Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN), which was recently added to the S&P 500, is scheduled to discuss its third-quarter 2009 financial results in a conference call Monday, November 9, at 4:30 PM ET. You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.
During the three months that ended in September, Priceline announced a partnership with Ticketmaster (TKTM) and launched a rewards Visa card. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect this leading online travel services provider to report that earnings for that period jumped 18.2% from a year ago to $2.92 per share. And revenue for the quarter is expected to be 23.6% higher to $693.9 million.
Looking ahead to the full year, analysts expect to see net income of $7.53 per share (+20.5%) on $2.3 billion (+20.2%) in sales. Priceline's earnings have topped analysts' expectations in the past five quarters, by as much as 29 cents per share.
The long-term EPS growth forecast is 18%, which is better than that of competitors Expedia Inc. (EXPE) and Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW). Priceline's earnings multiple is 20x, and the First Call consensus recommendation remains to buy PCLN, with a mean price target of $195.08. The Motley Fool considers Priceline to be one of tomorrow's winners.
Shares have soared 133.5% year to date, recently reaching a multi-year high of $182.32 before pulling back and closing Friday at $172.00.
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