Priceline beats Street 3Q forecasts

The Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN) on Monday reported third-quarter net income of $506 million.

The Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said it had profit of $10.13 per share. Earnings, adjusted for asset impairment costs and stock option expense, came to $31.18 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $29.40 per share.

The online booking service posted revenue of $3.69 billion in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Eight analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $3.62 billion.

For the current quarter ending in December, Priceline expects its per-share earnings to range from $12.20 to $12.80. Analysts surveyed by Zacks had forecast adjusted earnings per share of $13.95.

Priceline shares have climbed 16 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen slightly more than 4 percent. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $1,480.33, a rise of 1 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on PCLN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PCLN

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Keywords: Priceline, Earnings Report