TRIP's Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Hotel Weakness Drags Results

Tripadvisor Inc. TRIP reported fourth-quarter 2025 non-GAAP earnings of 4 cents per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 9 cents per share by 73.33%. The figure increased 33.33% year over year.

Revenues of $411 million were flat year-over-year and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.56%. The top line reflected accelerating growth in marketplace businesses - Experiences and TheFork, which was entirely offset by intensifying declines in legacy hotel metasearch and media advertising offerings.

Alongside the quarterly results, the company announced it is exploring strategic alternatives for TheFork as part of a broader portfolio review to unlock shareholder value, while maintaining its strategic focus on becoming an experiences-first company.

TripAdvisor, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

TripAdvisor, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | TripAdvisor, Inc. Quote

Quarterly Details of TRIP

Experiences (49.6% of total revenues): The segment's revenues totaled $204 million, increasing 10% year over year. Excluding the impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations, year-over-year growth was approximately 7%.

The number of experience bookings was approximately 5 million during the fourth quarter, an increase of 18% year over year.

Gross booking value (GBV) reached approximately $980 million during the fourth quarter, reflecting 16% year-over-year growth.

Hotels & Other (36.7% of total revenues): Revenues totaled $151 million, down 15% year over year. Hotels’ revenues for the fourth quarter were $107 million, reflecting a 14% year-over-year decline.

Media and advertising revenue for the fourth quarter was $30 million, reflecting a 17% year-over-year decline, driven by continued structural traffic headwinds.

Other revenues for the fourth quarter were $14 million, reflecting a 17% year-over-year decline.

TheFork (13.9% of total revenues): Revenues for the segment totaled $57 million, increasing 18% year over year. Excluding the impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations, year-over-year growth was approximately 9%.

Total number of bookings during the fourth quarter grew 9% year-over-year.

TRIP's Operating Results

Cost of sales increased 29% year over year to $35 million. As a percentage of revenues, the figure was 8.6%, expanding 190 basis points year-over-year.

Marketing costs increased 15% year over year to $175 million. As a percentage of revenues, the figure was 42.5%, expanding 550 basis points year over year, reflecting incremental Experiences investment.

Personnel costs decreased 8% year over year to $133 million. As a percentage of revenues, the figure was 32.4%, contracting 300 basis points year over year, driven by the November 2025 cost savings program. 

Technology costs increased 7% year over year to $25 million. As a percentage of revenues, the figure was 6.2%.

General and administrative costs decreased 1% year over year to $20 million. As a percentage of revenues, the figure was 4.8%.

TRIP reported an operating loss of $35 million in the quarter compared with breakeven operating results in the year-ago quarter. 

In the reported quarter, total adjusted EBITDA was $45 million, declining 38% year over year. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 11%, contracting 770 basis points year over year.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow of TRIP

As of Dec. 31, 2025, cash and cash equivalents were approximately $1 billion compared with $1.2 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025.

Long-term debt was $819 million compared with $821 million at the end of the third quarter.

TripAdvisor reported negative $103 million of cash from operations compared with negative $2 million in the year-ago quarter.

The company reported a free cash flow of negative $122 million compared to negative $25 million in the year-ago quarter.

During the fourth quarter, the company repurchased 3.3 million shares for $50 million.

First Quarter and Full Year 2026 Guidance

First Quarter 2026

TRIP expects consolidated revenues to decline 3% to 5% year over year for the first quarter of 2026. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be 3% to 5%.

For Experiences, revenue growth is expected in the low teens, with Adjusted EBITDA margin declining approximately 200 basis points year-over-year due to increased marketing investment.

For Hotels & Other, revenues are expected to decline 21% to 23% with adjusted EBITDA margin between 21% and 23%.

For TheFork, TRIP expects revenue growth of 20% to 22%, which includes a currency benefit of approximately 12 percentage points. Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be approximately 1% of revenues.

Full Year 2026

TRIP expects modest consolidated revenue growth with marketplace businesses representing approximately two-thirds of revenues. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA is expected to deliver flat to modest margin expansion alongside mid-single-digit growth.

For Experiences, the company expects revenue growth in the low teens with adjusted EBITDA margin expanding between 300 and 400 basis points.

For Hotels & Other, revenue is expected to decline in the mid to high teens, with adjusted EBITDA margin declining between 150 and 250 basis points.

For TheFork, revenue is expected to grow in the low to mid-teens with margin expansion of between 200 and 300 basis points.

Marketplace businesses are expected to contribute approximately 50% of overall adjusted EBITDA in 2026, up from 35% in 2025, with Experiences alone expected to contribute approximately 40%.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Tripadvisor currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

FIGS FIGS, Globale Online GLBE and Carrefour CRRFY are some other top-ranked stocks that investors can consider in the broader Retail-Wholesale sector.

FIGS currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 while Globale Online and Carrefour carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Globale Online and Carrefour are slated to report their upcoming results on Feb. 18.

FIGS is slated to report its upcoming results on Feb. 26. 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research