Expedia Group raised its full-year 2026 revenue forecast to a range of $16.37 billion to $16.43 billion after third-quarter gross bookings reached $34.0 billion, up 11% from a year earlier. The online travel company reported the results Nov. 4 for the quarter that ended Sept. 30. CEO Ariane Gorin said Expedia “exceeded the high end of our guidance in the quarter, reflecting resilient travel demand and strong execution.”
Gross bookings measure the total value of travel booked through Expedia’s consumer sites and its partner platforms, so they run well above the company’s revenue. Revenue for the quarter was $4.94 billion, up 12%. Adjusted EBITDA, a profit measure that leaves out interest, taxes, depreciation and certain other costs, rose 17% to $1.69 billion.
Travelers booked 115.7 million hotel and rental room nights in the quarter, up 7%, at an average booked rate of $215.00 a night, up 2%. Booked air tickets moved the other way, falling 6% to 13.6 million. The mix matters for anyone pricing a winter or spring trip: lodging demand kept growing while the nightly rate edged higher and fewer plane tickets were sold through Expedia.
Stay ahead of government payment news: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. Join the Retirement Money Brief and we’ll send you our 2026 Government Check Reality Tracker as a welcome gift.
Get the Brief + the check tracker →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
How much higher is the full-year forecast?
Expedia now expects 2026 revenue of $16.37 billion to $16.43 billion, which would be growth of 11% to 12%. In its earlier outlook the company had pointed to $16.05 billion to $16.22 billion, or 9% to 10%.
The gross bookings forecast moved up as well, to $131.4 billion to $131.9 billion, about 10% growth, from a previous range of $129.5 billion to $130.8 billion. Expedia also lifted its target for profit margin improvement. It now expects adjusted EBITDA margin to widen by 1.8 to 2.0 percentage points this year, up from 1.5 to 1.75 points. The release does not give a full-year profit figure in dollars.
Is growth slowing in the fourth quarter?
The company’s own numbers say the pace will cool. For the fourth quarter, Expedia guided to gross bookings of $27.9 billion to $28.4 billion, an increase of 3.3% to 5.2%, and revenue of $3.69 billion to $3.75 billion, up 4.0% to 5.7%. Both are well below the 11% and 12% growth of the third quarter, and the dollar ranges sit under the third quarter’s $34.0 billion in bookings and $4.94 billion in revenue.
Expedia expects adjusted EBITDA of $830 million to $880 million for the final three months of the year. The company did not say in its release why growth would slow, and it did not offer a travel-demand forecast beyond those ranges.
Which part of the business is carrying the growth?
Expedia’s business-to-business arm, which sells travel booking technology and inventory to other companies such as airlines, banks and travel agencies, grew fastest. B2B gross bookings were $11.1 billion, up 19%, and B2B revenue rose 23% to $1.71 billion. Its adjusted EBITDA margin was 27.5%. Companywide operating income was $1.33 billion, up 28%.
The consumer side, which includes Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, booked $22.9 billion, up 7%, on revenue of $3.07 billion, up 6%. Its adjusted EBITDA margin was 43.5%, up 2.7 points from a year ago. Lodging bookings totaled $24.9 billion, up 10%, while non-lodging products such as flights, car rentals and activities reached $9.1 billion, up 14%. A third bucket that includes the trivago price-comparison site and corporate costs brought in $165 million in revenue, up 20%, and lost $112 million on an adjusted EBITDA basis.
What do the booking numbers say about travel prices?
Most of the lodging growth came from more stays, not from higher prices. Room nights rose 7% while the average booked rate rose 2%, and Expedia’s lodging revenue came to $3.99 billion, up 11%. The $215.00 figure is an average across everything the company booked, not a price for any one city or hotel.
Air travel was the soft spot. A 6% drop in booked tickets is a real decline in a quarter when total bookings still climbed 11%, which shows how much of the gain came from hotels, vacation rentals and the partner business rather than flights. The release does not say why air bookings fell.
Third-quarter gross bookings of $34.0 billion compare with $30.7 billion in the same quarter of 2025, when PYMNTS reported that Expedia’s partner business grew bookings 26%. This year’s 19% is a slower pace for that unit, though still faster than the consumer side.
What did Expedia do with its cash?
The company repurchased about 2 million of its shares for $576 million during the quarter. It also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.48 a share, payable Dec. 10 to shareholders of record on Nov. 18, according to the Business Wire release.
Cash flow ran negative in the quarter. Operating cash flow was negative $1.16 billion and free cash flow was negative $1.40 billion, compared with negative $497 million and negative $686 million a year earlier. Net income attributable to Expedia was $1.03 billion, up 7%, or $8.42 per diluted share. On an adjusted basis, earnings were $9.39 a share, up 24%.
Booking a winter or spring trip with hotel rates near $215 a night?
Expedia says the average booked hotel rate rose 2% to $215.00 a night in the third quarter, and its own fourth-quarter outlook shows travel spending still growing. Rates rise and fall by market, but anyone planning a trip on a fixed income pays the posted price unless they ask for a lower one.
Senior Discounts Worth Asking For lists the travel breaks that are never offered unless a customer asks, including the Senior Pass for national parks and federal lands at 62 and older and 10% off most Amtrak fares. The guide also covers half fare on many buses, with a section on who qualifies, what to bring and the exact words to use.
Get the guide to senior rail, park and transit discounts for your next trip →
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
