Benzinga | Jul 31, 2020 10:46AM EDT

Expedia Faces Slow Journey Back As COVID-19 Hammers Travel: Needham

The return of travel will be "slow and arduous," Needham said after Expedia Group, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:EXPE) second-quarter miss.

The Expedia Analyst: Brad Erickson reiterated a Hold rating on Expedia.

The Expedia Takeaways: It could take three to five years for Expedia to return to pre-coronavirus profitability levels, Erickson said in a Friday note. (See his track record here.)

On the positive side, Vrbo, a travel website company owned by Expedia Group, performed strongly in the quarter and made up over 50% of total bookings, the analyst said.

"This has to be viewed as the most attractive part of the asset for the foreseeable future."

The company's cost cuts are moving faster than planned, with the "worst of the bookings cancellations likely now behind us over," he said.

It will take years for Expedia to reach its prior bookings and EBITDA levels, Erickson said.

Outperformance will mainly be driven by a "meaningful breakthrough on COVID," the analyst said.

EXPE Price Action: Expedia shares were down 7.36% at $78.68 at last check Friday.