Priceline Surges 10% Following Strong Q4 Beat

Shares of

surged higher by 10 percent early Wednesday morning after the company reported its

. Priceline said that it earned $12.63 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $2 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to earn $11.80 per share on revenue of $1.96 billion. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter rose 11 percent from a year ago to $790 million and rose 7 percent for the full fiscal year to $3.7 billion. Looking forward to the first fiscal quarter, Priceline expects to earn between $9 to $9.60 per share and record an EBITDA of $580 million to $620 million on a year-over-year increase in room nights booked of 20 to 27 percent and a year-over-year increase in total gross travel bookings of 12 to 19 percent. Priceline also expects its first quarter revenue to rise 9 to 16 percent and record a year-over-year increase in gross profit of 14 to 21 percent. "The Priceline Group finished 2015 with a strong 4th quarter, reporting accelerating growth in hotel room nights booked," said Darren Huston, President and CEO of The Priceline Group. "Globally, our accommodation business booked 99 million room nights in the fourth quarter, up 27% over the same period last year. International gross bookings growth accelerated to 29% on a constant currency basis and the Group's total gross profit grew by about 23% on a constant currency basis. Booking.com continues to expand and innovate and now has over 850,000 hotels and other accommodations in over 220 countries and territories across the globe, up 34% from last year."