made it the most expensive Labor Day ever at the gas pump.

Expedia has benefited from a resilient US consumer this year — one who has dealt with several gas price spikes resulting from the US-Iran war.

Expedia reported a 14% year-over-year revenue increase in the second quarter, driven by accelerating growth across its consumer brands and B2B division.

Adjusted earnings per share popped 36% from the prior year.

Following the solid quarter, execs raised their full-year 2026 outlook, taking revenue growth guidance to 9%-10%, up from 6% to 9%, and increasing gross bookings projections to as high as $130.8 billion.

Investors have cheered the company's improving performance, with the shares up 12% in the past six months. Expedia stock is still down 5% year to date.

282.63 +10.02 (+3.68%)

As of 12:05:47 PM EDT. Market Open.

"Valuation remains compelling (14x P/E), especially for a fundamentally strengthening company – revenue growth acceleration, margin expansion, boosted share repos, and increased dividends. We see in Expedia an asset with a sustainable mid-teens EPS outlook (high single digit percentage revenue growth, operating margin expansion, share shrinkage)," Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney said. "And solid revenue growth is supported by a robust B2B segment growth (20%+) and margin improvement as effective product improvements drives marketing efficiencies, and advertising revenue growth. There is an overhang here related to AI, but we believe the market is overly discounting the ability of Expedia to further diversify its marketing channels thanks to LLMs and to improve its own offering with agentic innovations."

Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor, host of the Power Players with Brian Sozzi podcast, and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.

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