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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_______________________________________________
Form 10-K
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022
OR
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from
to
Commission file number: 001-37429
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EXPEDIA GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware |
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20-2705720 |
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
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(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
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1111 Expedia Group Way W
Seattle, WA 98119
(Address of principal executive office) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:
(206) 481-7200
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the
Act:
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Title of each class
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Trading symbol(s)
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Name of each exchange on which registered
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Common stock, $0.0001 par value
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EXPE
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Nasdaq Stock Market LLC |
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(Nasdaq Global Select Market) |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned
issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities
Act. Yes þ No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file
reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the
Act. Yes ¨ No þ
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed
all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months
(or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to
file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing
requirements for the past
90 days. Yes þ No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted
electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted
pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter)
during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the
registrant was required to submit such
files). Yes þ No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large
accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a
smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the
definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,”
“smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in
Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
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Large accelerated filer |
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Accelerated filer |
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Non-accelerated filer |
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Smaller reporting company |
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Emerging growth company |
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the
registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period
for complying with any new or revised financial accounting
standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange
Act.
o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on
and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness
of its internal control over financial reporting under Section
404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the
registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit
report. ☑
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act,
indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the
registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an
error to previously issued financial statements.
☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are
restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based
compensation received by any of the registrant's executive officers
during the relevant recovery period pursuant to
§240.10D-1(b).
☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company
(as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange
Act). Yes ☐ No ☑
As of June 30, 2022, the aggregate market value of the
registrant’s common equity held by non-affiliates was approximately
$14,349,625,000. For the purpose of the foregoing calculation only,
all directors and executive officers of the registrant are assumed
to be affiliates of the registrant.
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Class |
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Outstanding Shares at January 27, 2023 were
approximately, |
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Common stock, $0.0001 par value per share |
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147,824,882 |
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Class B common stock, $0.0001 par value per
share |
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5,523,452 |
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shares |
Documents Incorporated by Reference
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Parts Into Which Incorporated |
Portions of the registrant's definitive Proxy Statement relating to
its 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by
reference into Part III of this Annual report on Form 10-K where
indicated. |
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Part III |
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Expedia Group, Inc.
Form 10-K
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022
Contents
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Part
I |
Item 1 |
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Item 1A |
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Item 1B |
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Item 2 |
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Item 3 |
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Item 4 |
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Part II |
Item 5 |
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Item 6 |
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Item 7 |
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Item 7A |
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Item 8 |
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Item 9 |
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Item 9A |
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Item 9B |
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Item 9C |
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Part III |
Item 10 |
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Item 11 |
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Item 12 |
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Item 13 |
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Item 14 |
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Part IV |
Item 15 |
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Item 16 |
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Expedia Group, Inc.
Form 10-K
For the Year Ended December 31, 2022
Note About Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect the views of our
management regarding current expectations and projections about
future events and are based on currently available information.
Actual results could differ materially from those contained in
these forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons,
including, but not limited to, those discussed in the section
entitled “Risk Factors” as well as those discussed elsewhere in
this report. COVID-19, and the volatile regional and global
economic conditions stemming from it, and additional or unforeseen
effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, could also give rise to or
aggravate these risk factors, which in turn could materially
adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity,
results of operations (including revenues and profitability) and/or
stock price. Further, COVID-19 may also continue to affect our
operating and financial results in a manner that is not presently
known to us or that we currently do not consider to present
significant risks to our operations. Other unknown or unpredictable
factors also could have a material adverse effect on our business,
financial condition and results of operations. Accordingly, readers
should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. The use of words such as “anticipates,” “believes,”
“could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “goal,” “intends,” “likely,”
“may,” “plans,” “potential,” “predicts,” “projected,” “seeks,”
“should” and “will,” or the negative of these terms or other
similar expressions, among others, generally identify
forward-looking statements; however, these words are not the
exclusive means of identifying such statements. In addition, any
statements that refer to expectations, projections or other
characterizations of future events or circumstances are
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
inherently subject to uncertainties, risks and changes in
circumstances that are difficult to predict. We are not under any
obligation to, and do not intend to, publicly update or review any
of these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, even if experience or
future events make it clear that any expected results expressed or
implied by those forward-looking statements will not be realized.
Please carefully review and consider the various disclosures made
in this report and in our other reports filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission ("SEC") that attempt to advise interested
parties of the risks and factors that may affect our business,
prospects and results of operations.
We refer to Expedia Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries collectively
as “Expedia Group,” the “Company,” “us,” “we” and “our” in this
Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Part I. Item 1. Business
COVID-19 Update
The COVID-19 pandemic, and measures to contain the virus, including
government travel restrictions and quarantine orders, had an
unprecedented impact on the global travel industry and materially
and negatively impacted our business, financial results and
financial condition. With the evolution of milder COVID-19
variants, availability of multiple vaccine booster doses and
increasing familiarity with the virus, many COVID-19 related travel
restrictions have been lifted, and countries around the world
reopened their borders for foreign travel. In 2022, we experienced
a strong recovery in travel demand. However, we note that the
recovery has been uneven with different regions experiencing
different rates of recovery. Despite positive developments, the
full duration and total impact of COVID-19 remains uncertain, and
therefore it is difficult to predict any future impact on the
travel industry and, in particular, our business.
Overview
Expedia Group, Inc. is an online travel company, and our mission is
to power global travel for everyone, everywhere. We believe travel
is a force for good. Travel is an essential human experience that
strengthens connections, broadens horizons and bridges divides. We
leverage our supply portfolio, platform and technology capabilities
across an extensive portfolio of consumer brands, and provide
solutions to our business partners, to empower travelers to
efficiently research, plan, book and experience
travel.
At the end of 2022, we had approximately 3 million lodging
properties available, including over 2 million online bookable
alternative accommodations listings through Vrbo, approximately
900,000 hotels and alternative accommodations through our other
brands, over 500 airlines, packages, rental cars, cruises,
insurance, as well as activities and experiences.
Travel suppliers distribute and market products via our apps,
desktop and mobile offerings, as well as through alternative
distribution channels, our business partnerships and our call
centers in order to reach our extensive global audience. In
addition, our advertising and media businesses help other
businesses, primarily travel providers, reach a large
multi-platform audience of travelers around the globe.
Historical Development
Over 25 years ago, we began operations as one of the first online
travel agencies (“OTAs”) and played a significant role in
revolutionizing and democratizing travel, by empowering customers
to manage their own travel plans. We did so by building and then
leveraging proprietary technology to connect partners and their
respective inventory to those travelers, while unlocking the
marketplace for travel to other businesses as well. Since then, the
travel industry has experienced significant transformation,
including the material shift from offline to online travel booking.
This transformation led to many years of exciting growth for OTAs
along with increased competition. In order to remain innovative and
competitive, we made several strategic acquisitions, which
materially expanded the breadth and depth of our Company. Much of
our strategy leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic focused on our
brands competing aggressively for share all the around the world,
each with their own offerings and benefits. However, it also
created certain complexities and inefficiencies over
time.
To reduce complexity and improve operations, in 2020, we shifted to
a platform operating model, which enabled us to deliver more
scalable services and operate much more efficiently. For example,
we now manage our marketing investments holistically across the
entire brand portfolio, allowing us to optimize our spend to
achieve better returns, and run on a unified marketing technology
platform, improving our performance by scaling our marketing
capabilities. We also shifted to a unified brand strategy within
our Retail business where we have a combined team making decisions
across all our brands. These changes were made in an effort to
simplify and streamline our organization, improve our cost
structure, and the operation of our business.
Moreover, to streamline activities and enhance focus on our core
businesses, we shut down or sold a number of businesses since the
beginning of 2020, including Egencia, a travel management company
focused on corporate travel. On November 1, 2021, the sale of
Egencia to American Express Global Business Travel (“GBT”) was
completed. As part of the transaction, Expedia Group received a
minority ownership position in the combined business and entered
into a 10-year lodging supply agreement with GBT. Both Egencia
pre-closing and the GBT lodging supply agreement impact our B2B
segment financials. The result of these cumulative actions enable
more focus on improving the overall experience for our
travelers.
In 2021, we began evolving our consumer retail strategy from being
largely transactionally focused, where we were primarily focused on
acquiring customers through performance marketing channels to
building direct, longer-lasting relationships with our customers.
With that goal in mind, we focused towards increasing customer
loyalty and app adoption as loyalty members and app users typically
experience higher repeat rates, gross profits and bookings relative
to non-loyalty members and non-app users. Further, we aim to
provide our customers with a high-quality product experience,
strong membership benefits and broad multi-product supply offering,
all of which encourages higher conversion, repeat rates and
engagement.
Market Opportunity and Business Strategy
Expedia Group is one of the world’s largest online travel
companies, yet our gross bookings represent a single-digit
percentage of total worldwide travel spending highlighting the size
of our market opportunity. Phocuswright estimates global travel
spending, inclusive of alternative accommodations and tours and
activities, at approximately $1.6 trillion in 2023.
Our focus is to: leverage our brand, supply, and platform
technology strength, to provide greater services and value to our
travelers, suppliers and business partners, and build
longer-lasting direct relationships with our
customers.
Leverage Brand and Supply Strength to Power the Travel
Ecosystem.
We believe the strength of our core brand portfolio and consistent
enhancements to product and service offerings, combined with our
global scale and broad-based supply, drive increasing value to
customers and customer demand. With our significant global audience
of travelers, and our deep and broad selection of travel products,
we are also able to provide value to supply partners seeking to
grow their business through sophisticated technology, a better
understanding of travel retailing and reaching consumers in markets
beyond their reach. Our deep product and supply footprint allows us
to tailor offerings to target different types of consumers and
travel needs, employ geographic segmentation in markets around the
world, and leverage brand differentiation, among other benefits. We
also market to consumers through a variety of channels, including
internet search, metasearch and social and digital
media.
Our portfolio of brands, operated and organized by reportable
segment are as follows:
Retail.
Our Retail segment provides a full range of travel and advertising
services to our worldwide customers through recognized consumer
brands that target a variety of customer segments and geographic
regions with tailored offerings. Our portfolio of retail brands
include:
•Brand
Expedia.
Brand Expedia is a leading full-service online travel brand in a
wide range of
countries around the world offering a wide selection of travel
products and services.
•Hotels.com.
Hotels.com focuses on marketing lodging
accommodations.
•Vrbo.
Vrbo operates an online marketplace for the alternative
accommodations industry. The Vrbo portfolio includes the vacation
rental website, Vrbo, which operates localized websites around the
world as well as other regional brands.
•We
have multiple other brands including, but not limited to, Orbitz,
Travelocity, ebookers and Wotif Group.
While we maintain a large portfolio of consumer brands, we put the
majority of our marketing efforts towards our three core consumer
brands: Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo.
In 2021, we announced plans to unify and expand our existing
loyalty programs into one global rewards platform called “One Key”
spanning all our main brands, which we expect to launch in 2023. We
also market to consumers through a variety of channels, including
internet search, metasearch and social and digital
media.
B2B.
Our B2B segment encompasses our Expedia Partner Solutions business.
Expedia Partner Solutions partners with businesses in a wide
spectrum of countries across a wide range of travel and non-travel
verticals including airlines, offline travel agents, online
retailers, corporate travel management and financial institutions,
who market Expedia Group rates and availabilities to their
travelers. Expedia Partner Solutions' partners can benefit from our
technology and supply in the way that best suits their business.
This includes connecting to Expedia Group's travel content through
Expedia Partner Solutions’ API, Rapid; adopting one of Expedia
Partner Solutions’ customized white label or co-branded ecommerce
template solutions; or a powerful agent booking tool, Expedia
Travel Affiliate Agent Program (TAAP). Prior to its sale on
November 1, 2021, our B2B segment also included Egencia, which was
our full-service travel management company. We also offer an
“optimized distribution” product to help hotel suppliers distribute
wholesale rates through authorized channels. Our B2B segment also
includes room nights, gross bookings, and associated economics from
our lodging supply agreement we entered into with GBT in
conjunction with the sale of Egencia.
trivago.
Our trivago segment generates advertising revenue primarily from
sending referrals to online travel companies and travel service
providers from its hotel metasearch websites. trivago is our
majority-owned hotel metasearch company, based in Dusseldorf,
Germany. The online platform gives travelers access to price
comparisons from hundreds of booking websites for millions of
hotels and other accommodations. Officially launched in 2005,
trivago is a leading global brand in hotel search and can be
accessed worldwide. The company is listed on the Nasdaq Global
Select Market and trades under the symbol "TRVG."
Leverage Our Platform to Deliver More Rapid Product Innovation
Resulting in Better Traveler Experiences.
During 2020, Expedia Group unified its technology, product, data
engineering, and data science teams to build services and
capabilities that can be leveraged across our business units to
provide value-add services to our travel suppliers and serve our
end customers. The unified team structure enables us to deliver
more scalable services and operate more efficiently. All of our
transaction-based businesses also now benefit from our shared
platform infrastructure, including customer servicing and support,
data centers, search capabilities, payment processing, and fraud
operations.
As we continue to evolve our shared platform infrastructure, our
focus is on developing technical capabilities that support various
travel products while using simpler, standard architecture and
common applications and frameworks. We believe this strategy will
enable us to: simultaneously build pieces of technology that work
in tandem; ship products faster; create more innovative solutions;
and achieve greater scale. Ultimately, we believe this will result
in faster product innovation and therefore better traveler
experiences. In addition, over time, as we execute on our
streamlined application development framework, we believe we can
unlock additional platform service opportunities beyond the scope
of our internal brands and business travel partners.
In 2021, we began migrating our core Retail brands (Brand Expedia,
Hotels.com and Vrbo) onto one unified technology front-end
infrastructure, to increase operating efficiencies. In 2022, we
completed the migration of the Hotels.com front-end technology
stack on to the Brand Expedia platform, which allowed us to apply
our learnings from testing and optimization across our traditional
lodging portfolio at much greater scale. In late 2022, we began the
technology migration of our Vrbo business onto the Brand Expedia
front-end and expect that work to be largely complete in
2023.
We provide 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week traveler sales and
support by our virtual agent platform, telephone, chat, or e-mail.
For purposes of operational flexibility, we use a combination of
outsourced and in-house contact centers. Our contact centers are
located in several countries throughout the world. We invested
significantly in our contact center technologies, with the goal of
improving customer experience and increasing the efficiency of our
contact center agents and we expect to continue reaping the
benefits of these investments going forward. In addition, we have
continued to invest in our customer service platform technology,
which leverages technology and artificial intelligence to provide
our customers with online customer service options and self-service
capabilities.
Today our websites and apps are powered through a combination of
legacy company-owned data centers and increasingly via cloud
platforms. We are nearing the end of a multi-year project to
migrate our products, data storage and functionality to public
cloud computing services. For our legacy company-owned data
centers, our systems infrastructure and web and
database
servers are housed in various locations, mainly in the United
States, which have 24-hour monitoring and engineering support.
These data centers have their own generators and multiple back-up
systems. For some critical systems, we have both production and
disaster-recovery facilities. Our technology systems are subject to
certain risks, which are described below in Part I, Item 1A — Risk
Factors.
Business Models
We make travel products and services available both on a
stand-alone and package basis, primarily through the following
business models: the merchant model, the agency model and the
advertising model.
•Merchant
Model.
Under the merchant model, we facilitate the booking of hotel rooms,
alternative accommodations, airline seats, car rentals and
destination services from our travel suppliers and we are the
merchant of record for such bookings. For example, we provide
travelers access to book hotel room reservations through our
contracts with lodging suppliers, which provide us with rates and
availability information for rooms but for which we have no control
over the rooms and do not bear inventory risk. Our travelers pay us
for merchant hotel transactions prior to departing on their trip,
generally when they book the reservation. The majority of our
merchant transactions relate to lodging bookings.
•Agency
Model.
Under the agency model, we facilitate travel bookings and act as
the agent in the transaction, passing reservations booked by the
traveler to the relevant travel provider. We receive commissions or
ticketing fees from the travel supplier and/or traveler. We record
revenue on air transactions when the traveler books the
transaction, as we do not typically provide significant post
booking services to the traveler and payments due to and from air
carriers are typically due at the time of ticketing. Additionally,
we generally record agency revenue from the hotel when the stayed
night occurs as we provide post booking services to the traveler
and, thus consider the stay as when our performance obligation is
satisfied. The majority of our agency gross bookings relate to air
bookings.
•Advertising
Model.
Under the advertising model we offer travel and non-travel
advertisers access to a potential source of incremental traffic and
transactions through our various media and advertising offerings
across several of our transaction-based websites, as well as on our
majority-owned metasearch site, trivago.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we had total revenue of $11.7
billion, with merchant, agency and advertising, media and other
accounting for 66%, 26%, and
8% of total
revenue, respectively.
Our Expedia Traveler Preference (ETP) program offers, for
participating hotels, customers the choice of whether to pay
Expedia Group in advance under our merchant model (Expedia Collect)
or pay at the hotel at the time of the stay under the agency model
(Hotel Collect).
In addition, through various of our Expedia Group-branded and other
multi-product websites, travelers can dynamically assemble multiple
component travel packages for a specified period at a lower price
as compared to booking each component separately. Travelers
typically select packages based on the total package price or by
purchasing one product and receiving a discounted price to attach
additional products. The use of the merchant travel components in
packages and multi-product purchases enable us to make certain
travel products available at prices lower than those charged on an
individual component basis by travel suppliers without impacting
their other pricing models. In addition, we also offer
pre-assembled package offerings, further broadening our scope of
products and services to travelers. We expect the package product
to continue to be marketed primarily using the merchant
model.
Marketing and Promotions
Our marketing programs are intended to build and maintain the value
of our retail brands, drive traffic and ultimately bookings while
optimizing ongoing traveler acquisition costs. Our long-term
success and profitability depend on our continued ability to
maintain and increase the overall number of traveler transactions
flowing through our brand and shared global platforms in a
cost-effective manner, as well as our ability to attract repeat
customers and customers that come directly to our brands. We manage
our marketing investments holistically across the brand portfolio
in our Retail segment to optimize results for the Company and make
decisions on a market by market and customer segment basis that we
think are appropriate based on the relative growth opportunity, the
expected returns and the competitive environment.
Our marketing channels primarily include brand advertising through
online and offline channels, loyalty programs, mobile apps, search
engine marketing and optimization as well as metasearch, social
media, direct and/or personalized traveler communications on our
websites as well as through direct e-mail communication with our
travelers. Our marketing programs and initiatives include
promotional offers such as coupons as well as seasonal or periodic
special offers from our travel
suppliers based on our supplier relationships. Our current traveler
loyalty programs include Hotels.com Rewards on Hotels.com global
websites and Expedia® Rewards on a wide array of Brand Expedia
points of sale, as well as Orbitz Rewards on Orbitz.com. In 2021,
we announced plans to unify and expand our existing loyalty
programs into one global rewards platform called “One Key” spanning
all our main brands, which we expect to launch in
2023.
We also make use of affiliate marketing. Several of our branded
websites receive bookings from consumers who have clicked through
to the respective websites through links posted on affiliate
partner websites. In exchange for this traffic, we pay the
affiliate partner a commission.
Travel Suppliers
We make travel products and services available from a variety of
hotel companies, property owners and managers, large and small
commercial airlines, car rental companies, cruise lines,
destination service providers, and other travel partners. We seek
to build and maintain long-term, strategic relationships with
travel suppliers and global distribution system (“GDS”) partners.
An important component of the success of our business depends on
our ability to maintain our existing, as well as build new,
relationships with travel suppliers and GDS partners.
We strive to deliver value to our travel supply partners through a
wide range of innovative, targeted merchandising and promotional
strategies designed to generate consumer demand and increase their
revenue, while simultaneously reducing their overall marketing
transaction and customer service costs. Our strategic account
managers and local hotel market managers work directly with travel
suppliers to optimize the exposure of their travel products and
brands through our points of sale, including participation in
need-based, seasonal and event-driven promotions and
experimentation within the new channels we are
building.
We developed proprietary technology to assist both hotel and
alternative accommodation suppliers in managing, and marketing
their supply, whether this is direct through our proprietary
central reservation tools or through third-party channel managers.
Our “direct connect” technology allows suppliers to upload
information about available products and services and rates
directly from their central reservation systems and dynamically
manage reservations and traveler needs through our messaging and
chat platforms. Marketing tools assist hotels and alternative
accommodations in tailoring demand to their requirements and our
revenue management product provides pricing insights. We also offer
an “Optimized Distribution” product to help hotel suppliers
distribute wholesale rates through authorized channels. Our suite
of white label website offerings power hotel, and package booking
on suppliers' own websites.
Vrbo's alternative accommodation listing services offers our supply
partners a set of tools to help them manage an availability
calendar, respond to customer inquiries, edit the content of a
property listing, as well as provide various other services to
manage reservations or drive incremental sales volume.
Distribution Partners.
GDSs, also referred to as computer reservation services, provide a
centralized, comprehensive repository of travel suppliers’
‘content’ — such as availability and pricing of seats on various
airline point-to-point flights, or ‘segments.’ The GDSs act as
intermediaries between the travel suppliers and travel agencies,
allowing agents to reserve and book flights, rooms or other travel
products. Our relationships with GDSs primarily relate to our air
business. We use Amadeus and Sabre as our GDS segment providers in
order to ensure the widest possible supply of content for our
travelers.
Competition
Our brands compete in rapidly evolving and intensely competitive
markets. We believe international markets represent especially
large opportunities for Expedia Group and those of our competitors
that wish to expand their brands and businesses to achieve global
scale. We also believe that Expedia Group is one of only a few
companies that are focused on building a truly global, travel
marketplace. Our competition, which is strong and increasing,
includes online and offline travel companies that target leisure
and corporate travelers, including travel agencies, tour operators,
travel supplier direct websites and their call centers,
consolidators and wholesalers of travel products and services,
large online portals and search websites, certain travel metasearch
websites, mobile travel applications, social media websites, as
well as traditional consumer ecommerce and group buying websites.
We face these competitors in local, regional, national and/or
international markets. In some cases, competitors are offering more
favorable terms and improved interfaces to suppliers and travelers
which make competition increasingly difficult. We also face
competition for customer traffic on internet search engines and
metasearch websites, which impacts our customer acquisition and
marketing costs.
Retail.
We differentiate ourselves from our competitors primarily based on
the multiple channels we use to generate demand, quality and
breadth of travel product supply, product features and usability of
our websites and mobile apps, price or promotional offers, customer
service as well as offline brand efforts. The emphasis on one or
more of these factors varies, depending on the brand or business
and the related target demographic. We face increasing competition
from travel supplier direct websites. In some cases, supplier
direct channels offer advantages to travelers, such as long
standing loyalty programs, complimentary services such as Wi-Fi,
and better pricing. Our websites feature travel products and
services from numerous travel suppliers and allow travelers to
combine products and services from multiple providers in one
transaction. We face
competition from airlines, hotels, alternative accommodation
websites, rental car companies, cruise operators and other travel
service providers, whether working individually or collectively,
some of which are suppliers to our websites. Our business is
generally sensitive to changes in the competitive landscape,
including the emergence of new competitors or business models, and
supplier consolidation.
B2B.
We are one of the leading players in the global B2B travel space
today servicing a wide range of customers across both travel and
non-travel verticals including corporate travel management,
airlines, offline travel agents, online retailers and financial
institutions. We face competition from travel consolidators and
wholesalers of travel products, other OTAs with B2B offerings, and
other technology and content providers. We differentiate ourselves
from our B2B competitors primarily with our breadth and depth of
global supply, dedicated partner and traveler support, and market
leading travel technology through our Rapid API, white label or
co-branded template offerings, and Expedia Travel Affiliate Agent
Program (TAAP), a powerful agent booking tool. We also offer an
“optimized distribution” product to help hotel suppliers distribute
wholesale rates through authorized channels. Our extensive work
building out our global supply has allowed us to negotiate
competitive pricing with suppliers and provide added value to
travelers. We intend to continue to grow the business via a
combination of increasing our wallet share with existing customers,
winning contracts with new customers, as well as the introduction
of additional products and services.
Intellectual Property Rights
Our intellectual property and appurtenant rights, including our
patents, trademarks, copyright rights, domain names, trade dress,
proprietary technology, and trade secrets, are important components
of our business. For example, we rely heavily upon our intellectual
property and proprietary information in our content, brands, domain
names and website URLs, software code, proprietary technology,
ratings indexes, informational databases, images, graphics and
other components that support and make up our services. We have
acquired some of our intellectual property rights and proprietary
information through acquisitions, as well as licenses and content
agreements with third parties.
We protect our intellectual property and proprietary information
through registration and by relying on our terms of use,
confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions, as well as
international, national, state and common law rights. In addition,
we enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements
with employees and contractors, and license and confidentiality
agreements with other third parties. Despite these precautions, it
may be possible for a third party to copy or otherwise obtain and
use our trade secrets or our intellectual property and proprietary
information without authorization which, if discovered, might
require the uncertainty of legal action to correct. In addition,
there can be no assurance that others will not independently and
lawfully develop substantially similar properties.
We maintain our trademark portfolio by filing trademark
applications with national trademark offices, maintaining
appropriate registrations, securing contractual trademark rights
when appropriate, and relying on common law trademark rights when
appropriate. We also register copyrights and domain names as we
deem appropriate and necessary, respectively. We protect our
trademarks, copyrights and domain names with an enforcement program
and use of intellectual property licenses. Trademark and
intellectual property protection may not be available or may not be
sought, sufficient or effective in every jurisdiction where we
operate. Contractual disputes or limitations may affect the use of
trademarks and domain names governed by private
contract.
We have established a formal patent program with a newly-formed
Patent Review Committee for evaluating our innovations and
determining the appropriateness of filing for patents to protect
inventions and obtaining licenses in patents as circumstances may
warrant, and we anticipate continuing to devote greater resources
to seeking patent protection for Expedia Group’s
innovations.
In connection with our copyrightable content, we post and institute
procedures under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and similar
Host Privilege statutes worldwide to gain immunity from copyright
liability for photographs, text and other content uploaded by
users. However, differences between statutes, limitations on
immunity, and moderation efforts may affect our ability to claim
immunity.
From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and
claims in the ordinary course of our business, including claims of
alleged infringement or infringement by us of the trademarks,
copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights of third
parties. In addition, litigation may be necessary in the future to
enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets
or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed
by others. Any such litigation, regardless of outcome or merit,
could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and
technical resources, any of which could materially harm our
business.
Regulation
We must comply with laws and regulations relating to the travel
industry, the alternative accommodation industry, internet
businesses, and the provision of travel services, including
registration in various states as “sellers of travel” and
compliance with certain disclosure requirements and participation
in state restitution funds In addition, our businesses are subject
to regulation by the U.S. Department of Transportation and
must comply with various rules and regulations governing the
provision of air transportation, including those relating to
advertising and accessibility. We are also increasingly subject to
new and evolving short-term rental laws and regulations that impose
additional property registration, disclosure and data provision
requirements.
In international markets, we are increasingly subject to laws and
regulations applicable to travel agents or tour operators in those
markets, including, in some countries, pricing display
requirements, licensing and registration requirements, mandatory
bonding and travel indemnity fund contributions, industry specific
value-added tax regimes and laws regulating the provision of travel
packages. For example, the European Economic Community Council
Directive on Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours
imposes various obligations upon marketers of travel packages, such
as disclosure obligations to consumers and liability to consumers
for improper performance of the package, including supplier
failure. Additionally, we must comply with an expanding array of
international laws and regulations aimed at online businesses,
including the European Union’s Digital Services Act and DAC7, which
impose new information gathering and reporting requirements as well
as obligations to respond to inquiries about website
content.
We are also subject to consumer protection, privacy and consumer
data, payments, labor, economic and trade sanction programs, tax,
and anti-trust and competition laws and regulations around the
world that are not specific to the travel industry. For example,
the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) came into force in January
2023 and applies enhanced data protection requirements in the State
of California similar to those that have existed since 2018 under
the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Five other U.S. states have passed similar laws, and data
protection laws have been passed or are being discussed in a number
of other jurisdictions. These data protection/privacy laws add
compliance complexity, risks, and costs.
Compliance with these laws, rules and regulation has not had, and
is not expected to have, a material effect on our capital
expenditures, results of operations and competitive position as
compared to prior periods.
However, certain laws and regulations have not historically been
applied in the context of online travel companies, so there can be
uncertainty regarding how these requirements may relate to our
business in the future.
Human Capital Management
People, Company Culture and Benefits
At Expedia Group, our mission is to power global travel for
everyone, everywhere. We believe travel is a force for good, and we
are committed to making it more accessible and enjoyable for
everyone. As of December 31, 2022, we have a team of 16,500
employees across more than 50 countries focused on using our
extensive data and technology to create amazing travel experiences.
As of December 31, 2022, over one half of our people work in
technology roles.
We aim to go above and beyond to take care of our people – by
providing opportunities for them to grow and develop, benefits that
fuel their passion for travel and resources that foster their
well-being. While competition for talent is fierce, particularly in
the United States and in Seattle where our headquarters are
located, we believe we offer something different: an opportunity to
strengthen connections, broaden horizons and bridge divides through
travel. We know the power of travel and understand the amazing
things we can achieve by making it more accessible to everyone. And
we are focused on attracting and retaining the best and brightest
people to help us do that. To that end, we offer competitive
compensation, talent development and training opportunities and
differentiated benefits, including healthcare and retirement
programs, a wellness and travel allowance, an employee assistance
program, financial education tools, a global resource for diverse
maternity and family building advice, an employee stock purchase
program, time-off programs, volunteer days off, a transportation
program, onsite medical care and travel discounts, among
others.
Inclusion and Diversity
To best serve our employees, customers, partners and community, we
aim to build inclusive and diverse workplaces that promote
belonging, respect, voice and equal opportunity with initiatives
such as:
•Employee-led
Inclusion Business Groups focused on promoting awareness related to
race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, military status, disability
and gender, as well as allyship for underrepresented
identities;
•Educational
programs designed to identify and mitigate bias and exclusive
practices in traditional recruitment, hiring, talent review,
promotion and marketing processes;
•Recruiting
and assessment processes based on skills and designed to limit the
impact of unconscious bias;
•Dedicated
diversity sourcing, marketing, and recruiting teams focused on
engaging underrepresented talent and increasing representation in
top of funnel and interview slates;
•An
onboarding program that includes a
focus on intercultural awareness, ally skills and our inclusion
resources;
•Employment
and hiring targets for women to occupy 50% of leadership roles by
the end of 2025 and for 25% of U.S. external hires to come from
racially and ethnically underrepresented groups;
•Pay
fairness evaluation tools and additional budgets to ensure
employees are compensated fairly;
•Direct
and easy access to accessibility tools enabling people with
different needs to thrive at work;
•Using
employee surveys and external benchmarking to understand
identity-based trends, set clear goals, develop strategies and
measure progress towards increased headcount, hiring, compensation,
advancement and retention of underrepresented employee groups;
and
•Programs
with our travel partners that focus on underserved travelers, drive
industry engagement related to inclusion and diversity, and promote
related outreach efforts in local and global
communities.
COVID-19 Response
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our employees have remained
focused on providing positive experiences for travelers. After
reopening our global offices with enhanced health and safety
measures, we adopted a hybrid work model for most of our offices in
April 2022, designed to make the most of the productivity and
collaborative energy that comes from working together in our
offices while preserving the convenience and flexibility of working
from home. In parallel, we augmented benefits programs to support
employees with the transition, including expanding the scope of our
travel and wellness allowance to include home office expenses and a
broader range of mental and emotional health services; offering new
telehealth, wellness education, and family support services; and
making existing resources and services easier to access via online
channels.
Equity Ownership and Vote
As of December 31, 2022, there were approximately 147.8
million shares of Expedia Group common stock and approximately 5.5
million shares of Expedia Class B common stock outstanding.
Expedia Group stockholders are entitled to one vote for each share
of common stock and ten votes for each share of Class B common
stock outstanding. As of December 31, 2022, Mr. Diller and The
Diller Foundation d/b/a The Diller - von Furstenberg Family
Foundation (the “Family Foundation”), on whose board of directors
Mr. Diller and certain of his family members serve as directors,
collectively owned 100% (5.5 million shares) of Expedia Group’s
outstanding Class B common stock (and, assuming conversion of all
shares of Class B common stock into shares of common stock,
collectively owned approximately 4% of Expedia Group’s outstanding
common stock), representing approximately 27%
of the total voting power of all shares of Expedia Group common
stock and Class B common stock outstanding. We refer to the shares
of Expedia Class B common stock held by Mr. Diller and the Family
Foundation as the "Class B Shares."
In connection with the Company’s acquisition in 2019 of Liberty
Expedia Holdings, Inc. (the “Liberty Expedia Transaction”), the
Company and Mr. Diller entered into a Second Amended and Restated
Governance Agreement, which provides that, subject to limited
exception, no current or future holder of Class B Shares may
participate in, or vote in favor of, or tender shares into, any
change of control transaction involving at least 50% of the
outstanding shares or voting power of capital stock of the Company,
unless such transaction provides for the same per share
consideration and mix of consideration (or election right) and the
same participation rights for shares of Class B common stock and
shares of Expedia Group common stock. At the 2019 Annual Meeting of
the Company’s stockholders, the Company's stockholders approved a
proposal to amend the Company's certificate of incorporation to
reflect these restrictions, which amendment became effective on
December 3, 2019.
On November 2, 2021, in connection with the settlement of
stockholder litigation relating to the Liberty Expedia Transaction,
Mr. Diller, the other defendants, the Special Litigation Committee
of the board of directors, and the Company entered into a
Stipulation of Compromise and Settlement (the “Settlement
Agreement”) providing for certain governance and related provisions
including, among others, (1) both before and after Mr. Diller’s
departure from all roles at the Company (“Mr. Diller’s departure”),
specified limits on the number of immediate family members of Mr.
Diller who may serve at any one time on the Company’s board of
directors, and, following Mr. Diller’s departure, on other
positions in which Mr. Diller’s immediate family members may serve,
and (2) following Mr. Diller’s departure, (a) with respect to any
extraordinary transaction requiring Company stockholder approval
and the election of any director-nominee not supported by a
majority of the board of directors, the voting percentage cast by
Class B Shares held or controlled by Mr. Diller, his family members
and certain related parties (collectively with Mr. Diller and his
family members, “Diller-related persons”) will be limited to 20% of
the total voting power
of the outstanding common shares (with any excess shares to be
voted as specified in the Settlement Agreement), (b) a right of
first offer on the part of the Company in connection with any sale
by Mr. Diller or other Diller-related persons of Class B Shares
representing 10% or more of the Company’s total voting power and
(c) the Company’s agreement to cooperate reasonably in connection
with any sale of Class B Shares by Mr. Diller or other
Diller-related persons.
As a result of his ownership interests and voting power, Mr. Diller
is in a position to influence, and potentially control, significant
corporate actions, including corporate transactions such as
mergers, business combinations or dispositions of
assets.
The foregoing summary is qualified in its entirety by reference to
the full text of the Settlement Order entered January 19, 2022, and
the Stipulation of Compromise and Settlement dated November 2, 2021
filed as Exhibit 99.1 and Exhibit 99.2, respectively, to the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2021, filed on February 11, 2022.
Additional Information
Company Website and Public Filings. We
maintain a corporate website at www.expediagroup.com. Except as
explicitly noted, the information on our website, as well as the
websites of our various brands and businesses, is not incorporated
by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or in any
other filings with, or in any information furnished or submitted
to, the SEC. We make available, free of charge through our website,
our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on
Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments
to those reports, filed or furnished pursuant to
Sections 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably practicable
after they have been electronically filed with, or furnished to,
the SEC. In addition, the SEC’s
website, www.sec.gov, contains reports, proxy and
information statements, and other information regarding issuers
that file electronically with the SEC. The content on the SEC's
website referred to above in this Form 10-K is not incorporated by
reference in this Form 10-K unless expressly noted.
Code of Ethics. We
have adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Directors
and Senior Financial Officers (the “Code of Ethics”) that applies
to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief
Accounting Officer and Controller, and is a “code of ethics” as
defined by applicable rules of the SEC. The Code of Ethics is
posted on our corporate website at www.expediagroup.com/Investors
under the “Corporate Governance” tab. If we make any substantive
amendments to the Code of Ethics or grant any waiver, including any
implicit waiver, from a provision of the Code of Ethics to our
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, or Chief
Accounting Officer and Controller, we will disclose the nature of
the amendment or waiver on that website or in a report on Form 8-K
filed with the SEC.
Part I. Item 1A. Risk
Factors
You should carefully consider each of the following risks and
uncertainties associated with our company and the ownership of our
securities. If any of the following risks occur, our business
and/or financial performance could be materially adversely
affected. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to
us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our
business and/or financial performance.
COVID-19 Pandemic and Travel Industry Risks
The COVID-19 pandemic had, and may continue to have, a material
adverse impact on the travel industry and our business, financial
performance and liquidity position.
Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it
have severely restricted the level of economic activity around the
world and have had an unprecedented effect on the global travel
industry.
Containment measures have included, and in some cases continue to
include, travel restrictions, bans and advisories, social
distancing measures, curfews, quarantine restrictions after travel
in certain locations, border closures “shelter-in-place” orders,
required closures of non-essential businesses, vaccination mandates
or requirements for businesses to confirm employees’ vaccination
status, and other restrictions.
The pandemic had, and may continue to have, a number of material
adverse impacts on our business, financial performance and
liquidity position. For example, in 2020, we experienced
significantly reduced levels of new bookings, significantly
heightened levels of cancellations, and instigated traveler-centric
modifications to our cancellation policies. As a result, we
experienced a significant increase in refunds, which led to
materially negative cash flow that negatively impacted our cash
balance and overall liquidity position. The pandemic also had a
significant adverse effect on many of the partners on which our
business relies, including accommodation providers and airlines, as
well as on the traveling public generally and our
employees.
In addition, the pandemic impeded global economic activity for an
extended period and could continue to do so, leading to a
continuation of the already significant decrease in per capita
income and disposable income, increased and sustained unemployment
or a decline in consumer confidence, all of which would
significantly reduce discretionary spending on travel.
In turn, that could have a negative impact on demand for our
services and could lead our partners, or us, to reduce prices or
offer incentives to attract travelers. We also cannot predict the
long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our partners and
their business and operations or the ways that the pandemic may
fundamentally alter the travel industry or consumer habits. In
particular, we may need to adapt to a travel industry with fewer
and different suppliers as well as structural changes to certain
types of travel.
Our mitigation efforts in response to the impacts of COVID-19 on
our businesses have had, or may continue to have, negative impact.
For example, in response to the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020,
we incurred significant additional indebtedness and took other
actions, including the ultimate adoption of a hybrid work policy,
that could lead to disruptions in our business, reduced employee
morale and productivity, increased attrition, and problems
retaining existing and recruiting future employees, all of which
could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial
condition, results of operations and cash flows.
The ultimate extent of the impact of the pandemic, including as a
result of possible subsequent outbreaks of COVID-19 or of new
variants thereof and measures taken in response thereto, will
depend on future developments, which remain highly uncertain and
cannot currently be predicted. Additional impacts and risks that we
are not currently aware of may arise. It is therefore difficult to
estimate with accuracy the impact to our future revenues, results
of operations, cash flows, liquidity or financial condition, but
such impacts have been, and may continue to be, significant and
could continue to have a material adverse effect on our business,
financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and
liquidity position for the foreseeable future.
We operate in an intensely competitive global environment and we
may be unable to compete successfully with our current or future
competitors.
The market for the services we offer is intensely competitive. We
compete with both established and emerging online and traditional
providers of travel-related services, including online travel
agencies; alternative accommodation providers; wholesalers and tour
operators; travel product suppliers (including hotels, airlines and
car rental companies); search engines and large online portal
websites; travel metasearch services; corporate travel management
service providers; mobile platform travel applications; social
media websites; eCommerce and group buying websites; and other
participants in the travel industry.
Online travel agencies and alternative accommodations
providers.
In particular, we face intense competition from other OTAs and
alternative accommodations in many regions, such as Booking
Holdings (through its Booking.com, Priceline.com and Agoda.com
websites), Airbnb, and Trip.com, any of which may have more
favorable offerings for travelers or suppliers, including pricing
and supply breadth. Our OTA competitors are increasingly expanding
the range of travel services they offer and the global OTA segment
continues to consolidate, with certain competitors merging or
forming strategic partnerships. Airbnb, Booking Holdings and other
providers of alternative accommodations provide an alternative to
hotel rooms and compete with alternative accommodation properties
available through Expedia Group brands, including Vrbo. The
continued growth of alternative accommodation providers could
affect overall travel patterns generally, and the demand for our
services specifically, in facilitating reservations at hotels and
alternative accommodations. Furthermore, Airbnb has, and similar
providers could, increasingly look to add other travel services,
such as tours, activities, hotel and flight bookings, any of which
could further extend their reach into the travel market as they
seek to compete with the traditional OTAs.
Travel suppliers.
Travel suppliers, such as hotels, airlines and rental car
companies, may offer products and services on more favorable terms
to consumers who transact directly with them. Many of these
competitors have been steadily focusing on increasing online demand
on their own websites and mobile applications in lieu of
third-party distributors through favorable rates and bonus or
loyalty points for direct bookings, surcharges for booking outside
of the supplier’s own website or preferred booking technologies,
suppliers combining to establish a single search platform and other
tactics to drive traffic directly to supplier
websites.
Search engines and large online portal websites.
We also face intense competition from Google and other search
engines. There could be a material adverse impact on our business
and financial performance to the extent that Google continues to
use its market position to disintermediate online travel agencies
through its own offerings or capabilities, refer customers directly
to suppliers or other favored partners, increase the cost of
traffic directed to our websites, offer the ability to transact on
its own website, or promote its own competing products by placing
its own offerings at the top of organic search
results.
In recent years, search engines have increased their focus on
acquiring or launching travel products that provide increasingly
comprehensive travel planning content and direct booking
capabilities, comparable to OTAs. For example, Google has continued
to add features and functionality to its Google Travel, Google
Flights”, and Hotel Ads travel metasearch products. In addition,
Google may be able to leverage the data they collect on users to
the detriment of us and other OTAs. Search engines may also
continue to expand their voice and artificial intelligence
capabilities. To the extent these actions have a negative effect on
our search traffic or the cost of acquiring such traffic, our
business and financial performance could be adversely
affected.
In addition, our brands, or brands in which we hold a significant
ownership position, including trivago, compete for advertising
revenue with these search engines, as well as with large internet
portal sites that offer advertising opportunities for
travel-related companies. Competition could result in higher
traffic acquisition costs, reduced margins on our advertising
services, loss of market share, reduced customer traffic to our
websites and reduced advertising by travel companies on our
websites.
Travel metasearch websites.
Travel metasearch websites, including Kayak.com (a subsidiary of
Booking Holdings), trivago (a majority-owned subsidiary of Expedia
Group), TripAdvisor, Skyscanner and Qunar (both are subsidiaries of
Trip.com), aggregate travel search results for a specific itinerary
across supplier, travel agent and other websites. In addition, some
metasearch websites have looked to add various forms of direct or
assisted booking functionality to their sites in direct competition
with certain of our brands. To the extent metasearch websites limit
our participation within their search results, or consumers utilize
a metasearch website for travel services and bookings instead of
ours, our traffic-generating arrangements could be affected in a
negative manner, or we may be required to increase our marketing
costs to maintain share, either of which could have an adverse
effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, as a
result of our majority ownership interest in trivago, we also
compete more directly with other metasearch engines and content
aggregators for advertising revenue. To the extent that trivago’s
ability to aggregate travel search results for a specific itinerary
across supplier, travel agent and other websites is hampered,
whether due to its affiliation with us or otherwise, or if OTA
advertisers or suppliers choose to limit their participation in
trivago’s metasearch marketplace, trivago’s business and therefore
our results of operations could be adversely affected and the value
of our investment in trivago could be negatively
impacted.
Corporate travel management service providers.
By virtue of our minority ownership stake in, and long-term supply
agreement with, GBT, we compete indirectly with online and
traditional corporate travel providers, as well as vendors of
corporate travel and expense management software and services. Our
brands also compete to attract unmanaged business
travelers.
Mobile and other platform travel applications.
The demand for and functionality of smartphones, tablet computers
and home assistants continue to grow and improve significantly. If
we are unable to offer innovative, user-friendly, feature-rich
mobile applications and mobile-responsive websites for our travel
services, along with effective marketing and advertising, or if our
mobile applications and mobile-responsive websites are not used by
consumers, we could lose share to existing competitors or new
entrants and our future growth and results of operations could be
adversely affected.
Applications and social media websites.
Applications and social media websites, including Facebook,
continue to develop search functionality for data included within
their websites and mobile applications, which may in the future
develop into alternative research and booking resources for
travelers, resulting in additional competition.
eCommerce and group buying websites.
Traditional consumer eCommerce platforms, including Amazon and
Alibaba, and group buying websites have periodically undertaken
efforts to expand their local offerings into the travel market. For
example, traditional consumer eCommerce and group buying websites
may add hotel offers or other travel services to their sites. To
the extent our travelers use these websites, these websites may
create additional competition and could negatively affect our
businesses.
Other participants in the travel industry.
Other participants or existing competitors may begin to offer or
expand other services to the travel industry that compete with the
services we offer to our travelers, our travel industry affiliates
and partners, or our corporate clients. For example, ride-sharing
apps increasingly compete with traditional car rental services and
travel services continue to proliferate. To the extent any of these
services gain market share over time, it may create additional
competition and could negatively affect our
businesses.
In general, increased competition has resulted in, and may continue
to result in, reduced margins, as well as loss of travelers,
transactions and brand recognition and we cannot assure you that we
will be able to compete successfully against any current, emerging
and future competitors or on platforms that may emerge, or offer
differentiated products and services to our travelers. Increasing
competition from current and emerging competitors, the introduction
of new technologies and the continued expansion of existing
technologies, such as metasearch and other search engine
technologies, may force us to make changes to our business models,
which could affect our financial performance and liquidity. Some of
our competitors may also have other significant advantages, such as
greater financial resources or name recognition, more favorable
corporate structures, or a broader global presence, among
others.
Declines or disruptions in the travel industry could adversely
affect our business and financial performance.
In addition to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other
potential pandemic or health-related events, our business and
financial performance are affected by the overall health of the
worldwide travel industry. Factors that could negatively affect the
travel industry in general and our business in particular,
potentially materially, include: macroeconomic concerns, including
recessions, political instability and geopolitical conflicts (such
as the war in Ukraine), trade disputes, significant fluctuations in
currency values, sovereign debt issues, bans on travel to and from
certain countries, significant changes in oil
prices, continued air carrier and hotel chain consolidation,
reduced access to discount fares, travel strikes or labor unrest,
labor shortages, whether due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
or otherwise, bankruptcies or liquidations, increased incidents of
actual or threatened terrorism, natural disasters, travel-related
accidents or grounding of aircraft due to safety concerns, and
changes to visa and immigration requirements or border control
policies.
Our business is also sensitive to fluctuations in hotel supply,
occupancy and Average Daily Rates (“ADRs”), changes in airline
capacity and airline ticket prices and the imposition of taxes or
surcharges by regulatory authorities, all of which we have
experienced historically.
Because these events or concerns, and the full impact of their
effects, are largely unpredictable, they can dramatically and
suddenly affect travel behavior by consumers and decrease demand.
Decrease in demand, depending on its scope and duration, together
with any future issues affecting travel safety, could significantly
and adversely affect our business, working capital and financial
performance over the short and long-term. In addition, the
disruption of the existing travel plans of a significant number of
travelers upon the occurrence of certain events, such as severe
weather conditions, actual or threatened terrorist activity, war or
travel-related health events, could result in significant
additional costs and decrease our revenues leading to constrained
liquidity, particularly if we, as we often have done historically
in the case of severe weather conditions and travel-related health
events, provide relief to affected travelers by refunding the price
or fees associated with airline tickets, hotel reservations and
other travel products and services.
Our business depends on our relationships with travel suppliers and
other B2B partners.
An important component of our business success depends on our
ability to maintain and expand relationships with travel suppliers
(including owners and managers of alternative accommodation
properties), GDS partners and other B2B partners. A substantial
portion of our revenue is derived from compensation negotiated with
travel suppliers, in particular lodging suppliers, airlines and GDS
partners for bookings made through our channels. Each year we
typically negotiate or renegotiate numerous supplier contracts. No
assurances can be given that travel suppliers will elect to
participate in our platform, or that our compensation, access to
inventory or access to inventory at competitive rates will not be
further reduced or eliminated in the future, or that travel
suppliers will not reduce the cost of their products or services
(for example, ADRs or ticket prices); attempt to implement costly
direct connections; charge us for or otherwise restrict access to
content; increase credit card fees or fees for other services; fail
to provide us with accurate booking information or otherwise take
actions that would increase our operating expenses. Likewise, no
assurance can be given that our other B2B partners will elect to
participate in our platform or that our compensation will not be
reduced.
Any of these actions, or other similar actions, could reduce our
revenue and margins thereby adversely affecting our business and
financial performance.
Financial Risks
We may experience constraints in our liquidity and may, whether due
to the COVID-19 pandemic or other factors out of our control, be
unable to access capital when necessary or desirable, either of
which could harm our financial position.
If our liquidity is materially diminished, we may not be able to
timely pay debts or leases or comply with material provisions of
our contractual obligations. Although our cash flows from
operations and available capital, including the proceeds from
financing transactions, have been sufficient to meet obligations
and commitments to date, we cannot predict how the COVID-19
pandemic and resulting economic impacts could affect our liquidity
in the future. Our indebtedness, the availability of assets as
collateral for loans or other indebtedness, and market conditions
may make it difficult for us to raise additional capital on
commercially reasonable terms to meet potential future liquidity
needs.
In addition to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other
potential pandemic or health-related events, we have experienced,
and may experience in the future, declines in seasonal liquidity
and capital provided by our merchant hotel business, which has
historically provided a meaningful portion of our operating cash
flow and is dependent on several factors, including the rate of
growth of our merchant hotel business and the relative growth of
businesses which consume rather than generate working capital, such
as our agency hotel, and advertising businesses, and payment terms
with suppliers. If, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic,
our merchant hotel business declines, it would likely result in
further pressure on our working capital cash balances, cash flow
over time and liquidity.
Our ability to raise financing depends in significant measure on
characteristics of the capital and credit markets and liquidity
factors over which we exert no control. Due to uncertainty in the
capital and credit markets, we cannot guarantee that sufficient
financing will be available on desirable, or any terms, to fund
investments, acquisitions, stock repurchases, dividends, debt
refinancing or other actions or that our counterparties in any such
financings would honor their contractual commitments. In addition,
any downgrade of our debt ratings by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s
Investor Service, Fitch or similar ratings agencies, deterioration
of our financial condition, increase in general interest rate
levels and credit spreads or overall weakening
in the credit markets could increase our cost of capital
(including, with respect to ratings downgrades, the interest rate
applicable to certain of our outstanding senior
notes).
Our indebtedness could adversely affect our business and financial
condition.
As of December 31, 2022, we have outstanding long-term
indebtedness, excluding current maturities, with a face value of
$6.3 billion and we have an essentially untapped revolving credit
facility of $2.5 billion. Risks relating to our indebtedness
include:
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Increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and
industry conditions; |
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Requiring us to dedicate a portion of our cash flow from operations
to payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability
of cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures,
acquisitions and investments and other general corporate
purposes; |
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Making it difficult for us to optimally capitalize and manage the
cash flow for our businesses; |
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Limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes
in our businesses and the markets in which we operate; |
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Placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our
competitors that are less levered; |
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Requiring us to use cash and/or issue shares of our Class A common
stock to settle any conversion obligations of our convertible
notes; |
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Diluting our earnings per share as a result of the conversion
provisions in our convertible notes; and |
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Limiting our ability to borrow additional funds or to borrow funds
at undesirable rates or terms we find acceptable. |
The agreements governing our indebtedness contain various covenants
that may limit our ability to effectively operate our businesses,
including those that restrict our ability to, among other
things:
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Cause or permit certain subsidiaries to borrow money, and guarantee
or provide other support for indebtedness of third parties
including guarantees; |
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Grant certain liens on certain of our assets; |
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Enter into certain asset sale transactions; and |
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Enter into sale and leaseback transactions. |
In addition, our revolving credit facility contains a leverage
ratio covenant, which effectively limits our ability to incur
and/or maintain indebtedness.
Any failure to comply with the restrictions of our credit facility
or any agreement governing our other indebtedness (including the
indentures governing our outstanding senior notes) may result in an
event of default under those agreements. Such default may allow the
creditors to accelerate the related debt, which acceleration may
trigger cross-acceleration or cross-default provisions in other
debt. In addition, lenders may be able to terminate any commitments
they had made to supply us with further funds. In addition, it is
possible that we may need to incur additional indebtedness in the
future in the ordinary course of business or otherwise. The terms
of our revolving credit facility and the indentures governing our
outstanding senior notes allow us to incur additional debt subject
to certain limitations. If new debt is added to current debt
levels, the risks described above could intensify.
Operational Risks
Our business could be negatively affected by changes in search
engine algorithms and dynamics or other traffic-generating
arrangements.
We rely heavily on internet search engines, such as Google, through
the purchase of travel-related keywords and through organic search,
to generate a significant portion of the traffic to our websites
and the websites of our affiliates. Search engines frequently
update and change the logic that determines the placement and
display of results of a user’s search, such that the placement or
cost of links to our websites and those of our affiliates can be
negatively affected. In addition, a significant amount of traffic
is directed to our websites and those of our affiliates through
participation in pay-per-click and display advertising campaigns on
search engines, including Google, and travel metasearch websites,
including Kayak, TripAdvisor and trivago. Pricing and operating
dynamics for these traffic sources can change rapidly, both
technically and competitively. Moreover, a search or metasearch
engine could, for competitive or other purposes, alter its search
algorithms or display of results which
could cause a website to place lower in search query results or
inhibit participation in the search query results. In particular,
Google has in the past, and may continue to in the future, change
its algorithms or results in a manner that negatively affects the
search engine ranking, paid and unpaid, of our websites, the
websites of our affiliates and those of our third-party
distribution partners, which adversely impacts our business and
financial performance. Google has also increasingly added its own
travel search functionality and content at the expense of
traditional paid listings and organic search results, which may
continue to reduce the amount of traffic to our websites or those
of our affiliates. If Google or other search or metasearch
companies continue to pursue these or similar strategies, which is
out of our control, or we do not successfully manage our paid and
unpaid search strategies, we could face a significant decrease in
traffic to our websites and/or increased costs related to replacing
unpaid traffic with paid traffic.
We rely on the value of our brands, and the costs of maintaining
and enhancing our brand awareness are increasing.
We invest considerable financial and human resources in our brands
in order to retain and expand our customer base in existing and
emerging markets. We expect that the cost of maintaining and
enhancing our brands will continue to increase and given current
economic uncertainty and unpredictability, decisions we make on
investing in brands could be less effective and costlier than
expected.
In recent years, certain online travel companies and metasearch
websites expanded their offline and digital advertising campaigns
globally, increasing competition for share of voice, and we expect
this activity to continue in the future.
Our efforts to preserve and enhance consumer awareness of our
brands may not be successful, and, even if we are successful in our
branding efforts, such efforts may not be cost-effective, or as
efficient as they have been historically, resulting in less direct
traffic and increased customer acquisition costs. Moreover,
branding efforts with respect to some brands within the Expedia
Group portfolio have in the past and may in the future result in
marketing inefficiencies and negatively impact growth rates of
other brands within our portfolio. In addition, our decisions over
allocation of resources and choosing to invest in branding efforts
for certain brands in our portfolio at the expense of not investing
in, or reducing our investments in, other brands in our portfolio
could have an overall negative financial impact. If we are unable
to maintain or enhance consumer awareness of our brands and
generate demand in a cost-effective manner, it could have a
material adverse effect on our business and financial
performance.
We are subject to payments-related risks.
Payments Regulations.
The processing and acceptance of a variety of payment methods is
subject to various laws, rules, regulations, legal interpretations,
and regulatory guidance, including those governing cross-border and
domestic money transmission and funds transfers; foreign exchange;
payment services; and consumer protection.
If we were found to be in violation of applicable laws or
regulations, we could be subject to additional requirements and
civil and criminal penalties, or forced to cease providing certain
services.
Moreover, for existing and future payment options we offer to both
our customers and suppliers, we are and may increasingly be subject
to additional regulations and compliance requirements including
obligations to implement enhanced authentication processes, such as
the EEA’s Revised Payment Services Directive (“PSD2”), which came
into effect on January 1, 2021. PSD2 imposed new standards for
payment security and strong customer authentication (“SCA”) that
have and may increasingly make it more difficult and costly to
carry out a payment transaction successfully. The lack of industry
wide adoption of SCA may continue to add to the complexity of
payment transactions for us and our suppliers.
Third-Party Payment Service Providers.
We rely on agreements with third-party service providers to process
our voluminous customer credit and debit card transactions and for
the facilitation of customer bookings of travel services from our
travel suppliers. Upon the occurrence of specified events,
including material adverse changes in our financial condition,
these agreements may allow the payment processors to withhold a
significant amount of our cash (referred to as a “holdback”),
require us to otherwise post security equal to a portion of
bookings that have been settled by a provider but where the
traveler has have not traveled, or suspend their processing
services. An imposition of a holdback or suspension of payment
processing services by one or more of our payment processors could
materially reduce our liquidity.
Further,
the software and services provided by payment processors may fail
to meet our expectations, contain errors or vulnerabilities, be
compromised, or experience outages. Any of these risks could cause
us to lose our ability to process payments, and our business and
operating results could be adversely affected.
Payment Card Networks.
The payment card networks,
such as Visa, MasterCard and American Express,
may increase the interchange fees and assessments that they charge
for each transaction that accesses their networks and may impose
special fees or assessments on such transactions. Certain of our
payment processors also
have the right to
pass any increases in interchange fees and assessments on to
us,
which could significantly increase our costs and thereby adversely
affect our financial performance.
In addition, the payment card networks have adopted rules and
regulations that apply to all merchants who process and accept
payment cards and include payment card association operating rules,
the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, or the PCI
DSS.
Moreover, the payment card networks could adopt new operating rules
or interpret or reinterpret existing rules that we or our payment
processors might find difficult or even impossible to comply with,
or costly to implement.
If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, or if our
data security systems are breached or compromised, we may lose our
ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our
customers, or facilitate other types of online payments, and be
liable for card issuing banks’ costs, subject to fines and higher
transaction fees, and our business and operating results could be
adversely affected.
We are subject to payments-related fraud risks.
Our results of operations and financial positions have been
negatively affected by our acceptance of fraudulent bookings made
using credit and debit cards or fraudulently obtained loyalty
points. We are sometimes held liable for accepting fraudulent
bookings on our websites or other bookings for which payment is
subsequently disputed by our customers both of which lead to the
reversal of payments received by us for such bookings (referred to
as a “charge back”).
In addition, the payment card networks have rules around acceptable
charge back ratios.
Accordingly, we calculate and record an allowance for the resulting
credit and debit card charge backs. Our ability to detect and
combat fraudulent schemes, which have become increasingly common
and sophisticated, may be negatively impacted by the adoption of
new payment methods, the emergence and innovation of new technology
platforms (such as historically occurred with the introduction of
smartphones, tablet computers and in-home assistants), and our
global expansion, including into markets with a history of elevated
fraudulent activity. In addition, we have not broadly adopted
certain protective capabilities across our platform, such as mobile
application-based multi-factor authentication or third-party
identify verification, which approach could result in significantly
increased fraudulent activity on our platform in the
future.
If we are unable to effectively combat fraudulent bookings on our
websites or mobile applications or if we otherwise experience
increased levels of charge backs,
we may also be subject to significant fines and higher transaction
fees or payment card networks may revoke our access to their
networks meaning we would be unable to continue to accept card
payments, either of which could have a material adverse effect on
our
results of operations and financial positions.
In addition, we may be subject to fraudulent supplier schemes. For
example, when onboarding suppliers to our websites, we may fail to
identify falsified or stolen supplier credentials, which may result
in fraudulent bookings or unauthorized access to personal or
confidential information of users of our websites and mobile
applications. A fraudulent supplier scheme could also result in
negative publicity, damage to our reputation, and could cause users
of our websites and mobile applications to lose confidence in the
quality of our services. Any of these events would have a negative
effect on the value of our brands, which could have an adverse
impact on our financial performance.
We work closely with various business partners and rely on
third-parties for many systems and services, and therefore could be
harmed by their activities.
We have numerous significant commercial arrangements with business
partners and we rely on third-party service providers for a broad
ranges of key services, including both external, customer-facing
services such as customer support and booking fulfillment and
internal services related to our operations, technology development
and infrastructure. If these partners or service providers fail to
meet our requirements or legal or regulatory requirements, it could
damage our reputation, make it difficult for us to operate some
aspects of our business, or expose us to liability for their
actions. Likewise, if one of our third-party service providers were
to cease operations, face financial distress or other business
disruption, we could suffer increased costs and disruption to our
own business operations until an equivalent alternative could be
sourced or developed, any of which could also have an adverse
impact on our business and financial performance.
Our international operations involve additional risks and our
exposure to these risks will increase as our business expands
globally.
We operate in a number of jurisdictions outside of the United
States and intend to continue to expand our international presence.
Laws and business practices that favor local competitors or
prohibit or limit foreign ownership of certain businesses or our
failure to adapt our practices, systems, processes and business
models effectively to the traveler and supplier preferences (as
well as the regulatory and tax landscapes) of each country into
which we expand, could slow our growth or prevent our ability to
compete effectively in certain markets. For example, to compete in
certain international markets we have in the past, and may in the
future, adopt locally-preferred payment methods, which has
increased our costs and instances of fraud. Certain international
markets in which we operate have lower margins than more mature
markets, which could have a negative impact on our overall margins
if the proportion of our overall revenue from these markets grow
over time. Additionally, some countries have enacted or are
considering enacting various regulations, such as data localization
laws, that make competition by foreign companies costly or
operationally difficult in those markets.
In addition to the risks outlined elsewhere in this section, our
international operations are also subject to a number of other
risks, including:
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Exposure to local economic or political instability and threatened
or actual acts of terrorism; |
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Compliance with U.S. and non-U.S. regulatory laws and requirements
relating to anti-corruption, antitrust or competition, economic
sanctions, data content and privacy, consumer protection,
employment and labor laws, health and safety, information reporting
and advertising and promotions; |
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Weaker enforcement of our contractual and intellectual property
rights; |
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Lower levels of credit card usage and increased payment and fraud
risk; |
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Longer payment cycles, and difficulties in collecting accounts
receivable; |
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Preferences by local populations for local providers; |
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Restrictions on, or adverse tax and other consequences related to
the repatriation of cash, the withdrawal of non-U.S. investments,
cash balances and earnings, as well as restrictions on our ability
to invest in our operations in certain countries; |
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Changes to trade policy or agreements that limit our ability to
offer, or adversely affect demand for, our products and
services; |
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Our ability to support technologies or marketing channels that may
be prevalent in a particular international market and used by local
competitors, but are not scalable for an international company
offering services in many markets around the world; and |
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Uncertainty regarding liability for services and content, including
uncertainty as a result of local laws and lack of
precedent. |
Acquisitions, investments, divestitures or significant commercial
arrangements could result in operating and financial
difficulties.
We have acquired, invested in, divested or entered into significant
commercial arrangements with a number of businesses in the past,
and our future success may depend, in part, on such transactions,
any of which could be material to our financial condition and
results of operations. Certain financial and operational risks
related to such transactions that may have a material impact on our
business are:
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Diversion of management’s attention or other resources from our
existing businesses; |
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Use of cash resources and incurrence of debt and contingent
liabilities in funding and after consummating acquisitions may
limit other potential uses of our cash, including stock
repurchases, dividend payments and retirement of outstanding
indebtedness; |
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Amortization expenses related to acquired intangible assets and
other adverse accounting consequences, including changes in fair
value of contingent consideration; |
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Expected and unexpected costs incurred in pursuing acquisitions, if
unsuccessful could result in unexpected litigation or regulatory
exposure, unfavorable accounting treatment, unexpected increases in
taxes due, a loss of anticipated tax benefits or other adverse
effects on our business, operating results or financial
condition; |
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Impairment of relationships with employees, suppliers, customers,
vendors and affiliates of our business and the acquired
business; |
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The assumption of known and unknown debt and other liabilities and
obligations of the acquired company; |
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Difficulties and expenses in integrating or separating, as the case
may be, the operations, products, technology, privacy protection
systems, information systems or personnel of an acquired or
divested company, including in the case of a divestiture our
reliance on performance by the acquiring company; |
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Failure of the acquired company to achieve anticipated integration
synergies, traffic, transactions, revenues, earnings or cash flows
or to retain key management or employees; |
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Failure to generate adequate returns on our acquisitions and
investments, or returns in excess of alternative uses of
capital; |
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Entrance into markets or segments in which we have no direct prior
experience resulting in increased complexity in our
business; |
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Challenges relating to the structure of an investment, such as
governance, accountability and decision-making conflicts that may
arise in the context of a joint venture or other majority ownership
investments; |
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Costs associated with remediating fraud, information security, or
other similar incidents at an acquired company; |
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Impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets such as
trademarks or other intellectual property arising from our
acquisitions; |
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Costs associated with litigation or other claims arising in
connection with the acquired company; |
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Increased or unexpected costs or delays to obtain governmental or
regulatory approvals for acquisitions; |
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Divestitures of functions, assets or operations may impede our
ability to successfully operate our business, result in liability
to purchasers, or consume significant resources; |
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Divested assets may be worth more than the consideration we receive
in respect thereof; |
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Increased competition amongst potential acquirers for acquisition
targets could result in a material increase in the purchase price
for such targets or otherwise limit our ability to consummate
acquisitions; |
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Increased regulatory scrutiny of our core or acquired business;
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Adverse market reaction to divestitures, acquisitions or
investments or failure to consummate such transactions. |
Moreover, we often rely heavily on the representations and
warranties and related indemnities provided to us by the sellers of
acquired private companies, including as they relate to creation,
ownership and rights in intellectual property and compliance with
laws and contractual requirements. Our failure to address these
risks or other problems encountered in connection with past or
future acquisitions and investments could cause us to fail to
realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions or
investments, incur unanticipated liabilities and harm our business
generally.
We rely on the performance of our employees and, if we are unable
to retain, motivate or hire qualified personnel, our business would
be harmed.
Our performance is largely dependent on the talents and efforts of
our employees. Our future success depends on our continuing ability
to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled
personnel for all areas of our organization. Competition for
well-qualified employees is intense in almost all categories,
including for software engineers, developers, product management
personnel, development personnel, and other technology
professionals, and in all geographies. The competition for talent
is also exacerbated by an increased willingness of certain
companies to offer flexible and remote working policies, which
expands the pool of candidates from which our competitors may
attract talent. This could continue in the future due to other
companies recruiting and hiring our employees, an actual or
perceived slower pace of recovery of the travel industry as a
result of the COVID-19 pandemic than other industries and other
factors beyond our control. If we do not succeed in attracting and
retaining well-qualified employees, our business, our ability to
execute and innovate, our competitive position, and results of
operations would be adversely affected. The current labor market is
highly competitive and our personnel expenses to attract and retain
key talent are increasing and may increase further, which may
adversely affect our results of operations.
In addition, the contributions of Barry Diller, our Chairman and
Senior Executive, Peter Kern, our Vice Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer, as well as other members of our travel leadership team are
critical to the overall management of the company. Expedia Group
cannot ensure that it will be able to retain the services of Mr.
Diller, Mr. Kern or any other member of our senior management or
key employees, the loss of whom could seriously harm our business.
We do not maintain any key person life insurance
policies.
We may not achieve some or all of the expected benefits of our
strategic initiatives or our efforts to increase our operational
efficiencies, which may adversely affect our business.
In recent years, we have undertaken a number of significant,
multi-year strategic initiatives to provide greater services and
value to our travelers, suppliers and business partners. The most
significant of these initiatives are described below in Part I.
Item 1. Business, under the caption “Market Opportunity and
Business Strategy.” We may not realize the benefits we expect to
achieve from these and our other strategic initiatives or our
efforts may negatively impact our business and operations due to a
variety of factors, including, but not limited to, unexpected
delays, operational or technological challenges, or higher than
expected costs or expenses. As a result, our business operations,
financial condition and results of operations could be materially
and adversely impacted.
We are exposed to various counterparty risks.
We are exposed to the risk that various counterparties, including
financial entities, will fail to perform. This creates risk in a
number of areas, including with respect to our bank deposits and
investments, foreign exchange risk management, insurance coverages,
letters of credit, and for certain of our transactions, the receipt
and holding of traveler payments and subsequent remittance of a
portion of those payments to travel suppliers. As it relates to
deposits, as of December 31, 2022, we held cash in bank
depository accounts of approximately $3.8 billion and held term
deposits of approximately $18 million. Additionally, majority-owned
subsidiaries held cash of approximately $96 million and held term
deposits of approximately $218 million. As it relates to foreign
exchange, as of December 31, 2022, we were party to forward
contracts with a notional value of approximately $2.8 billion, the
fair value of which was a net asset of approximately $15 million.
We employ forward contracts to hedge a portion of our exposure to
foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. At the end of the
deposit term or upon the maturity of the forward contracts, the
counterparties are obligated, or potentially obligated in the case
of forward contracts, to return our funds or pay us net settlement
values. If any of these counterparties were to liquidate, declare
bankruptcy or otherwise cease operations, it may not be able to
satisfy its obligations under these term deposits or forward
contracts, our ability to recover losses or to access or recover
our assets held may be limited by the counterparty’s liquidity or
the applicable laws governing the insolvency or bankruptcy
proceeding, and the receipt and remittance of payments via such
counterparties would be severely limited or cease. In addition, we
face significant credit risk and potential payment delays with
respect to non-financial contract counterparties including our B2B
and Vrbo partners, which may be exacerbated by economic downturns.
The realization of any of these risks could have an adverse impact
on our business and financial performance.
We have foreign exchange risk.
We face exposure to movements in currency exchange rates
(particularly those related to the Euro, British pound, Canadian
dollar, Australian dollar, Brazilian real, and Swiss Franc
currencies) that revalue our cash flows, monetary assets and
liabilities, and translate our foreign subsidiary financial results
to U.S. dollars. In particular, we face exposure related to
fluctuations in accommodation revenue due to relative currency
movements from the time of booking to the time of stay as well as
the impact of relative exchange rate movements on cross-border
travel such as from Europe to the United States and the United
States to Europe.
Depending on the size of the exposures and the relative movements
of exchange rates, if we choose not to hedge or fail to hedge
effectively our exposure, we could experience a material adverse
effect on our financial statements and financial condition. We make
a number of estimates in conducting hedging activities including in
some cases cancellations and payments in foreign currencies. In
addition, an effective exchange rate hedging program is dependent
upon effective systems, accurate and reliable data sources,
controls and change management procedures. In the event our
estimates differ significantly from actual results or if we fail to
adopt effective hedging processes, we could experience greater
volatility as a result of our hedging activities.
Legal and Regulatory Risks
Our alternative accommodations business is subject to legal and
regulatory risks, which could have a material adverse effect on our
operations and financial results.
Our alternative accommodations business has been, and continues to
be, subject to regulatory developments that affect the alternative
accommodation industry and the ability of companies like us to list
those alternative accommodations online. For example, certain
domestic and foreign jurisdictions have adopted or are considering
statutes or ordinances that prohibit or limit the ability of
property owners and managers to rent certain properties for fewer
than 30 consecutive days, or that regulate platforms’ ability to
list alternative accommodations, including prohibiting the listing
of unlicensed properties. Other domestic and foreign jurisdictions
may introduce similar regulations. Many homeowners, condominium and
neighborhood associations have adopted rules that prohibit or
restrict short-term rentals. In addition, many of the laws that
impose taxes or other obligations on travel and lodging companies
were established before the growth of the internet and the
alternative accommodation industry, which creates a risk of those
laws being interpreted in ways not originally intended that could
burden property owners and managers or otherwise harm our
business.
These new and evolving regulatory schemes may decrease listings
available on our sites and add significant compliance risks to our
business, including the risk of fines for noncompliance, as well as
substantial internal costs and the allocation of resources to
develop new internal compliance systems and processes. These
obligations include gathering information about property owners,
verification of registration status of properties and the ongoing
provision of information to governments about short-term rental
owners and operators and requirements to withhold and report
taxable income to governments.
For example, short-term rental regulations currently under
consideration in the European Union could require us to provide
data to governments about short-term rentals listed on our sites in
multiple EU countries.
We may also remove properties from our websites if alternative
accommodation owners or operators do not provide information we
require to comply with applicable regulations.
We are not in a position to eliminate risks, such as personal
injury, robbery or other harm, at alternative accommodation
properties and we do not inspect or verify safety, such as fire
code compliance or the presence of carbon monoxide detectors, which
could result in claims of liability based on events occurring at
properties listed on our platforms.
We have also experienced instances where properties listed on our
sites are copied and travelers booking these properties outside of
our websites are the subject of fraudulent requests for payment. In
other cases, travelers have been asked to pay for their booking of
properties listed on our website directly to the alternative
accommodation operator and outside of our website, resulting in
loss of revenue for us and increased risk of fraud for the
traveler.
These risks could have a material adverse effect on our alternative
accommodations business, including impacting our reputation and
brand, as well as the results of operations of our alternative
accommodations business, which in turn could have a material
adverse effect on Expedia Group’s operations and financial
results.
A failure to comply with current laws, rules and regulations or
changes to such laws, rules and regulations and other legal
uncertainties may adversely affect our business, financial
performance, results of operations or business growth.
Our business and financial performance could be adversely affected
by changes in or interpretations of existing laws, rules and
regulations or the promulgation of new laws, rules and regulations
applicable to us and our businesses, including those relating to
travel and alternative accommodation licensing and listing
requirements, the provision of travel packages, the internet and
online commerce, internet advertising and price display, consumer
protection, licensing and regulations relating to the offer of
travel insurance and related products, anti-corruption, anti-trust
and competition (including our contractual provisions regarding
pricing and travel suppliers), economic and trade sanctions, tax,
banking, data security, the provision of payment services and
privacy. For example, there are, and will likely continue to be, an
increasing number of laws and regulations pertaining to the
internet and online commerce that may relate to liability for
information retrieved from or transmitted over the internet,
display of certain taxes and fees, online editorial and
user-generated content, user privacy, behavioral targeting and
online advertising, taxation, liability for third-party activities
and the quality of products and services, and our contractual
relationships with travel suppliers who list on our sites.
Additionally, some jurisdictions have implemented or are
considering implementing regulations that restrict or could
restrict access to city centers and popular destinations as well as
impact our ability to offer accommodations, such as by limiting the
construction of new hotels or renting of alternative
accommodations. Also, compliance with the European Economic
Community (“EEC”) Council Directive on Package Travel, Package
Holidays and Package Tours could be costly and complex, and could
adversely impact our ability to offer certain packages in the
EEC.
Likewise, the SEC, Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Office of
Foreign Assets Controls (“OFAC”), as well as foreign regulatory
authorities, have continued to increase the enforcement of economic
sanctions and trade regulations, anti-money laundering, and
anti-corruption laws, across industries. As regulations continue to
evolve and regulatory oversight continues to increase, we cannot
guarantee that our programs and policies will be deemed compliant
by all applicable regulatory authorities. For example, on May 17,
2019, we entered into a settlement agreement with OFAC regarding
2,221 potentially non-compliant Cuba-related travel transactions
that occurred between 2011-2014, which we voluntarily disclosed to
OFAC in 2014. In connection with the settlement agreement, we made
significant enhancements to our economic sanctions' compliance
program and associated controls. OFAC agreed to release us, without
any finding of fault, from all civil liability in connection with
the potential violations. In the event our controls should fail or
are found to be out of compliance for other reasons, we could be
subject to monetary damages, civil and criminal money penalties,
litigation and damage to our reputation and the value of our
brands. We also have been subject, and we will likely be subject in
the future, to inquiries or legal proceedings from time to time
from regulatory bodies concerning compliance with economic
sanctions, consumer protection, competition, tax and travel
industry-specific laws and regulations, including but not limited
to investigations and legal proceedings relating to the travel
industry and, in particular, parity provisions in contracts between
hotels and online travel companies, including Expedia Group, and
the presentation of information to consumers, as described in Part
I. Item 3. Legal Proceedings
— Competition and Consumer Matters.
The failure of our businesses to comply with these laws and
regulations could result in fines and/or proceedings against us by
governmental agencies and/or consumers which, if material, could
adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of
operations.
Application of existing tax laws, rules or regulations are subject
to interpretation by taxing authorities.
The application of domestic and international income and non-income
tax laws, rules and regulations to our products and services is
subject to interpretation by the relevant taxing authorities. The
taxing authorities have become more aggressive in their
interpretation and enforcement of such laws, rules and regulations,
resulting in increased audit activity and audit assessments. As
such, potential tax liabilities may exceed our current tax
reserves.
Taxing authorities have made inquiries, filed lawsuits, and/or
levied assessments asserting we are required to collect and/or
remit state and local sales or use taxes, value added taxes, or
other transactional taxes related to our travel facilitation
services, including the legal proceedings described in Part
I. Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
Judgment and estimation are required in determining our worldwide
tax liabilities. In the ordinary course of our business, there are
calculations and transactions for which the ultimate tax
determination is uncertain or otherwise subject to interpretation.
Taxing authorities may disagree with our tax calculations,
including transfer pricing. We believe our tax estimates are
reasonable, however the final determination of tax audits may be
materially different from our historical tax provisions and
accruals in which case we may be subject to additional tax
liabilities, including interest and penalties, or may require
payment of tax assessments prior to contesting the validity of the
assessment, any of which could have a material adverse effect on
our cash flows, financial condition and results of
operations.
We could be subject to changes in tax rates, the adoption of new
U.S. or international tax legislation, or exposure to additional
tax liabilities.
Our future tax liabilities may be adversely affected by legislative
and other changes to taxing regimes, as well as changes in our
business operating structure and the mix of revenue and earnings in
countries with differing tax rates. Due to the pace of legislative
changes and the scale of our business activities, any substantial
changes in tax policies or legislative initiatives may materially
and adversely affect our business, the taxes we are required to
pay, our financial position, and results of
operations.
Taxing jurisdictions around the world have focused legislative
efforts on tax reform, transparency, base erosion, and have enacted
or are considering enacting digital services taxes, which could
lead to inconsistent and potentially overlapping international tax
regimes. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) continues to advance proposals relating to its initiative
for modernizing international tax rules, with the goal of having
the participant countries implement a modernized and aligned
international tax framework, however there can be no guarantee this
will occur.
Many of the current tax laws, rules, and regulations imposing taxes
and other obligations were enacted before the growth of the digital
economy. Certain jurisdictions have enacted legislation directed at
taxing the digital economy and multi-national businesses. If
existing tax laws, rules, or regulations change, by amendment or
new legislation, the result could increase our tax liabilities and
reporting obligations, including requirements to provide
information about travel suppliers, customers, and transactions on
our technology platform. The outcome of these changes may have an
adverse effect on our business or financial performance, including
a decrease in demand for our products and services if we pass on
such costs to the consumer; an increase in the volume and cost of
our tax reporting and compliance obligations; or limit the scope of
our business activities if we decide not to conduct business in
particular jurisdictions.
We are involved in various legal proceedings and may experience
unfavorable outcomes, which could adversely affect our business and
financial condition.
We are involved in various legal proceedings and disputes involving
taxes, personal injury, contract, alleged infringement of
third-party intellectual property rights, antitrust, consumer
protection, securities laws, and other claims, including, but not
limited to, the legal proceedings described in Part I, Item 3,
Legal Proceedings. These matters may involve claims for substantial
amounts of money or for other relief that might necessitate changes
to our business or operations. The defense of these actions has
been, and will likely continue to be, both time consuming and
expensive and the outcomes of these actions cannot be predicted
with certainty. Determining reserves for pending litigation is a
complex, fact-intensive process that requires significant legal
judgment. It is possible that unfavorable outcomes in one or more
such proceedings could result in substantial payments that could
adversely affect our business, consolidated financial position,
results of operations, or cash flows in a particular
period.
We cannot be sure that our intellectual property and proprietary
information is protected from all forms of copying or use by
others, including potential competitors.
Our websites and mobile applications rely on content, brands,
trademarks, domain names and technology, much of which is
proprietary. We establish and protect our intellectual property by
relying on a combination of trademark, domain name, copyright,
trade secret and patent laws in the U.S. and other jurisdictions,
license and confidentiality agreements, and internal policies and
procedures. In connection with our license agreements with third
parties, we seek to control access to, and the use and distribution
of, our proprietary information and intellectual property. Even
with these precautions, however, third parties may copy or
otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property or confusingly
similar trademarks or domain names without our authorization or to
develop similar intellectual property independently. Effective
trademark, domain name, copyright, patent and trade secret
protection may not be available in every jurisdiction in which our
services are available and policing unauthorized use of our
intellectual property is difficult and expensive. We cannot be sure
that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation or
infringement of intellectual property. Any misappropriation or
violation of our rights could have a material adverse effect on our
business. Furthermore, we may need to go to court or other
tribunals to enforce our intellectual property rights, to protect
our trade secrets or to determine the validity and scope of the
proprietary rights of others. These proceedings might result in
substantial costs and diversion of resources and management
attention.
We currently license from third parties some of the technologies,
content, and brands incorporated into our websites. We
also license content from suppliers for our creative campaigns. As
we continue to build our creative production work and introduce new
services that incorporate new technologies, content and brands, we
may be required to license additional technology, content, and
brands. We cannot be sure that such technology, content and brand
licenses will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at
all. We also cannot be sure that content obtained from suppliers
won’t be subject to intellectual property infringement claims by a
third party.
Technology, Information Protection and Privacy Risks
We rely on information technology to operate our businesses and
maintain our competitiveness, and if we fail to adequately maintain
or improve our information technology systems, or to adapt them to
technological developments and industry trends, our business and
operations could be adversely affected.
We depend on the use of sophisticated information technologies and
systems in many areas of our business including technology and
systems used for website and mobile applications, reservations,
customer service, supplier connectivity, marketing, communications,
procurement, payments, tax collection and remittance, fraud
detection and administration, which we must continuously improve
and upgrade.
Our future success also depends on our ability to adapt our
services and infrastructure to meet rapidly evolving consumer
trends and demands while continuing to improve the performance,
features and reliability of our service in response to competitive
service and product offerings. Cloud computing, the continued
growth of alternative platforms and mobile computing devices, the
emergence of niche competitors who may be able to optimize
products, services or strategies that use cloud computing or for
such platforms, as well as other technological changes, including
new devices, services and home assistants, and developing
technologies, have, and will continue to require, new and costly
investments. Transitioning to these new technologies may be
disruptive to resources and the services we provide, and may
increase our reliance on third party service
providers.
We have been engaged in a multi-year effort to migrate products,
data storage and processing, key portions of our consumer and
affiliate sites, as well as back-office application functionality,
to new technology platforms and significantly increase our
utilization of public cloud computing services, such as
Amazon Web Services (“AWS”),
to enable us to improve conversion, innovate more rapidly, achieve
better search engine optimization and improve our site
merchandising and transaction processing capabilities, among other
anticipated benefits. Implementations and system enhancements such
as these have been in the past, and may continue to be in the
future, more time consuming and expensive than originally
anticipated, and the resources devoted to those efforts have in the
past adversely affected, and may in the future adversely affect,
our ability to develop new site features. We may be unable to
successfully migrate and improve our technology as planned or we
may not achieve the expected benefits from any such initiatives,
and as a result our business, including customer relationships,
reputation and operations, could be materially adversely
affected.
System interruption, security breaches and unplanned outages in our
information systems may harm our businesses.
The risk of a cybersecurity-related attack by criminal
organizations, hacktivists, foreign governments, and terrorists, is
persistent. Due to the size and scale of our technology
infrastructure and overall operations, vulnerabilities present
within our systems may result in unauthorized access to
confidential data including our own proprietary data, that of our
partners or the personal data of our customers, including payment
data. In addition, given the nature of our operations, consumer
personal and payment data may also be accessed inappropriately
within partner systems should those partners also experience a
breach.
In addition, we continue to encounter attempted external attacks in
a variety of forms, including ransomware, account takeovers,
phishing, and denial of service attacks. As these continue, there
is a risk that successful attacks may cause a significant
cybersecurity incident which impacts our critical operations.
Successful attacks have the potential to damage our reputation,
increase costs, and result in regulatory scrutiny or
fines.
As we continue to migrate legacy systems to newer information
technology systems, we increase the risk of system interruptions.
We have experienced and may in the future experience system
interruptions that make some or all of these systems unavailable or
prevent us from efficiently fulfilling orders or providing services
to third parties. Significant interruptions, outages or delays in
our internal systems, or systems of third parties that we rely upon
- including multiple co-location providers for data centers, cloud
computing providers for application hosting, and network access
providers - and network access, or deterioration in the performance
of such systems, would impair our ability to process transactions,
decrease our quality of service that we can offer to our customers,
damage our reputation and brands, increase our costs and/or cause
losses. We also face risks related to our ability to maintain data
and hardware security with respect to remote working.
No assurance can be given that our backup systems or contingency
plans will sustain critical aspects of our operations or business
processes in all circumstances. Although we have put measures in
place to protect certain portions of our facilities
and
assets, any of these events could cause system interruption, delays
and loss of critical data, and could prevent us from providing
services to our travelers and/or third parties for a significant
period of time.
In addition, as a result of our migration of key portions of our
platform functionality to AWS, we now depend on the availability of
AWS’s services and any incident affecting AWS’s infrastructure and
availability, which have occurred a number of times in the recent
past, could adversely affect the availability of our platform and
our ability to serve our customers, which could in turn damage our
reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to
liability, result in substantial costs for remediation, cause us to
lose customers, or otherwise harm our business, financial
condition, or results of operations. We may also incur significant
costs for using alternative hosting sources or taking other actions
in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that compromise the
AWS services we use.
We process, store and use customer, supplier and employee personal,
financial and other data, which subjects us to risks stemming from
possible failure to comply with governmental regulation and other
legal obligations, as well as litigation and reputational risks
associated with the failure to protect such data from unauthorized
use, theft or destruction.
There are numerous laws regarding the storing, sharing, use,
processing, disclosure and protection of customer and employee
personal, financial, and other data, the scope of which is
changing, subject to differing interpretations, and may be
inconsistent between countries or conflict with other rules. We
strive to comply with all applicable laws, policies, legal
obligations, and industry codes of conduct relating to privacy and
data protection. It is possible, however, that these obligations
may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent
from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules
or the practices of our businesses.
Any failure or perceived failure by us, or our service providers,
to comply with, privacy-related legal obligations or any compromise
of security that results in the unauthorized use, theft, or
destruction of such data, may result in a material loss of revenues
from the potential adverse impact to our reputation and brand, our
ability to retain customers or attract new customers, and the
potential disruption to our business and plans. The risk of a data
incident due to cybersecurity-related privacy event remains
persistent.
In addition, such an event could result in violations of applicable
U.S. and international laws, governmental enforcement actions and
consumer or securities litigation.
We are subject to privacy regulations, and compliance with these
regulations could impose significant compliance
burdens.
The regulatory framework for privacy issues worldwide is currently
in flux and is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Practices regarding the collection, use, storage, transmission and
security of personal information by companies operating over the
internet have recently come under increased public scrutiny.
Several U.S. states, including California, have passed
comprehensive privacy legislation or are considering privacy
legislation. In addition, the General Data Protection Regulation,
or GDPR, that went into effect in the European Union in May 2018,
requires companies to implement and remain compliant with
regulations regarding the handling of personal data. Enforcement of
GDPR regulations, and fines for non-compliance, continue to
increase and a significant number of additional jurisdictions are
expected to enact similar privacy regulations in the future. As
additional jurisdictions enact privacy regulations and laws, we
will experience increased compliance costs and uncertainty as to
how such laws will be interpreted. Although we have invested, and
expect to continue to invest, significant resources to comply with
the GDPR and other privacy laws and regulations, the number and
variety of regulations combined with our multi-product,
multi-brand, global businesses, could nevertheless result in
compliance failures. Failure to meet any of the requirements of
these laws and regulations could result in significant penalties or
legal liability, adverse publicity and/or damage to our reputation,
which could negatively affect our business, results of operations
and financial condition.
Environmental, Social and Governance Risks
Mr. Diller may be deemed to beneficially own shares representing
approximately 27% of the outstanding voting power of Expedia
Group.
As of December 31, 2022, Mr. Diller may be deemed to have
beneficially owned 100% of Expedia Group’s outstanding Class B
common stock, representing approximately 27% of the total voting
power of all shares of Expedia Group common stock and Class B
common stock outstanding. In the future, Mr. Diller’s ownership
percentage in Expedia Group could increase if he acquires
additional shares of Expedia Group common stock in open market
purchases or otherwise, or if Expedia Group repurchases shares of
its common stock.
Mr. Diller is also currently the Chairman of Expedia Group’s Board
of Directors and Senior Executive of Expedia Group. Expedia Group’s
amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the
Chairman of the Board may only be removed without cause by the
affirmative vote of at least 80% of the entire Board of Directors,
which provision may not be
amended, altered changed or repealed, or any provision inconsistent
therewith adopted, without the approval of at least (1) 80% of the
entire Board of Directors and (2) 80% of the voting power of
Expedia Group’s outstanding voting securities, voting together as a
single class.
As a result of Mr. Diller’s ownership interests and voting power,
Mr. Diller is in a position to influence, and potentially control,
significant corporate actions, including corporate transactions
such as mergers, business combinations or dispositions of assets.
Additionally, in the future, another holder of the Class B Shares
might have such a position of influence by virtue of ownership
interests in the Class B Shares. This concentrated ownership
position could discourage others from initiating any potential
merger, takeover or other change of control transaction that may
otherwise be beneficial to Expedia Group stockholders.
Actual or potential conflicts of interest may develop between
Expedia Group management and directors, on the one hand, and the
management and directors of IAC, on the other.
Mr. Diller serves as our Chairman of the Board of Directors and
Senior Executive, while retaining his role as Chairman of the Board
of Directors and Senior Executive of IAC/InterActiveCorp, or IAC.
Each of Ms. Clinton and Mr. von Furstenberg also serves as a member
of the Board of Directors of both Expedia Group and IAC. These
overlapping relationships could create, or appear to create,
potential conflicts of interest for the directors or officers when
facing decisions that may affect both IAC and Expedia Group. Mr.
Diller in particular may also face conflicts of interest with
regard to the allocation of his time between the
companies.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that
no officer or director of Expedia Group who is also an officer or
director of IAC will be liable to Expedia Group or its stockholders
for breach of any fiduciary duty by reason of the fact that any
such individual directs a corporate opportunity to IAC instead of
Expedia Group, or does not communicate information regarding a
corporate opportunity to Expedia Group because the officer or
director has directed the corporate opportunity to IAC. This
corporate opportunity provision may have the effect of exacerbating
the risk of conflicts of interest between the companies because the
provision effectively shields an overlapping director/executive
officer from liability for breach of fiduciary duty in the event
that such director or officer chooses to direct a corporate
opportunity to IAC instead of Expedia Group.
Increased focus on our environmental, social, and governance
("ESG") responsibilities have and will likely continue to result in
additional costs and risks, and may adversely impact our
reputation, employee retention, and willingness of customers and
partners to do business with us.
Institutional, individual, and other investors, proxy advisory
services, regulatory authorities, consumers, employees and other
stakeholders are increasingly focused on ESG practices of
companies, including climate change, diversity, equity and
inclusion, human capital management, data privacy and security,
supply chains (including human rights issues), among other topics.
These evolving stakeholder expectations and our efforts and ability
to respond to and manage these issues, provide updates on them, and
establish and meet appropriate goals, commitments, and targets
present numerous operational, regulatory, reputational, financial,
legal, and other risks and impacts, any of which may be outside of
our control or could have a material adverse impact on our
business, including on our reputation and stock price. Our efforts
in this area may result in a significant increase in costs and may
nevertheless not meet investor or other stakeholder expectations
and evolving standards or regulatory requirements, which may
negatively impact our financial results, our reputation, our
ability to attract or retain employees, our attractiveness as a
service provider, investment, or business partner, or expose us to
government enforcement actions, private litigation, and actions by
stockholders or stakeholders.
Climate change may have an adverse impact on our
business.
Our businesses may also be negatively impacted by direct and
indirect impacts of climate change. Direct impacts may include
disruptions to travel and to our operations due to more frequent or
severe storms, hurricanes, flooding, rising sea levels, shortages
of water, droughts and wildfires. Indirect impacts may include a
significant shift in consumer preferences, which we may not
successfully adapt to, or the general harm to our business as a
result of a general perception of travel as an environmental harm.
These and other climate change related impacts could have a
significant adverse impact on our business in both the short,
medium and long term. Further, there is uncertainty around the
accounting standards and climate-related disclosures associated
with emerging laws and reporting requirements and the related costs
to comply with the emerging regulations could be
significant.
Risks Related to Ownership of our Stock
Our stock price is highly volatile.
The market price of our common stock is highly volatile and could
continue to be subject to wide fluctuations in response to, among
other risks, the risks described in this Item 1A, as well
as:
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Quarterly variations in our operating and financial results as well
as that of our peer companies; |
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Operating and financial results that vary from the expectations of
securities analysts and investors, including failure to deliver
returns on investments or key initiatives; |
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Changes in our capital or governance structure; |
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Repurchases of our common stock; |
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Changes in the stock price or market valuations of trivago, our
majority-owned, publicly traded subsidiary, whose stock price is
also highly volatile; |
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Changes in device and platform technologies and search industry
dynamics, such as key word pricing and traffic, or other changes
that negatively affect our ability to generate traffic to our
websites; |
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Announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts,
acquisitions, divestitures, strategic partnerships, joint ventures
or capital commitments as well as technological innovations, new
services or promotional and discounting activities; |
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Dilution resulting from any conversion of our convertible debt into
common stock; |
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Loss of a major travel supplier, such as an airline, hotel or car
rental chain; |
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Lack of success in our efforts to increase our market share;
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Price and volume fluctuations in the stock markets in
general. |
Volatility in our stock price could also make us less attractive to
certain investors, and/or invite speculative trading in our common
stock or debt instruments.
Part I. Item 1B. Unresolved
Staff Comments
None.
Part I. Item 2. Properties
We own our corporate headquarters located in Seattle, Washington,
which is approximately 650,000 square feet of office
space.
In addition, we lease approximately 2.3 million square feet of
office space worldwide in various cities and locations, pursuant to
leases with expiration dates through May 2038, of which
approximately 865,000 square feet is leased for domestic operations
and 1.4 million for international operations.
Part I. Item 3. Legal
Proceedings
In the ordinary course of business, Expedia Group and its
subsidiaries are parties to legal proceedings and claims involving
property, personal injury, contract, alleged infringement of
third-party intellectual property rights and other statutory and
common law claims. The amounts that may be recovered in such
matters may be subject to insurance coverage.
Rules of the SEC require the description of material pending legal
proceedings, other than ordinary, routine litigation incident to
the registrant’s business, and advise that proceedings ordinarily
need not be described if they primarily involve damages claims for
amounts (exclusive of interest and costs) not individually
exceeding 10% of the current assets of the registrant and its
subsidiaries on a consolidated basis. In the judgment of
management, none of the pending litigation matters that the Company
and its subsidiaries are defending, including those described
below, involves or is likely to involve amounts of that magnitude.
The litigation matters described below involve issues or claims
that may be of particular interest to our stockholders, regardless
of whether any of these matters may be material to our financial
position or results of operations based upon the standard set forth
in the SEC’s rules.
Litigation Relating to Occupancy and Other Taxes
A number of jurisdictions in the United States have filed lawsuits
against online travel companies, including Expedia Group companies
such as Hotels.com, Expedia, Hotwire, Orbitz and HomeAway, claiming
that such travel companies have failed to collect and/or pay taxes
(e.g., occupancy taxes, business privilege taxes, excise taxes,
sales taxes, etc.), as well as related claims such as unjust
enrichment, restitution, conversion and violation of consumer
protection statutes, and seeking monetary (including tax, interest,
and penalties), injunctive and/or declaratory relief. In addition,
we may file complaints
contesting tax assessments made by states, counties and
municipalities seeking to obligate online travel companies,
including certain Expedia Group companies, to collect and remit
certain taxes, either retroactively or prospectively, or both.
Moreover, certain jurisdictions may require us to pay tax
assessments prior to contesting any such assessments. This
requirement is commonly referred to as “pay-to-play.” Payment of
these amounts is not an admission that we believe we are subject to
such taxes and, even when such payments are made, we continue to
defend our position vigorously.
Actions Filed by Individual States, Cities and
Counties
Pine Bluff, Arkansas Litigation.
In September 2009, Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission
and Jefferson County filed a putative class action against a number
of online travel companies, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire
and Orbitz, alleging that defendants failed to collect and/or pay
taxes under hotel tax occupancy ordinances. In February 2018, the
trial court granted plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and
denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment on the issue of tax
liability. The matter is currently pending in the trial court on
damages issues.
State of Mississippi Litigation.
In December 2011, the State of Mississippi brought suit against a
number of online travel companies, including Expedia, Hotels.com,
Hotwire and Orbitz, for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief,
violations of the state sales tax statute and local ordinances,
violation of Consumer Protection Act (subsequently dismissed),
conversion, unjust enrichment, constructive trust, money had and
received and joint venture liability. In October 2018, the trial
court granted the State of Mississippi’s motion for summary
judgment on the issue of liability, after which the case proceeded
to a damages phase in the trial court. In a July 12, 2021 final
judgment, the trial court found the defendant online travel
companies liable for state and local sales taxes and interest and
also held the defendants liable for penalties. An appeal of the
final judgment to the Mississippi Supreme Court remains
pending.
Arizona Cities Litigation.
Tax assessments were issued in 2013 by 12 Arizona cities against a
group of online travel companies including Expedia, Hotels.com,
Hotwire and Orbitz. The online travel companies protested and
petitioned for redetermination of the assessments. On May 28, 2014,
the Municipal Tax Hearing Officer granted the online travel
companies' protests and ordered the cities to abate the
assessments. The cities appealed to the Arizona Tax Court, which
granted the cities' motion for summary judgment in part and denied
it in part in April 2016. The matter is currently pending in the
Arizona Tax Court on damages issues. The parties filed cross
motions for summary judgment on damages issues in 2020. On December
17, 2021, the Tax Court granted the parties’ motions in part and
denied the parties’ motions in part. On January 3, 2022, plaintiffs
filed a motion to reconsider a portion of the December 17, 2021
ruling, which the Tax Court granted on March 1, 2022. The parties
reached a settlement of all claims with the exception of those
brought by the city of Tucson and, on July 25, 2022, the court
dismissed those claims, thereby ending the matter as to those
claims. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment on the
city of Tucson’s claims and, on November 16, 2022, the Tax Court
found in favor of the city of Tucson. The Tax Court issued a final
judgment on January 18, 2023, and the Expedia Defendants filed a
notice of appeal from that judgment on January 30, 2023. That
appeal is pending.
State of Louisiana/City of New Orleans Litigation.
In August 2016, the State of Louisiana Department of Revenue and
the city of New Orleans filed a lawsuit in Louisiana state court
against a number of online travel companies, including Expedia,
Hotels.com, Hotwire, Orbitz and Egencia. The complaint alleges
claims for declaratory judgment, violation of state and city tax
laws, unfair trade practices, breach of fiduciary duty, and
imposition of a constructive trust. On January 26, 2022, the
defendants filed a motion to reconsider the court’s prior denial of
their motion for summary judgment and motion for judgment on the
pleadings based on the recent decision by the Louisiana court of
appeals in the Jefferson Parrish litigation. The court granted that
motion in part, and denied it in part, on March 3, 2022. Trial in
the case began on April 5 and concluded on April 13, 2022. On May
19, 2022, the trial court announced its decision in favor of the
Expedia defendants, holding that they had no tax liability to the
plaintiffs. The plaintiffs have filed notices of appeal and their
appeal remains pending.
Clark County, Nevada Litigation.
On May 14, 2021, Clark County, Nevada filed a lawsuit in state
court against a number of online travel companies, including a
number of Expedia Group companies such as Expedia, Hotels.com,
Orbitz, Travelscape, and Hotwire. The complaint alleges the
defendants failed to comply with state and local transient
occupancy tax statutes, as well as claims for conversion, breach of
fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, fraud and violation of the
Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Plaintiffs purport to seek
compensatory and punitive damages, declaratory relief and
imposition of a constructive trust. The case was removed to federal
district court. On September 13, 2021, defendants filed a motion to
dismiss the common law and Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act
claims. On August 12, 2022, the district court dismissed the Nevada
Deceptive Trade Practice Claim but denied the motion to dismiss the
common law claims. On May 16, 2022, defendants filed a motion for
summary judgment as to all claims, which remains
pending.
In addition, HomeAway is a party in the following
proceedings:
Jasper County Development District #1, Texas Litigation.
On August 17, 2020, Jasper County Development District # 1 filed a
lawsuit in Texas state court against Expedia and HomeAway. The
complaint alleges claims for declaratory judgment, damages and an
accounting. The parties have reached a tentative settlement
agreement.
City of Charleston, South Carolina Litigation.
On April 9, 2021, nine local governmental entities in South
Carolina filed a lawsuit in state circuit court against
HomeAway.com, Inc. and many other vacation rental listing
companies. The complaint alleges the defendants failed to register
with, and remit taxes and business license fees to, the plaintiffs
as allegedly required by certain local accommodations tax and
business license ordinances. The complaint further alleges claims
for violation of the South Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Plaintiffs purport to seek declaratory and injunctive relief, a
legal accounting and damages. On May 27, 2021, plaintiffs filed an
amended complaint adding five additional local government entities
as plaintiffs. On September 24, 2021, plaintiffs filed a motion for
leave to file a second amended complaint seeking to add, among
other things, two additional local government entities as
plaintiffs (which would bring the total number of plaintiffs to
16). The court granted that motion on March 25, 2022. On August 15,
2022, HomeAway.com, Inc. filed a motion to dismiss the South
Carolina Unfair Trade Practices Act, contractual undertaking,
declaratory relief and injunctive relief causes of action and
answered the remaining causes of action. The court has scheduled
argument on HomeAway.com, Inc.'s and other defendants' motions to
dismiss for February 14, 2023.
Notices of Audit or Tax Assessments
At various times, the Company has also received notices of audit or
tax assessments from states, counties, municipalities and other
local taxing jurisdictions concerning its possible obligations with
respect to state and local taxes (e.g. occupancy taxes, business
privilege taxes, excise taxes, sales taxes, etc.).
Non-Tax Litigation and Other Legal Proceedings
Putative Class Action Litigation
Israeli Putative Class Action Lawsuit (Silis).
In or around September 2016, a putative class action lawsuit was
filed in the District Court in Tel Aviv, Israel against Hotels.com.
The plaintiff generally alleges that Hotels.com violated Israeli
consumer protection laws in various ways by failing to calculate
and display VAT charges in pricing displays shown to Israeli
consumers.
The plaintiff has filed a motion for class certification which
Hotels.com has opposed. In January 2023, the parties agreed to a
settlement in principle.
Israeli Putative Class Action Lawsuit (Ze’ev).
In or around January 2018, a putative class action lawsuit was
filed in the District Court in Lod, Israel against a number of
online travel companies including Expedia, Inc. and Hotels.com. The
plaintiff generally alleges that the defendants violated Israeli
consumer laws by limiting hotel price competition. The plaintiff
has filed a motion for class certification which defendants have
opposed.
Other Legal Proceedings
Helms-Burton Litigation.
A number of complaints have been filed by parties alleging
violations of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic
Solidarity Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act. On August 18,
2022, the Third Circuit affirmed the dismissal of plaintiff’s claim
in the
Glen
action, thereby ending that matter. On November 11, 2022, the
Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim in
the
Del Valle
matter. Currently, five cases are pending in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of Florida and two cases are
pending in the District of Delaware.
Paris City Hall Litigation.
On January 28, 2021, Paris City Hall filed an action against
HomeAway UK Ltd. (“HomeAway UK”) alleging that HomeAway UK had
failed to comply with regulations relating to the sharing of
supplier booking data in 2019 and 2020. A hearing on the matter was
held on March 30, 2022. On
November 30, 2022, the court ruled in Homeaway UK’s favor
dismissing all claims. On January 12, 2023, Paris City Hall
appealed the decision. That appeal remains pending.
Competition and Consumer Matters
Over the last several years, the online travel industry has become
the subject of investigations by various national competition
authorities (“NCAs”), particularly in Europe.
Matters Relating to Contractual Provisions with Accommodations
Providers
Expedia Group companies are or have been involved in a number of
investigations by NCAs predominately related to whether certain
parity clauses in contracts between Expedia Group entities and
accommodation providers (sometimes also referred to as “most
favored nation” or “MFN” provisions) are
anti-competitive.
In 2015, Expedia Group companies voluntarily waived certain rate,
conditions and availability parity clauses in agreements with
European hotel partners, resulting in most NCAs in Europe closing
their investigations. However, certain related matters remain
ongoing, including cases brought by the German Federal Cartel
Office.
Legislative bodies in France, Austria, Italy, Belgium and Portugal
have also adopted domestic anti-parity clause legislation, which we
believe in each case violates both EU and national legal
principles.
In December 2022, Switzerland also passed legislation taking action
on price parity in Switzerland.
A number of NCAs outside of Europe have also opened investigations
or inquired about contractual parity provisions in contracts
between hotels and online travel companies in their respective
territories, including Expedia Group companies. In certain of these
jurisdictions, including Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, South Korea,
Japan and New Zealand, the concerns were resolved with Expedia
Group companies’ waiver of certain rate, conditions and
availability parity clauses in agreements with hotel partners in
the respective jurisdictions.
Matters Relating to Online Marketplaces
Regulatory authorities in Europe (including the UK Competition and
Markets Authority, or “CMA”), Australia, and elsewhere have also
undertaken market studies, inquiries or investigations relating to
the presentation of information on certain of our UK and European
Union consumer-facing websites. We have agreed to offer certain
voluntary undertakings in order to address the regulatory
authorities' concerns.
We are cooperating with regulators in the investigations described
above where applicable, but we are unable to predict what, if any,
effect such actions will have on our business, industry practices
or online commerce more generally.
Part I. Item 4. Mine
Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Part II. Item 5. Market
for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
Our common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under
the ticker symbol “EXPE.” Our Class B common stock is not
listed and there is no established public trading market. As of
January 27, 2023, there were approximately 2,444 holders of
record of our common stock and the closing price of our common
stock was $116.18 on Nasdaq. As of January 27, 2023, all of
our Class B common stock was held by Mr. Diller, Chairman and
Senior Executive of Expedia Group and the Diller Foundation d/b/a
The Diller - von Furstenberg Family Foundation.
Dividend Policy
During 2022 and 2021, we continued the suspension of our quarterly
common stock dividends. During 2021, we paid $67 million (or
$74.96 per share of Series A Preferred Stock) of dividends on the
Series A Preferred Stock.
At this time, we do not currently expect to declare dividends on
our common stock. Declaration and payment of future dividends, if
any, is at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend
on, among other things, our results of operations, cash
requirements and surplus, financial condition, share dilution
management, legal risks, tax policies, capital requirements
relating to research and development, investments and acquisitions,
challenges to our business model and other factors that the Board
of Directors may deem relevant. In addition, our credit agreements
limit our ability to pay cash dividends under certain
circumstances.
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
During the quarter ended December 31, 2022, we did not issue
or sell any shares of our common stock or other equity securities
pursuant to unregistered transactions in reliance upon an exemption
from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
In April 2018, the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee,
pursuant to a delegation of authority from the Board, authorized a
repurchase of up to 15 million outstanding shares of our common
stock, and in December 2019, authorized a repurchase of up to 20
million shares of our common stock. A summary of the repurchase
activity for the fourth quarter of 2022 is as follows:
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|
Period |
|
Total Number of
Shares Purchased |
|
Average Price
Paid Per Share |
|
Total Number of
Shares
Purchased as
Part of Publicly
Announced
Plans or
Programs |
|
Maximum
Number of
Shares that
May Yet Be
Purchased
Under Plans or
Programs |
|
|
(In thousands, expect per share data) |
October 1-31, 2022 |
|
495 |
|
|
$ |
95.65 |
|
|
|
495 |
|
|
21,276 |
|
November 1-30, 2022 |
|
1,223 |
|
|
|
97.54 |
|
|
|
1,223 |
|
|
|
20,053 |
|
December 1-31, 2022 |
|
1,959 |
|
|
|
92.20 |
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|
|
1,959 |
|
|
|
18,094 |
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Total |
|
3,677 |
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3,677 |
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Performance Comparison Graph
The graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total return,
calculated on a dividend reinvested basis, for Expedia Group common
stock, the NASDAQ Composite Index, the RDG (Research Data Group)
Internet Composite Index and the S&P 500. The graph assumes an
investment of $100 in each of the above on December 31, 2017.
The stock price performance shown in the graph is not necessarily
indicative of future price performance.
Part II. Item 6.
Reserved
Part II. Item 7. Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations
Overview
Expedia Group's mission is to power global travel for everyone,
everywhere. We believe travel is a force for good. Travel is an
essential human experience that strengthens connections, broadens
horizons and bridges divides. We help reduce the barriers to
travel, making it easier, more enjoyable, more attainable and more
accessible. We bring the world within reach for customers and
partners around the globe. We leverage our supply portfolio,
platform and technology capabilities across an extensive portfolio
of consumer brands, and provide solutions to our business partners,
to empower travelers to efficiently research, plan, book and
experience travel. We make available, on a stand-alone and package
basis, travel services provided by numerous lodging properties,
airlines, car rental companies, activities and experiences
providers, cruise lines, alternative accommodations property owners
and managers, and other travel product and service companies. We
also offer travel and non-travel advertisers access to a potential
source of incremental traffic and transactions through our various
media and advertising offerings on our websites. For additional
information about our portfolio of brands, see the disclosure set
forth in Part I, Item 1, Business, under the caption
“Market Opportunity and Business Strategy.”
This section of this Form 10-K generally discusses the years ended
December 31, 2022 and 2021 items and year over year
comparisons between 2022 and 2021. Discussions of the year ended
December 31, 2020 items and the year over year comparisons
between 2021 and 2020 that are not included in this Form 10-K can
be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2021. All percentages within this section are
calculated on actual, unrounded numbers.
Trends
The COVID-19 pandemic, and measures to contain the virus, including
government travel restrictions and quarantine orders, had an
unprecedented impact on the global travel industry and materially
and negatively impacted our business, financial results and
financial condition. With the evolution of milder COVID-19
variants, availability of multiple vaccine booster doses and
increasing familiarity with the virus, many COVID-19 related travel
restrictions have been lifted, and countries around the world
reopened their borders for foreign travel.
However, we note that the recovery has been uneven, with different
regions experiencing different rates of recovery. Despite positive
developments, the full duration and total impact of COVID-19
remains uncertain, and therefore it is difficult to predict any
future impact on the travel industry and, in particular, our
business.
More recently, inflation and other macroeconomic pressures in the
U.S. and the global economy, such as rising interest rates,
appreciation of the dollar, energy price volatility and
inflationary pressures, have contributed to an increasingly complex
macroeconomic environment. Our future operational results may be
subject to volatility, particularly in the short-term, due to the
impact of the aforementioned trends. Broad, sustained negative
economic impacts could put strain on our suppliers, business and
service partners, which increases the risk of credit losses and
service level or other disruptions.
Additionally, further health-related events, political instability,
geopolitical conflicts, acts of terrorism, significant fluctuations
in currency values, sustained levels of increased inflation,
sovereign debt issues, and natural disasters, are examples of other
events that could have a negative impact on the travel industry in
the future.
Despite these factors, we have witnessed a healthy recovery of
travel demand, which remains strong and is attributable to factors
including pent-up demand from the COVID-19 pandemic, and consumers
prioritizing spend on travel and experiences over other
discretionary spending.
We have also executed cost savings initiatives aimed at simplifying
the organization and increasing efficiency, achieving by 2021
forward annualized run-rate fixed cost savings of $700 to $750
million compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 exit rate, as well
as greater than $200 million in variable costs savings, at 2019
volume levels. We also believe we have improved our marketing
efficiency and continue to evaluate additional opportunities to
increase efficiency and improve operational effectiveness across
the Company. As a result of these initiatives, and a near full
recovery in travel bookings, we have experienced increases in
Adjusted EBITDA margins, profitability and operating cash flows in
excess of historic levels.
For additional information about our business strategy for Expedia
Group, see the disclosure set forth in Part I. Item 1. Business,
under the caption “Market Opportunity and Business
Strategy.”
Online Travel
Increased usage and familiarity with the internet have continued to
drive rapid growth in online penetration of travel expenditures.
Online penetration is higher in the U.S. and Western European
markets with online penetration rates in some emerging markets,
such as Latin America and Eastern European regions, lagging behind
those regions. Emerging market online penetration rates increased
through the COVID-19 pandemic, and are expected to continue
growing, which presents an attractive growth opportunity for our
business, while also attracting many competitors to online travel.
This competition
intensified in recent years, and the industry is expected to remain
highly competitive for the foreseeable future. In addition to the
growth of online travel agencies, we have seen increased interest
in the online travel industry from search engine companies such as
Google, evidenced by continued product enhancements, and
prioritizing its own AdWords and metasearch products such as,
Google Hotel Ads and Google Flights, in search results. Competitive
entrants such as “metasearch” companies, including Kayak.com (owned
by Booking Holdings), trivago (in which Expedia Group owns a
majority interest) as well as TripAdvisor, introduced
differentiated features, pricing and content compared with the
legacy online travel agency companies, as well as various forms of
direct or assisted booking tools. Further, airlines and lodging
companies are aggressively pursuing direct online distribution of
their products and services. In addition, the increasing popularity
of the “sharing economy,” accelerated by online penetration, has
had a direct impact on the travel and lodging industry. Businesses
such as Airbnb, Vrbo and Booking.com have emerged as the leaders,
bringing incremental alternative accommodation and vacation rental
inventory to the market. Other competitors have arisen, including
vacation rental property managers such as Vacasa, who operate their
own booking sites in addition to listing on Airbnb, Vrbo, and
Booking.com, and are expected to continue to grow as a percentage
of the global accommodation market. Additionally, traditional
consumer ecommerce players have expanded their local offerings by
adding hotel offers to their websites. Most recently, ride sharing
app Uber has added transportation and experience offerings to its
app via partnerships with other travel providers.
The online travel industry also saw the development of alternative
business models and variations in the timing of payment by
travelers and to suppliers, which in some cases place pressure on
historical business models. In particular, the agency hotel model
saw rapid adoption in Europe. Expedia Group facilitates both
merchant (Expedia Collect) and agency (Hotel Collect) hotel
offerings with our hotel supply partners through both agency-only
contracts as well as our hybrid ETP program, which offers travelers
the choice of whether to pay Expedia Group at the time of booking
or pay the hotel at the time of stay.
In 2022, we began evolving our strategy from being largely
transactionally focused, where we were primarily focused on
acquiring customers through performance channels, to building a
direct relationship with our customers by allocating more marketing
spend towards our loyalty programs, paid app downloads, and brand
awareness. While we maintain a large portfolio of consumer brands,
we put the majority of our marketing efforts towards our three core
consumer brands: Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo.
For more detail, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "We rely on
the value of our brands, and the costs of maintaining and enhancing
our brand awareness are increasing” and “Our international
operations involve additional risks and our exposure to these risks
will increase as our business expands globally.”
Lodging
Lodging includes both hotel and alternative accommodations. As a
percentage of our total worldwide revenue in 2022, lodging
accounted for 76%. As a result of the impact on travel demand from
the COVID-19 outbreak, room nights stayed grew 29% in 2022, as
compared to a growth of 35% in 2021 and a decline of 55% in 2020.
ADRs for rooms stayed for Expedia Group increased 3% in 2020,
increased 20% in 2021 and increased 7% in 2022. Over the last
couple of years, our lodging business saw a significant increase in
ADRs compared to pre-pandemic levels, which were driven by broader
industry trends, a mix shift to Vrbo and high ADR geographies. Vrbo
carries a higher ADR than hotels and has accounted for a higher
percentage of room nights due to the faster recovery and shift to
alternative accommodations during these periods.
As of December 31, 2022, our global lodging marketplace had
approximately 3 million lodging properties available,
including over 2 million online bookable alternative
accommodations listings through Vrbo and approximately 900,000
hotels and alternative accommodations through our other
brands.
Hotel.
We generate the majority of our revenue through the facilitation of
hotel reservations (stand-alone and package bookings). Our
relationships and overall economics with hotel supply partners have
been broadly stable in recent years. As we continue to expand the
breadth and depth of our global hotel offering, in some cases we
have reduced our economics in various geographies based on local
market conditions. These impacts are due to specific initiatives
intended to drive greater global size and scale through faster
overall room night growth. Additionally, increased promotional
activities such as growing loyalty programs, discounting, and
couponing have contributed to declines in revenue per room night
and profitability in certain cases.
Since our hotel supplier agreements are generally negotiated on a
percentage basis, any increase or decrease in ADRs has an impact on
the revenue we earn per room night. Strong pent-up demand and high
operating costs during 2022 drove a 14% increase in the U.S. hotel
industry ADRs versus 2019, according to Smith Travel Research
(STR). In the future, we could see macroeconomic factors influence
hotel ADR trends, including as the rising living costs due to
inflation and higher interest rates. Other factors that could lead
to moderating ADRs include growth in hotel supply and the increase
in alternative accommodation inventory. Further, while the global
lodging industry remains very fragmented, there has been
consolidation in the hotel space among chains as well as ownership
groups. In the meantime, certain hotel chains have been focusing on
driving direct bookings
on their own websites and mobile applications by advertising lower
rates than those available on third-party websites as well as
incentives such as loyalty programs, increased or exclusive product
availability and complimentary benefits.
Alternative Accommodations.
With our acquisition of Vrbo (previously HomeAway) and all of its
brands in December 2015, we expanded into the fast-growing
alternative accommodations market. Vrbo is a leader in this market,
specializing in unique whole home inventory, primarily in North
American leisure markets, and represents an attractive growth
opportunity for Expedia Group.
Vrbo has transitioned from a listings-based classified advertising
model to an online transactional model that optimizes for both
travelers and homeowner and property manager partners, with a goal
of increasing monetization and driving growth through investments
in marketing as well as in product and technology. Vrbo offers
hosts subscription-based listing or pay-per-booking service models.
It also generates revenue from a traveler service fee for
bookings.
Air
Similar to the rest of travel, the airlines experienced a surge in
pent-up demand, however they have been operating at reduced
capacity due to staffing shortages, supply chain disruptions, and
elevated fuel costs. In 2022, the reduced airline capacity and high
operating costs drove average U.S. domestic airfares up
approximately 10% compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to
Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC) data. While air bookings
improved in 2022 relative to 2021, our air business continues to
lag lodging bookings and remains below 2019 levels.
In addition, we could encounter pressure on air remuneration as air
carriers combine, certain supply agreements renew, and as we
continue to add airlines to ensure local coverage in new
markets.
Air ticket volumes increased 8% in 2022 and increased 43% during
2021, compared to a decline of 63% in 2020. As a percentage of our
total worldwide revenue in 2022, air accounted for 3%.
Advertising & Media
Our advertising and media business is principally driven by revenue
generated by trivago, a leading hotel metasearch website, and
Expedia Group Media Solutions, which is responsible for generating
advertising revenue on our global online travel brands. In 2022, we
generated $777 million of advertising and media revenue, a 29%
increase from 2021, representing 7% of our total worldwide
revenue.
Since the onset of COVID-19, online travel agencies, including
ourselves, have reduced marketing spend on trivago. In response,
trivago has reduced its own marketing spend and lowered operating
costs to preserve profitability. We expect trivago to continue to
experience revenue pressure going forward.
Seasonality
We generally experience seasonal fluctuations in the demand for our
travel services. For example, traditional leisure travel bookings
are generally the highest in the first three quarters as travelers
plan and book their spring, summer and winter holiday travel. The
number of bookings typically decreases in the fourth quarter. Since
revenue for most of our travel services, including merchant and
agency hotel, is recognized as the travel takes place rather than
when it is booked, revenue typically lags bookings by several weeks
for our hotel business and can be several months or more for our
alternative accommodations business. Historically, Vrbo has seen
seasonally stronger bookings in the first quarter of the year, with
the relevant stays occurring during the peak summer travel months.
The seasonal revenue impact is exacerbated with respect to income
by the nature of our variable cost of revenue and direct sales and
marketing costs, which we typically realize in closer alignment to
booking volumes, and the more stable nature of our fixed costs. As
a result on a consolidated basis, revenue and income are typically
the lowest in the first quarter and highest in the third
quarter.
The growth in our B2B segment, international operations,
advertising business or a change in our product mix, among others,
may also influence the typical trend of seasonality in the future.
Significantly higher cancellations and reduced booking volumes from
COVID-19 disrupted our typical seasonal pattern for bookings,
revenue, profit and cash flows from 2020 through early 2022, but
have generally returned to historic seasonality.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Critical accounting policies and estimates are those that we
believe are important in the preparation of our consolidated
financial statements because they require that we use judgment and
estimates in applying those policies. We prepare our consolidated
financial statements and accompanying notes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles in the United States
(“GAAP”). Preparation of the consolidated financial statements and
accompanying notes requires that we make estimates and assumptions
that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the
disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of
the consolidated financial statements as well as revenue and
expenses during the periods reported.
We base our estimates on historical experience, where applicable,
and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the
circumstances. Actual results may differ from our estimates under
different assumptions or conditions.
There are certain critical estimates that we believe require
significant judgment in the preparation of our consolidated
financial statements. We consider an accounting estimate to be
critical if:
•It
requires us to make an assumption because information was not
available at the time or it included matters that were highly
uncertain at the time we were making the estimate; and
•Changes
in the estimate or different estimates that we could have selected
may have had a material impact on our financial condition or
results of operations.
For more information on each of these policies, see
NOTE 2 — Significant Accounting Policies, in the notes to
consolidated financial statements. We discuss information about the
nature and rationale for our critical accounting estimates
below.
Accounting for Certain Merchant Revenue
We accrue the cost of certain merchant revenue based on the amount
we expect to be billed by suppliers. In certain instances when a
supplier invoices us for less than the cost we accrued, we
generally reduce our merchant accounts payable and the supplier
costs within net revenue six months in arrears, net of an
allowance, when we determine it is not probable that we will be
required to pay the supplier, based on historical experience.
Actual revenue could be greater or less than the amounts estimated
due to changes in hotel billing practices or changes in traveler
behavior.
Deferred Loyalty Rewards
We currently offer certain internally administered traveler loyalty
programs to our travelers, such as our Hotels.com Rewards program,
our Expedia Rewards program and our Orbitz Rewards program.
Hotels.com Rewards offers travelers one free night at any
Hotels.com partner property after that traveler stays 10 nights,
subject to certain restrictions. Expedia Rewards enables
participating travelers to earn points on all hotel, flight,
package and activities made on various Brand Expedia websites.
Orbitz Rewards allows travelers to earn Orbucks, the currency of
Orbitz Rewards, on flights, hotels and vacation packages and
instantly redeem those Orbucks on future bookings at various hotels
worldwide. In 2021, we announced plans to unify and expand our
existing loyalty programs into one global rewards platform called
"One Key" spanning all our main brands, which we expect to launch
in 2023. As travelers accumulate points towards free travel
products, we defer the relative standalone selling price of earned
points, net of expected breakage, as deferred loyalty rewards
within deferred merchant bookings on the consolidated balance
sheet. In order to estimate the standalone selling price of the
underlying services on which points can be redeemed for all loyalty
programs, we use an adjusted market assessment approach and
consider the redemption values expected from the traveler. We then
estimate the number of rewards that will not be redeemed based on
historical activity in our members' accounts as well as statistical
modeling techniques. Revenue is recognized when we have satisfied
our performance obligation relating to the points, that is when the
travel service purchased with the loyalty award is satisfied. Both
the actual standalone selling price of the underlying services and
ultimate redemption rates could differ materially from our
estimates due to a number of factors, including fluctuations in
reward value, product utilization and divergence from historical
member behavior.
Recoverability of Goodwill and Indefinite and Definite-Lived
Intangible Assets
Goodwill. We
assess goodwill for impairment annually as of October 1, or
more frequently, if events and circumstances indicate impairment
may have occurred. During 2020, as a result of the significant
turmoil related to COVID-19, we concluded that sufficient
indicators existed to require us to perform multiple interim
impairment assessments. In the evaluation of goodwill for
impairment, we typically perform a quantitative assessment and
compare the fair value of the reporting unit to the carrying value
and, if applicable, record an impairment charge based on the excess
of the reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value.
Periodically, we may choose to perform a qualitative assessment,
prior to performing the quantitative analysis, to determine whether
the fair value of the goodwill is more likely than not
impaired.
We generally base our measurement of fair value of reporting units,
except for trivago, which is a separately listed company on the
Nasdaq Global Select Market, on a blended analysis of the present
value of future discounted cash flows and market valuation approach
with the exception of our standalone publicly traded subsidiary,
which is based on market valuation. The discounted cash flows model
indicates the fair value of the reporting units based on the
present value of the cash flows that we expect the reporting units
to generate in the future. Our significant estimates in the
discounted cash flows model include: our weighted average cost of
capital; long-term rate of growth and profitability of our
business; and working capital effects. The market valuation
approach indicates the fair value of the business based on a
comparison of the Company to comparable publicly traded firms in
similar lines of business. Our significant estimates in the market
approach model include identifying
similar companies with comparable business factors such as size,
growth, profitability, risk and return on investment and assessing
comparable revenue and operating income multiples in estimating the
fair value of the reporting units. The fair value estimate for the
trivago reporting unit was based on trivago's stock price, a Level
1 input, adjusted for an estimated control premium.
We believe the weighted use of discounted cash flows and market
approach is the best method for determining the fair value of our
reporting units because these are the most common valuation
methodologies used within the travel and internet industries; and
the blended use of both models compensates for the inherent risks
associated with either model if used on a stand-alone
basis.
In addition to measuring the fair value of our reporting units as
described above, we consider the combined carrying and fair values
of our reporting units in relation to the Company’s total fair
value of equity plus debt as of the assessment date. Our equity
value assumes our fully diluted market capitalization, using either
the stock price on the valuation date or the average stock price
over a range of dates around the valuation date, plus an estimated
acquisition premium which is based on observable transactions of
comparable companies. The debt value is based on the highest value
expected to be paid to repurchase the debt, which can be fair
value, principal or principal plus a premium depending on the terms
of each debt instrument.
Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets. We
base our measurement of fair value of indefinite-lived intangible
assets, which primarily consist of trade name and trademarks, using
the relief-from-royalty method. This method assumes that the trade
name and trademarks have value to the extent that their owner is
relieved of the obligation to pay royalties for the benefits
received from them. This method requires us to estimate the future
revenue for the related brands, the appropriate royalty rate and
the weighted average cost of capital.
Definite-Lived Intangible Assets. We
review the carrying value of long-lived assets or asset groups to
be used in operations whenever events or changes in circumstances
indicate that the carrying amount of the assets might not be
recoverable. Factors that would necessitate an impairment
assessment include a significant adverse change in the extent or
manner in which an asset is used, a significant adverse change in
legal factors or the business climate that could affect the value
of the asset, or a significant decline in the observable market
value of an asset, among others. If such facts indicate a potential
impairment, we would assess the recoverability of an asset group by
determining if the carrying value of the asset group exceeds the
sum of the projected undiscounted cash flows expected to result
from the use and eventual disposition of the assets over the
remaining economic life of the primary asset in the asset group. If
the recoverability test indicates that the carrying value of the
asset group is not recoverable, we will estimate the fair value of
the asset group using appropriate valuation methodologies, which
would typically include an estimate of discounted cash flows. Any
impairment would be measured as the difference between the asset
groups carrying amount and its estimated fair value.
The use of different estimates or assumptions in determining the
fair value of our goodwill, indefinite-lived and definite-lived
intangible assets may result in different values for these assets,
which could result in an impairment or, in the period in which an
impairment is recognized, could result in a materially different
impairment charge.
For additional information on our goodwill and intangible asset
impairments recorded in 2022, 2021 and 2020, see NOTE 3 —
Fair Value Measurements in the notes to the consolidated financial
statements.
Income Taxes
We record income taxes under the liability method. Deferred tax
assets and liabilities reflect our estimation of the future tax
consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts
of assets and liabilities for book and tax purposes. We determine
deferred income taxes based on the differences in accounting
methods and timing between financial statement and income tax
reporting. Accordingly, we determine the deferred tax asset or
liability for each temporary difference based on the enacted tax
rates expected to be in effect when we realize the underlying items
of income and expense.
We consider many factors when assessing the likelihood of future
realization of our deferred tax assets, including our recent
earnings experience by jurisdiction, expectations of future taxable
income, and the carryforward periods available to us for tax
reporting purposes, as well as other relevant factors. We may
establish a valuation allowance to reduce deferred tax assets to
the amount we believe is more likely than not to be realized. Due
to inherent complexities arising from the nature of our businesses,
future changes in income tax law, tax sharing agreements or
variances between our actual and anticipated operating results, we
make certain judgments and estimates. Therefore, actual income
taxes could materially vary from these estimates. All deferred
income taxes are classified as long-term on our consolidated
balance sheets.
We account for uncertain tax positions based on a two-step process
of evaluating recognition and measurement criteria. The first step
assesses whether the tax position is more likely than not to be
sustained upon examination by the tax authority, including
resolution of any appeals or litigation, based on the technical
merits of the position. If the tax position meets the
more
likely than not criteria, the portion of the tax benefit greater
than 50% likely to be realized upon settlement with the tax
authority is recognized in the financial statements. The ultimate
resolution of these tax positions may be greater or less than the
liabilities recorded.
Other Long-Term Liabilities
Various Legal and Tax Contingencies. We
record liabilities to address potential exposures related to
business and tax positions we have taken that have been or could be
challenged by taxing authorities. In addition, we record
liabilities associated with legal proceedings and lawsuits. These
liabilities are recorded when the likelihood of payment is probable
and the amounts can be reasonably estimated. The determination for
required liabilities is based upon analysis of each individual tax
issue, or legal proceeding, taking into consideration the
likelihood of adverse judgments and the range of possible loss. In
addition, our analysis may be based on discussions with outside
legal counsel. The ultimate resolution of these potential tax
exposures and legal proceedings may be greater or less than the
liabilities recorded.
Occupancy and Other Taxes. Some
states and localities impose taxes (e.g. transient occupancy,
accommodation tax, sales tax and/or business privilege tax) on the
use or occupancy of hotel accommodations or other traveler
services. Generally, hotels collect taxes based on the rate paid to
the hotel and remit these taxes to the various tax authorities.
When a customer books a room through one of our travel services, we
collect a tax recovery charge from the customer which we pay to the
hotel. We calculate the tax recovery charge by applying the
applicable tax rate supplied to us by the hotels to the amount that
the hotel has agreed to receive for the rental of the room by the
consumer. In most jurisdictions, we do not collect or remit taxes,
nor do we pay taxes to the hotel operator, on the portion of the
customer payment we retain. Some jurisdictions have questioned our
practice in this regard. While the applicable tax provisions vary
among the jurisdictions, we generally believe that we are not
required to pay such taxes. A limited number of taxing
jurisdictions have made similar claims against certain of our
companies for tax amounts due on the rental amounts charged by
owners of alternative accommodations properties or for taxes on our
services. We are an intermediary between a traveler and a party
renting an alternative accommodations property and we believe are
similarly not liable for such taxes. We are engaged in
discussions with tax authorities in various jurisdictions to
resolve these issues. Some tax authorities have brought lawsuits or
have levied assessments asserting that we are required to collect
and remit tax. The ultimate resolution in all jurisdictions cannot
be determined at this time. Certain jurisdictions may require us to
pay tax assessments, including occupancy and other transactional
tax assessments, prior to contesting any such
assessments.
We have established a reserve for the potential settlement of
issues related to hotel occupancy and other tax litigation for
prior and current periods, consistent with applicable accounting
principles and in light of all current facts and circumstances. A
variety of factors could affect the amount of the liability (both
past and future), which factors include, but are not limited to,
the number of, and amount of revenue represented by, jurisdictions
that ultimately assert a claim and prevail in assessing such
additional tax or negotiate a settlement and changes in relevant
statutes.
We note that there are more than 10,000 taxing jurisdictions in the
United States, and it is not feasible to analyze the statutes,
regulations and judicial and administrative rulings in every
jurisdiction. Rather, we have obtained the advice of state and
local tax experts with respect to tax laws of certain states and
local jurisdictions that represent a large portion of our hotel
revenue. Many of the statutes and regulations that impose these
taxes were established before the emergence of the internet and
ecommerce. Certain jurisdictions have enacted, and others may
enact, legislation regarding the imposition of taxes on businesses
that facilitate the booking of hotel or alternative accommodations.
We continue to work with the relevant tax authorities and
legislators to clarify our obligations under new and emerging laws
and regulations. We will continue to monitor the issue closely and
provide additional disclosure, as well as adjust the level of
reserves, as developments warrant. Additionally, certain of our
businesses are involved in tax related litigation, which is
discussed in Part I, Item 3, Legal
Proceedings.
New Accounting Pronouncements
For a discussion of new accounting pronouncements, see
NOTE 2 — Significant Accounting Policies in the notes to
consolidated financial statements.
Occupancy and Other Taxes
We are currently involved in eight lawsuits brought by or against
states, cities and counties over issues involving the payment of
hotel occupancy and other taxes. We continue to defend these
lawsuits vigorously. With respect to the principal claims in these
matters, we believe that the statutes and/or ordinances at issue do
not apply to us or the services we provide, namely the facilitation
of travel planning and reservations, and, therefore, that we do not
owe the taxes that are claimed to be owed. We believe that the
statutes and ordinances at issue generally impose occupancy and
other taxes on entities that own, operate or control hotels (or
similar businesses) or furnish or provide hotel rooms or similar
accommodations.
For additional information and other recent developments on these
and other legal proceedings, see Part I, Item 3, Legal
Proceedings.
We have established a reserve for the potential settlement of
issues related to hotel occupancy and other tax litigation,
consistent with applicable accounting principles and in light of
all current facts and circumstances, in the amount of $44 million
as of December 31, 2022 and $50 million as of
December 31, 2021.
Certain jurisdictions, including without limitation the states of
New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode
Island, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts,
Arizona, Wisconsin, Idaho, Arkansas, Indiana, Maine, Nebraska,
Vermont, Mississippi, Virginia, the city of New York, and the
District of Columbia, have enacted legislation seeking to tax
online travel company services as part of sales or other taxes for
hotel and/or other accommodations and/or car rental. In addition,
in certain jurisdictions, we have entered into voluntary collection
agreements pursuant to which we have agreed to voluntarily collect
and remit taxes to state and/or local taxing jurisdictions. We are
currently remitting taxes to a number of jurisdictions, including
without limitation the states of New York, New Jersey, South
Carolina, North Carolina, Minnesota, Georgia, Wyoming, West
Virginia, Oregon, Rhode Island, Montana, Maryland, Kentucky, Maine,
Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, Arizona, Wisconsin,
Idaho, Arkansas, Indiana, Nebraska, Vermont, Colorado, Mississippi,
Virginia, the city of New York and the District of Columbia, as
well as certain other jurisdictions.
Pay-to-Play
Certain jurisdictions may assert that we are required to pay any
assessed taxes prior to being allowed to contest or litigate the
applicability of the ordinances. This prepayment of contested taxes
is referred to as “pay-to-play.” Payment of these amounts is not an
admission that we believe we are subject to such taxes and, even
when such payments are made, we continue to defend our position
vigorously. If we prevail in the litigation, for which a
pay-to-play payment was made, the jurisdiction collecting the
payment will be required to repay such amounts and also may be
required to pay interest. However, any significant pay-to-play
payment or litigation loss could negatively impact our
liquidity.
Other Jurisdictions.
We are also in various stages of inquiry or audit with various tax
authorities, some of which, including the City of Los Angeles
regarding hotel occupancy taxes, may impose a pay-to-play
requirement to challenge an adverse inquiry or audit result in
court.
Segments
We have the following reportable segments: Retail, B2B, and
trivago. Our Retail segment provides a full range of travel and
advertising services to our worldwide customers through a variety
of consumer brands including: Expedia.com and Hotels.com in the
United States and localized Expedia and Hotels.com websites
throughout the world, Vrbo, Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group,
ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com, and CarRentals.com. Our B2B
segment is comprised of Expedia Partner Solutions, which offers
private label and co-branded products to make travel services
available to travelers through third-party company branded
websites, and, through its sale in November 2021, Egencia, a
full-service travel management company that provided travel
services to businesses and their corporate customers. Our trivago
segment generates advertising revenue primarily from sending
referrals to online travel companies and travel service providers
from its hotel metasearch websites.
Operating Metrics
Our operating results are affected by certain metrics, such as
gross bookings and revenue margin, which we believe are necessary
for understanding and evaluating us. Gross bookings generally
represent the total retail value of transactions booked for agency
and merchant transactions, recorded at the time of booking
reflecting the total price due for travel by travelers, including
taxes, fees and other charges, and are reduced for cancellations
and refunds. Revenue margin is defined as revenue as a percentage
of gross bookings.
Gross Bookings and Revenue Margin
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|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Gross Bookings |
|
|
|
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|
|
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|
Gross bookings |
$ |
95,049 |
|
|
$ |
72,425 |
|
|
$ |
36,796 |
|
|
31 |
% |
|
97 |
% |
Revenue margin
(1)
|
12.3 |
% |
|
11.9 |
% |
|
14.1 |
% |
|
|
|
|
___________________________________
(1)trivago,
which is comprised of a hotel metasearch business that differs from
our transaction-based websites, does not have associated gross
bookings or revenue margin. However, third-party revenue from
trivago is included in revenue used to calculate total revenue
margin.
Gross bookings increased 31% in 2022 compared to 2021 as gross
bookings for lodging, air and other travel products grew as travel
demand continued to recover.
Revenue margin in 2022 was higher than 2021 as a result of improved
margins at our lodging business.
Results of Operations
Revenue
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|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Revenue by Segment |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Retail |
$ |
8,741 |
|
|
$ |
6,821 |
|
|
$ |
3,993 |
|
|
28 |
% |
|
71 |
% |
B2B |
2,546 |
|
|
1,460 |
|
|
942 |
|
|
74 |
% |
|
55 |
% |
trivago (Third-party revenue) |
380 |
|
|
317 |
|
|
205 |
|
|
20 |
% |
|
54 |
% |
Corporate (Bodybuilding.com) |
— |
|
|
— |
|
|
59 |
|
|
N/A |
|
N/A |
Total revenue |
$ |
11,667 |
|
|
$ |
8,598 |
|
|
$ |
5,199 |
|
|
36 |
% |
|
65 |
% |
Similar to the gross bookings increase, revenue increased 36% in
2022 compared to 2021, with all segment's growth reflecting the
continued improvement in travel demand.
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Revenue by Service Type |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lodging |
$ |
8,905 |
|
|
$ |
6,449 |
|
|
$ |
4,051 |
|
|
38 |
% |
|
59 |
% |
Air |
362 |
|
|
254 |
|
|
105 |
|
|
43 |
% |
|
141 |
% |
Advertising and media(1)
|
777 |
|
|
603 |
|
|
405 |
|
|
29 |
% |
|
49 |
% |
Other |
1,623 |
|
|
1,292 |
|
|
638 |
|
|
25 |
% |
|
103 |
% |
Total revenue |
$ |
11,667 |
|
|
$ |
8,598 |
|
|
$ |
5,199 |
|
|
36 |
% |
|
65 |
% |
___________________________________
(1)Includes
third-party revenue from trivago as well as our transaction-based
websites.
Lodging revenue increased 38% in 2022 on a 29% increase in room
nights stayed and as well as stayed ADR growth of 7%.
Air revenue increased 43% in 2022 driven by an increase in air
tickets sold of 8% and revenue per ticket of 32% due primarily to
higher average ticket prices of 30% and an increased mix of
international tickets.
Advertising and media revenue increased 29% in 2022 due to
increases at both Expedia Group Media Solutions and trivago. All
other revenue, which includes car rental, insurance, destination
services, fee revenue related to our corporate travel business
(through Egencia's sale in November 2021), increased 25% in 2022
from growth in travel insurance products as well as
car.
In addition to the above segment and product revenue discussion,
our revenue by business model is as follows:
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|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Revenue by Business Model |
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|
Merchant |
$ |
7,762 |
|
|
$ |
5,537 |
|
|
$ |
3,261 |
|
|
40 |
% |
|
70 |
% |
Agency |
2,994 |
|
|
2,307 |
|
|
1,267 |
|
|
30 |
% |
|
82 |
% |
Advertising, media and other |
911 |
|
|
754 |
|
|
671 |
|
|
21 |
% |
|
12 |
% |
Total revenue |
$ |
11,667 |
|
|
$ |
8,598 |
|
|
$ |
5,199 |
|
|
36 |
% |
|
65 |
% |
The increase in merchant revenue in 2022 was primarily due to an
increase in merchant hotel revenue driven by an increase in room
nights stayed as well as increases in merchant alternative
accommodations revenue and travel insurance revenue.
The increase in agency revenue in 2022 was primarily due to an
increase in agency hotel, air and alternative
accommodations.
Advertising, media and other increased 21% in 2022 compared to 2021
primarily due to an increase in advertising revenue.
Cost of Revenue
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|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Direct costs |
$ |
1,353 |
|
|
$ |
1,118 |
|
|
$ |
1,148 |
|
|
21 |
% |
|
(3) |
% |
Personnel and overhead |
304 |
|
|
404 |
|
|
501 |
|
|
(25) |
% |
|
(19) |
% |
Total cost of revenue
|
$ |
1,657 |
|
|
$ |
1,522 |
|
|
$ |
1,649 |
|
|
9 |
% |
|
(8) |
% |
% of revenue |
14.2 |
% |
|
17.7 |
% |
|
31.7 |
% |
|
|
|
|
Cost of revenue primarily consists of direct costs to support our
customer operations, including our customer support and telesales
as well as fees to air ticket fulfillment vendors; credit card
processing, including merchant fees, fraud and chargebacks; and
other costs, primarily including data center and cloud costs to
support our websites, supplier operations, destination supply,
certain transactional level taxes,
costs related to Bodybuilding.com during our period of ownership as
well as related personnel and overhead costs, including stock-based
compensation.
Cost of revenue increased $135 million during 2022 compared to
2021, primarily due to higher merchant fees, cloud costs and
customer service costs as a result of increased transaction
volumes, which offset lower personnel costs related to the sale of
Egencia in November 2021.
Selling and Marketing
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|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Direct costs |
$ |
5,428 |
|
|
$ |
3,499 |
|
|
$ |
1,728 |
|
|
55 |
% |
|
103 |
% |
Indirect costs |
672 |
|
|
722 |
|
|
799 |
|
|
(7) |
% |
|
(10) |
% |
Total selling and marketing
|
$ |
6,100 |
|
|
$ |
4,221 |
|
|
$ |
2,527 |
|
|
45 |
% |
|
67 |
% |
% of revenue |
52.3 |
% |
|
49.1 |
% |
|
48.6 |
% |
|
|
|
|
Selling and marketing expense primarily relates to direct costs,
including traffic generation costs from search engines and internet
portals, television, radio and print spending, private label and
affiliate program commissions, public relations and other costs.
The remainder of the expense relates to indirect costs, including
personnel and related overhead in our various brands and global
supply organization as well as stock-based compensation
costs.
Selling and marketing expenses increased $1.9 billion during 2022
compared to 2021 primarily driven by an increase in B2B partner
commissions as well as increased spend in Retail marketing
channels. In addition, the decrease in indirect costs
in
the current year was primarily driven by lower personnel costs
related to the sale of Egencia in November 2021 as well as lower
stock-based compensation.
Technology and Content
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|
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|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Personnel and overhead |
$ |
874 |
|
|
$ |
785 |
|
|
$ |
744 |
|
|
11 |
% |
|
6 |
% |
Other |
307 |
|
|
289 |
|
|
324 |
|
|
6 |
% |
|
(11) |
% |
Total technology and content
|
$ |
1,181 |
|
|
$ |
1,074 |
|
|
$ |
1,068 |
|
|
10 |
% |
|
1 |
% |
% of revenue |
10.1 |
% |
|
12.5 |
% |
|
20.5 |
% |
|
|
|
|
Technology and content expense includes product development and
content expense, as well as information technology costs to support
our infrastructure, back-office applications and overall monitoring
and security of our networks, and is principally comprised of
personnel and overhead, including stock-based compensation, as well
as other costs including cloud expense and licensing and
maintenance expense.
Technology and content expense increased $107 million for 2022
compared to 2021 primarily due to higher personnel costs due to
increased headcount as well as an increase in average salaries,
including the prior year's compensation change, which shifted
discretionary bonuses to salary beginning in the second quarter of
2021.
General and Administrative
|
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|
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|
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|
|
|
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|
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Personnel and overhead |
$ |
591 |
|
|
$ |
562 |
|
|
$ |
434 |
|
|
5 |
% |
|
30 |
% |
Professional fees and other |
157 |
|
|
143 |
|
|
155 |
|
|
9 |
% |
|
(8) |
% |
Total general and administrative
|
$ |
748 |
|
|
$ |
705 |
|
|
$ |
589 |
|
|
6 |
% |
|
20 |
% |
% of revenue |
6.4 |
% |
|
8.2 |
% |
|
11.3 |
% |
|
|
|
|
General and administrative expense consists primarily of
personnel-related costs, including our executive leadership,
finance, legal and human resource functions and related stock-based
compensation, as well as fees for external professional
services.
General and administrative expense increased $43 million in 2022
compared to 2021 primarily due to higher personnel costs due to
increased headcount as well as an increase in average salaries,
including the prior year's compensation change, which shifted
discretionary bonuses to salary beginning in the second quarter of
2021.
Depreciation and Amortization
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Depreciation |
$ |
704 |
|
|
$ |
715 |
|
|
$ |
739 |
|
|
(2) |
% |
|
(3) |
% |
Amortization of intangible assets |
88 |
|
|
99 |
|
|
154 |
|
|
(11) |
% |
|
(36) |
% |
Total depreciation and amortization |
$ |
792 |
|
|
$ |
814 |
|
|
$ |
893 |
|
|
(3) |
% |
|
(9) |
% |
Depreciation decreased $11 million in 2022 compared to 2021.
Amortization of intangible assets decreased $11 million in 2022
compared to 2021 primarily due to the completion of amortization
related to certain intangible assets.
Impairment of Goodwill, Intangible and Other Long-term
Assets
During 2022, we recognized intangible impairment charges of $81
million related to an indefinite-lived trade name within our
trivago segment. During 2021, we recognized a goodwill impairment
charge of $14 million and intangible and other long-term asset
impairment charges of $6 million related to our B2B segment. See
NOTE 3 — Fair Value Measurements in the notes to the
consolidated financial statements for further
information.
Legal Reserves, Occupancy Tax and Other
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Legal reserves, occupancy tax and other |
$ |
23 |
|
|
$ |
1 |
|
|
$ |
(13) |
|
|
N/A |
|
N/A |
Legal reserves, occupancy tax and other primarily consists of
increases in our reserves for court decisions and the potential and
final settlement of issues related to hotel occupancy and other
taxes, expenses recognized related to monies paid in advance of
occupancy and other tax proceedings (“pay-to-play”) as well as
certain other legal reserves.
Legal reserves, occupancy tax and other for year ended
December 31, 2022 primarily included charges related to
certain other legal reserves for trivago as described in
NOTE 15 — Commitments and Contingencies in the notes to
the consolidated financial statements. Legal reserves, occupancy
tax and other for year ended December 31, 2021 included a charge
for certain other legal reserves, mostly offset by net reductions
to our reserve related to hotel occupancy and other
taxes.
Restructuring and Related Reorganization Charges
In 2020, we committed to restructuring actions intended to simplify
our businesses and improve operational efficiencies, which resulted
in headcount reductions and office consolidations. As a result, we
recognized $55 million in restructuring and related
reorganization charges during 2021. We did not recognize any such
costs in 2022, but we continue to actively evaluate additional cost
reduction efforts and should we make decisions in future periods to
take further actions we may incur additional reorganization
charges.
Operating Income (Loss)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Operating income (loss) |
$ |
1,085 |
|
|
$ |
186 |
|
|
$ |
(2,719) |
|
|
484 |
% |
|
N/A |
% of revenue |
9.3 |
% |
|
2.2 |
% |
|
(52.3) |
% |
|
|
|
|
In 2022, the improvement in operating income was primarily due to
growth in revenue in excess of operating costs.
Adjusted EBITDA by Segment
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Retail |
$ |
2,124 |
|
|
$ |
1,782 |
|
|
$ |
298 |
|
|
19 |
% |
|
498 |
% |
B2B(1)
|
599 |
|
|
110 |
|
|
(190) |
|
|
445 |
% |
|
N/A |
trivago |
113 |
|
|
39 |
|
|
(14) |
|
|
191 |
% |
|
N/A |
Unallocated overhead costs (Corporate)(2)
|
(487) |
|
|
(454) |
|
|
(462) |
|
|
7 |
% |
|
(2) |
% |
Total Adjusted EBITDA(3)
|
$ |
2,349 |
|
|
$ |
1,477 |
|
|
$ |
(368) |
|
|
59 |
% |
|
N/A |
______________________________________
(1) Includes operating results of Egencia through its sale in
November 2021.
(2) Includes immaterial operating results of Bodybuilding.com
through its sale in May 2020.
(3) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure. See "Definition and
Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA" below for
more information.
Adjusted EBITDA is our primary segment operating metric. See NOTE
18 — Segment Information in the notes to the consolidated
financial statements for additional information on intersegment
transactions, unallocated overhead costs and for a
reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA by segment to net income (loss)
attributable to Expedia Group, Inc. for the periods presented
above.
Our Retail, B2B and trivago segments all experienced improvements
in Adjusted EBITDA in 2022 as a result of the recovering travel
demand. In addition, the B2B segment improved in part due to the
absence of the prior year Adjusted EBITDA loss related to Egencia.
Unallocated overhead costs increased $33 million during 2022
primarily due to an increase in general and administrative
expenses.
Interest Income and Expense
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Interest income |
60 |
|
|
$ |
9 |
|
|
$ |
18 |
|
|
543 |
% |
|
(48) |
% |
Interest expense |
(277) |
|
|
(351) |
|
|
(360) |
|
|
(21) |
% |
|
(2) |
% |
Gain (loss) on debt extinguishment, net |
49 |
|
|
(280) |
|
|
— |
|
|
N/A |
|
N/A |
Interest income increased in 2022 compared to 2021 as a result of
higher rates of return. Interest expense decreased in 2022 compared
to 2021, as a result of lower average senior notes outstanding in
the current year.
During 2022, we settled a tender offer to purchase $500 million in
aggregate principal of our 2.95% senior unsecured notes, which
resulted in the recognition of a net gain on debt extinguishment of
$73 million. In addition, as a result of the early redemption of
the 3.6% and 4.5% senior unsecured notes in 2022, we recognized a
loss on debt extinguishment of $24 million. See NOTE 7 —
Debt
in the notes to the consolidated financial statements for further
information.
As a result of debt refinancing transactions during 2021, we
recognized a loss on debt extinguishment of $280 million, which
included the payment of early payment premiums and fees as well as
the write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs.
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Business, Net
In 2022, we recognized an immaterial gain of $6 million primarily
related to the sale of Egencia in the prior year. In 2021, we had a
net gain on sale of businesses of $456 million. In November 2021,
we completed the sale of Egencia to GBT and, as a result, we
recognized a $401 million gain on the sale. Additionally, in
2021, we completed the sale of certain of our smaller businesses
within our Retail segment, which resulted in net gains of
$57 million. For additional information on these and other
transactions, see NOTE 16 – Divestitures in the notes to the
consolidated financial statements.
Other, Net
Other, net is comprised of the following:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
(In millions) |
Foreign exchange rate gains (losses), net |
$ |
(40) |
|
|
$ |
(48) |
|
|
$ |
71 |
|
Gains (losses) on minority equity investments, net |
(345) |
|
|
(29) |
|
|
(142) |
|
Other |
— |
|
|
19 |
|
|
(6) |
|
Total other, net |
$ |
(385) |
|
|
$ |
(58) |
|
|
$ |
(77) |
|
During 2022, losses on minority equity investments, net included
$300 million of losses related to mark-to-market adjustments in the
fair value for our GBT investment as well as $45 million related to
changes in our publicly traded marketable equity investment,
Despegar. During 2021, losses on minority equity investments, net
related to changes in our Despegar investment. See
NOTE 3 — Fair Value Measurements in the notes to the
consolidated financial statements for further
information.
Provision for Income Taxes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
% Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
($ in millions) |
|
|
|
|
Provision for income taxes |
$ |
195 |
|
|
$ |
(53) |
|
|
$ |
(423) |
|
|
N/A |
|
(88) |
% |
Effective tax rate |
36.2 |
% |
|
139.9 |
% |
|
13.4 |
% |
|
|
|
|
Our effective tax rate for 2022 was higher than the 21% federal
statutory income tax rate due to a valuation allowance on minority
investments and nondeductible compensation, partially offset by
research and experimentation credits. Our effective tax rate for
2021 was higher than the 21% federal statutory income tax rate due
to excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation, release
of valuation allowance and research and experimentation credits,
partially offset by nondeductible compensation, measured against a
pre-tax loss. For additional information, see NOTE 10 —
Income Taxes
in the notes to the consolidated financial statements.
We are subject to taxation in the United States and foreign
jurisdictions. Our income tax filings are regularly examined by
federal, state and foreign tax authorities. During the fourth
quarter of 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued final
adjustments related to transfer pricing with our foreign
subsidiaries for our 2011 to 2013 tax years. The adjustments would
increase our U.S. taxable income by $696 million, which would
result in federal tax of approximately $244 million, subject to
interest. We do not agree with the position of the IRS. We have
formally filed a protest for our 2011 to 2013 tax years and the
case has been transferred to Appeals. During the fourth quarter of
2022, the IRS issued similar proposed adjustments related to
transfer pricing with our foreign subsidiaries for our 2014 to 2016
tax years. The adjustments would increase our U.S. taxable income
by $1.413 billion, which would result in federal tax of
approximately $494 million, subject to interest. The proposed
adjustments provided by the IRS exclude any offsetting adjustments
that may reduce the amount of federal tax. We do not agree with the
position of the IRS and intend to formally protest. We are also
under examination by the IRS for our 2017-2020 years. We believe it
is reasonably possible that the audit of the 2011 and 2013 tax
years will conclude within the next 12 months. For more detail on
our tax risk factors, see Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors - "A
failure to comply with current laws, rules and regulations or
changes to such laws, rules and regulations and other legal
uncertainties may adversely affect our business, financial
performance, results of operations or business growth” and
“Application of existing tax laws, rules or regulations are subject
to interpretation by taxing authorities.”
Definition and Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA
We report Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental measure to U.S.
generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). Adjusted EBITDA
is among the primary metrics by which management evaluates the
performance of the business and on which internal budgets are
based. Management believes that investors should have access to the
same set of tools that management uses to analyze our results. This
non-GAAP measure should be considered in addition to results
prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a
substitute for or superior to GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA has certain
limitations in that it does not take into account the impact of
certain expenses to our consolidated statements of operations. We
endeavor to compensate for the limitation of the non-GAAP measure
presented by also providing the most directly comparable GAAP
measure and a description of the reconciling items and adjustments
to derive the non-GAAP measure. Adjusted EBITDA also excludes
certain items related to transactional tax matters, which may
ultimately be settled in cash, and we urge investors to review the
detailed disclosure regarding these matters included above, in the
Legal Proceedings section, as well as the notes to the financial
statements. The non-GAAP financial measure used by the Company may
be calculated differently from, and therefore may not be comparable
to, similarly titled measures used by other companies.
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as net income (loss) attributable to
Expedia Group, Inc. adjusted for (1) net income (loss)
attributable to non-controlling interests; (2) provision for income
taxes; (3) total other expenses, net; (4) stock-based compensation
expense, including compensation expense related to certain
subsidiary equity plans; (5) acquisition-related impacts,
including (i) amortization of intangible assets and goodwill and
intangible asset impairment, (ii) gains (losses) recognized on
changes in the value of contingent consideration arrangements, if
any, and (iii) upfront consideration paid to settle employee
compensation plans of the acquiree, if any; (6) certain other
items, including restructuring; (7) items included in legal
reserves, occupancy tax and other; (8) that portion of gains
(losses) on revenue hedging activities that are included in other,
net that relate to revenue recognized in the period; and (9)
depreciation.
The above items are excluded from our Adjusted EBITDA measure
because these items are noncash in nature, or because the amount
and timing of these items is unpredictable, not driven by core
operating results and renders comparisons with prior periods and
competitors less meaningful. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is a useful
measure for analysts and investors to evaluate our future on-going
performance as this measure allows a more meaningful comparison of
our performance and projected cash earnings with our historical
results from prior periods and to the results of our competitors.
Moreover, our management uses this measure internally to evaluate
the performance of our business as a whole and our individual
business segments. In addition, we believe that by excluding
certain items, such as stock-based compensation and
acquisition-related
impacts, Adjusted EBITDA corresponds more closely to the cash
operating income generated from our business and allows investors
to gain an understanding of the factors and trends affecting the
ongoing cash earnings capabilities of our business, from which
capital investments are made and debt is serviced.
The reconciliation of net income (loss) attributable to Expedia
Group, Inc. to Adjusted EBITDA is as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
(In millions) |
Net income (loss) attributable to Expedia Group, Inc. |
$ |
352 |
|
|
$ |
12 |
|
|
$ |
(2,612) |
|
Net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling
interests |
(9) |
|
|
3 |
|
|
(116) |
|
Provision for income taxes |
195 |
|
|
(53) |
|
|
(423) |
|
Total other expense, net |
547 |
|
|
224 |
|
|
432 |
|
Operating income (loss) |
1,085 |
|
|
186 |
|
|
(2,719) |
|
Gain (loss) on revenue hedges related to revenue
recognized |
(6) |
|
|
(17) |
|
|
61 |
|
Restructuring and related reorganization charges |
— |
|
|
55 |
|
|
231 |
|
Legal reserves, occupancy tax and other |
23 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
(13) |
|
Stock-based compensation |
374 |
|
|
418 |
|
|
205 |
|
Depreciation and amortization |
792 |
|
|
814 |
|
|
893 |
|
Impairment of goodwill |
— |
|
|
14 |
|
|
799 |
|
Intangible and other long-term asset impairment |
81 |
|
|
6 |
|
|
175 |
|
Adjusted EBITDA |
$ |
2,349 |
|
|
$ |
1,477 |
|
|
$ |
(368) |
|
Financial Position, Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our principal sources of liquidity are typically cash flows
generated from operations, cash available under our credit facility
as well as our cash and cash equivalents and short-term investment
balances, which were $4.1 billion and $4.3 billion at
December 31, 2022 and 2021. Our revolving credit facility with
aggregate commitments of $2.5 billion was essentially untapped at
December 31, 2022.
As of December 31, 2022, the total cash and cash equivalents
and short-term investments held outside the United States was $770
million ($456 million in wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries and $314
million in majority-owned subsidiaries). The amount of
undistributed earnings in foreign subsidiaries where the foreign
subsidiary has or will invest undistributed earnings indefinitely
outside of the Unites States, and for which future distributions
could be taxable, was $65 million as of December 31, 2022. The
unrecognized deferred tax liability related to the U.S. federal
income tax consequences of these earnings was $17 million as of
December 31, 2022.
In 2022, we took the following action to reduce our debt
outstanding:
•Redemption
of 2.5% Senior Notes.
In March 2022, we early redeemed all of the €650 million of
outstanding aggregate principal amount of our 2.5% senior notes due
in June 2022. The redemption price for the 2.5% senior notes
equaled 100% of the aggregate principal amount thereof plus accrued
and unpaid interest thereon through the redemption
date.
•Redemption
of 3.6% and 4.5% Senior Notes.
In May 2022, we early redeemed all of our $500 million 3.6%
senior notes due 2023, and in June 2022, we early redeemed all of
our $500 million 4.5% senior notes due 2024, which resulted in
the recognition of a loss on debt extinguishment of
$24 million primarily comprised of “make-whole” premiums as
well as the write-off of unamortized discount and debt issuance
costs.
•Redemption
of 2.95% Senior Notes.
In September 2022, we settled the tender offer to purchase $500
million in aggregate principal of our 2.95% senior notes due 2031
for an aggregate cash repurchase price of approximately $418
million, which resulted in the recognition of a net gain on debt
extinguishment of $73 million. The net gain included the write-off
of unamortized discount and debt issuance costs as well as related
fees.
Our credit ratings are periodically reviewed by rating agencies. As
of December 31, 2022, Moody’s rating was Baa3 with an outlook
of “stable,” S&P’s rating was BBB- with an outlook of “stable”
and Fitch’s rating was BBB- with an outlook of “stable.” Changes in
our operating results, cash flows, financial position, capital
structure, financial policy or capital allocations to share
repurchase, dividends, investments and acquisitions could impact
the ratings assigned by the various rating agencies.
Should our credit ratings be adjusted downward, we may incur higher
costs to borrow and/or limited access to capital markets and
interest rates on our 6.25% senior notes, 4.625% senior notes as
well as our 2.95% senior notes will increase, which could have a
material impact on our financial condition and results of
operations.
As of December 31, 2022, we were in compliance with the
covenants and conditions in our revolving credit facilities and
outstanding debt as detailed in NOTE 7 — Debt in the
notes to the consolidated financial statements.
Under the merchant model, we receive cash from travelers at the
time of booking and we record these amounts on our consolidated
balance sheets as deferred merchant bookings. We pay our airline
suppliers related to these merchant model bookings generally within
a few weeks after completing the transaction. For most other
merchant bookings, which is primarily our merchant lodging
business, we generally pay after the travelers’ use and, in some
cases, subsequent billing from the hotel suppliers. Therefore,
generally we receive cash from the traveler prior to paying our
supplier, and this operating cycle represents a working capital
source of cash to us. Typically, the seasonal fluctuations in our
merchant hotel bookings have affected the timing of our annual cash
flows. Generally, during the first half of the year, hotel bookings
have traditionally exceeded stays, resulting in much higher cash
flow related to working capital. During the second half of the
year, this pattern typically reverses and cash flows are typically
negative. During 2020, impacts of COVID-19 disrupted our typical
working capital trends. Significantly higher cancellations and
reduced booking volumes, particularly in the first half of 2020,
resulted in material operating losses and negative cash flow.
During 2022, booking and travel trends have nearly normalized
resulting in working capital benefits and positive cash flow in the
current period akin to typical historical trends. However, it
remains difficult to forecast the working capital trends for the
upcoming quarters, given the uncertainty related to the full
duration and total impact of COVID-19.
Prior to COVID-19, we embarked on an ambitious cost reduction
initiative to simplify the organization and increase efficiency. In
response to COVID-19, we took several additional actions to further
reduce costs to help mitigate the financial impact from COVID-19
and continue to improve our long-term cost structure. For 2023, we
expect total capital expenditures for the full year to increase
relative to our 2022 spending levels as we look to continue to
improve our technology platforms, infrastructure, operational
capabilities, and in the development of service offerings and
expansion of our operations.
Our cash flows are as follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
$ Change |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
|
2022 vs 2021 |
|
2021 vs 2020 |
|
(In millions) |
Cash provided by (used in) operations: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Operating activities |
$ |
3,440 |
|
|
$ |
3,748 |
|
|
$ |
(3,834) |
|
|
$ |
(308) |
|
|
$ |
7,582 |
|
Investing activities |
(580) |
|
|
(931) |
|
|
(263) |
|
|
351 |
|
|
(668) |
|
Financing activities |
(2,624) |
|
|
(973) |
|
|
4,077 |
|
|
(1,651) |
|
|
(5,050) |
|
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash and cash
equivalents |
(190) |
|
|
(177) |
|
|
61 |
|
|
(13) |
|
|
(238) |
|
In 2022, net cash provided by operating activities decreased by
$308 million primarily due to a decrease in benefits from working
capital changes driven mostly from a change in deferred merchant
booking, which was largely offset by higher operating income after
adjusting for impacts of depreciation and
amortization.
In 2022, $351 million less cash was used in investing activities
primarily due to net sales and maturities of investments of
$145 million in 2022 compared to net purchases of investments
of $178 million in 2021.
Cash used in financing activities in 2022 primarily included
payments of $2.2 billion related to the extinguishment of our 2.5%
senior notes, 3.6% senior notes, 4.5% senior notes and the tender
offer for a portion of our 2.95% senior notes discussed above as
well as $607 million of cash paid to acquire shares, including the
repurchased shares under the authorizations discussed below and for
treasury stock activity related to the vesting of equity
instruments. These uses of cash were partially offset by $131
million of proceeds from the exercise of options and employee stock
purchase plans. Cash used in financing activities in 2021 primarily
included payments of approximately $2 billion related to the
extinguishment of debt and $1.2 billion for the redemption of
preferred stock as well as $165 million of cash paid for treasury
stock activity related to the vesting of equity instruments and $67
million in preferred stock dividends. These uses of cash were
largely offset by approximately $2 billion of net proceeds from the
issuance of convertible notes and 2.95% senior notes issued in
February and March 2021, respectively, as well as $503 million of
proceeds from the exercise of options and employee stock purchase
plans.
Our Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, pursuant to a
delegation of authority from the Board, have authorized share
repurchases under authorized programs. These programs were
temporarily halted in early 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19
pandemic but resumed in the second half of 2022. Shares repurchased
under the authorized programs were as
follows:
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|
|
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|
|
Year ended December 31, |
|
2022 |
|
2021 |
|
2020 |
Number of shares repurchased |
5.2 million |
|
— |
|
|
3.4 million |
Average price per share |
$ |
96.09 |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
109.88 |
|
Total cost of repurchases (in millions)(1)
|
$ |
500 |
|
|
$ |
— |
|
|
$ |
370 |
|
______________________________________
(1)Amount
excludes transaction costs.
As of December 31, 2022, 18.1 million shares remain authorized
for repurchase with no fixed termination date for the
repurchases.
During 2022, we didn't pay any common stock dividends. During 2021,
while we also didn't pay common stock dividends, we did pay $67
million (or $74.96 per share of Series A Preferred Stock) of
dividends on the Series A Preferred Stock. At this time, we do not
expect to make quarterly dividend payments on our common stock.
Future declarations of dividends are subject to final determination
by our Board of Directors.
Foreign exchange rate changes resulted in a decrease of our cash
and restricted cash balances denominated in foreign currency in
both 2022 and 2021 of $190 million and $177 million, respectively,
reflecting a net depreciation in foreign currencies relative to the
U.S. dollar during each year.
Contractual Obligations and Commercial Commitments.
Our material cash requirements as of December 31, 2022 include
the following contractual obligations and commercial commitments
arising in the normal course of business:
•Principal
payments related to our debt that is included in our consolidated
balance sheet and the related periodic interest payments. The
Company had Senior Notes and Convertible Notes, as described in
NOTE 7 — Debt in the notes to our consolidated financial
statements, with varying maturities and an aggregate principal
amount of $6.3 billion, none of which is payable within 12 months.
Based on current stated fixed rates, future interest payments
associated with the Senior Notes total approximately $1.1 billion,
with approximately $231 million payable within 12
months;
•Our
operating leases had fixed lease payment obligations, including
imputed interest, of $443 million, with $88 million payable within
12 months; and
•Purchase
obligations representing the minimum obligations we have under
agreements with certain of our vendors and marketing partners.
These minimum obligations are less than our projected use for those
periods, and payments may be more than the minimum obligations
based on actual use. The Company had purchase obligations of $466
million, with $292 million payable within 12 months.
In addition, we had $284 million of net unrecognized tax benefits
recorded on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2022, for
which we cannot make a reasonably reliable estimate of the amount
and period of payment.
See NOTE 15 — Commitments and Contingencies in the notes
to the consolidated financial statements for further information
related to our purchase obligations as well as amounts outstanding
as of December 31, 2022 related to letters of credit and
guarantees. Other than the items described above, we do not have
any off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31,
2022.
In our opinion, our liquidity position provides sufficient capital
resources to meet our foreseeable cash needs. There can be no
assurance, however, that the cost or availability of future
borrowings, including refinancings, if any, will be available on
terms acceptable to us.
Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions
For a discussion of certain relationships and related party
transactions, see NOTE 17 — Related Party Transactions in
the notes to the consolidated financial statements.
Summarized Financial Information for Guarantors and the Issuer of
Guaranteed Securities
Summarized financial information of Expedia Group, Inc. (the
“Parent”) and our subsidiaries that are guarantors of our debt
facility and instruments (the “Guarantor Subsidiaries”) is shown
below on a combined basis as the “Obligor Group.” The debt facility
and instruments are guaranteed by certain of our wholly-owned
domestic subsidiaries and rank equally in right of payment with all
of our existing and future unsecured and unsubordinated
obligations. The guarantees are full, unconditional, joint and
several with the exception of certain customary automatic
subsidiary release provisions. In this summarized financial
information of the Obligor Group, all intercompany balances and
transactions between the Parent and Guarantor
Subsidiaries
have been eliminated and all information excludes subsidiaries that
are not issuers or guarantors of our debt facility and instruments,
including earnings from and investments in these entities.
|
|
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|
|
December 31, 2022 |
|
(In millions) |
Combined Balance Sheets Information: |
|
Current Assets |
$ |
6,720 |
|
Non-Current Assets |
10,458 |
|
Current
Liabilities(1)
|
10,407 |
|
Non-Current Liabilities |
6,777 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Year Ended
December 31, 2022 |
Combined Statements of Operations Information: |
|
Revenue |
$ |
9,431 |
|
Operating income
(2)
|
747 |
|
Net income |
150 |
|
Net income attributable to
Obligors |
146 |
|
(1)Current
liabilities include intercompany payables with non-guarantors of
$466 million as of December 31, 2022.
(2)Operating
income includes intercompany income with non-guarantors of
$35 million for the year ended December 31,
2022.
Part II. Item 7A.
Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market
Risk
Market Risk Management
Market risk is the potential loss from adverse changes in interest
rates, foreign exchange rates and market prices. Our exposure to
market risk includes our long-term debt, our revolving credit
facilities, derivative instruments and cash and cash equivalents,
accounts receivable, intercompany receivables, investments,
merchant accounts payable and deferred merchant bookings
denominated in foreign currencies. We manage our exposure to these
risks through established policies and procedures. Our objective is
to mitigate potential income statement, cash flow and market
exposures from changes in interest and foreign exchange
rates.
Interest Rate Risk
As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the outstanding aggregate
principal amount of our debt was $6.3 billion and $8.5 billion,
respectively. As of December 31, 2022, the aggregate principal of
our debt included:
•$1.044
billion of senior unsecured notes due May 2025 that bear interest
at 6.25%;
•$750
million of senior unsecured notes due February 2026 that bear
interest at 5.0%;
•$1
billion of convertible senior unsecured notes due February 2026
with a fixed rate of 0% (the “Convertible Notes”);
•$750
million of senior unsecured notes due August 2027 that bear
interest at 4.625%;
•$1
billion of senior unsecured notes due February 2028 that bear
interest at 3.8%;
•$1.25
billion of senior unsecured notes due February 2030 that bear
interest at 3.25%; and
•$500
million of senior unsecured notes due March 2031 that bear interest
at 2.95%.
The 6.25%, 5.0%, 4.625%, 3.8%, 3.25%, and 2.95% senior unsecured
notes are collectively the “Senior Notes.” If market interest rates
decline, our required payments will exceed those based on market
rates. Additionally, the 6.25%, 4.625% and 2.95% senior unsecured
notes are subject to interest rate adjustments should our credit
ratings be adjusted downwards, which would result in increased
interest expense in the future. The total estimated fair value of
our Senior Notes and Convertible Notes was approximately $5.8
billion and $9.2 billion as of December 31, 2022 and
December 31, 2021, respectively. The fair value was determined
based on quoted market prices in less active markets and is
categorized accordingly as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy. A
50 basis point increase or decrease in interest rates would
decrease or increase the fair value of our debt by approximately
$115 million.
We maintain a revolving credit facility of $2.5 billion, which
bears interest based on market rates plus a spread determined by
our credit ratings. Because our interest rate is tied to a market
rate, we will be susceptible to fluctuations in
interest rates if, consistent with our practice to date, we do not
hedge the interest rate exposure arising from any borrowings under
our revolving credit facilities. We had no revolving credit
facilities borrowings outstanding as of both December 31, 2022 and
2021.
Foreign Exchange Risk
We conduct business in certain international markets, primarily in
Australia, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, and the European
Union. Because we operate in international markets, we have
exposure to different economic climates, political arenas, tax
systems and regulations that could affect foreign exchange rates.
Our primary exposure to foreign currency risk relates to
transacting in foreign currency and recording the activity in
U.S. dollars. Changes in exchange rates between the
U.S. dollar and these other currencies will result in
transaction gains or losses, which we recognize in our consolidated
statements of operations.
To the extent practicable, we minimize our foreign currency
exposures by maintaining natural hedges between our current assets
and current liabilities in similarly denominated foreign
currencies. Additionally, we use foreign currency forward contracts
to economically hedge certain merchant revenue exposures, foreign
denominated liabilities related to certain of our loyalty programs
and our other foreign currency-denominated operating liabilities.
These instruments are typically short-term and are recorded at fair
value with gains and losses recorded in other, net. As of
December 31, 2022 and 2021, we had net forward assets of $15
million and $3 million, respectively, included in prepaid expenses
and other current assets. We may enter into additional foreign
exchange derivative contracts or other economic hedges in the
future. Our goal in managing our foreign exchange risk is to reduce
to the extent practicable our potential exposure to the changes
that exchange rates might have on our earnings, cash flows and
financial position. We make a number of estimates in conducting
hedging activities including in some cases the level of future
bookings, cancellations, refunds, customer stay patterns and
payments in foreign currencies. In the event those estimates differ
significantly from actual results, we could experience greater
volatility as a result of our hedges.
In March 2022, we entered into two fixed-to-fixed cross-currency
interest rate swaps (“the swaps”) with an aggregate notional amount
of €300 million. The swaps were designated as net investment hedges
of Euro assets with the objective to protect the U.S. dollar value
of our net investments in the Euro foreign operations due to
movements in foreign currency. During the term of each contract, we
receive interest payments in U.S. dollars at a fixed rate of 5% and
make interest payments in Euros at an average fixed rate of 3.38%.
The maturity date of both swaps is February 2026, whereby, we will
receive U.S. dollars from and pay Euros to the contract
counterparties. The fair value of the cross-currency interest rate
swaps was a $21 million asset as of December 31, 2022 recorded in
long-term investments and other assets.
Future net transaction gains and losses are inherently difficult to
predict as they are reliant on how the multiple currencies in which
we transact fluctuate in relation to the U.S. dollar, the
relative composition and denomination of current assets and
liabilities each period, and our effectiveness at forecasting and
managing, through balance sheet netting or the use of derivative
contracts, such exposures. As an example, if the foreign currencies
in which we hold net asset balances were to all weaken 10% against
the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies in which we hold net
liability balances were to all strengthen 10% against the
U.S. dollar, we would recognize foreign exchange losses of
approximately $31 million based on our foreign currency forward
positions (including the impact of forward positions economically
hedging our merchant revenue exposures) and the net asset or
liability balances of our foreign denominated cash and cash
equivalents, accounts receivable, deferred merchant bookings and
merchant accounts payable balances as of December 31, 2022. As
the net composition of these balances fluctuate frequently, even
daily, as do foreign exchange rates, the example loss could be
compounded or reduced significantly within a given
period.
During 2022, 2021 and 2020, we recorded net foreign exchange rate
losses of approximately $40 million ($37 million loss excluding the
contracts economically hedging our forecasted merchant revenue),
net foreign exchange rate losses of approximately $48 million ($37
million loss excluding the contracts economically hedging our
forecasted merchant revenue) and net foreign exchange rate gains of
approximately $71 million ($2 million gain excluding the contracts
economically hedging our forecasted merchant revenue). As we
increase our operations in international markets, our exposure to
fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates increases. The
economic impact to us of foreign currency exchange rate movements
is linked to variability in real growth, inflation, interest rates,
governmental actions and other factors. These changes, if material,
could cause us to adjust our financing and operating
strategies.
Equity Investment Risk
We are exposed to equity price risk as it relates to changes in
fair values of our investments in equity securities of
publicly-traded companies, investments in which we’ve elected the
fair value option, and minority investments without readily
determinable fair values. We recorded net losses of
$345 million, $29 million, and $142 million related
to these investments for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021,
and 2020, respectively (See NOTE 3 — Fair Value
Measurements in the notes to the consolidated financial statements
for further information). The fair values of our investments in
equity securities of publicly-
traded companies (combined with our investments in which we’ve
elected the fair value option) and minority investments without
readily determinable fair values, were $564 million and
$330 million, respectively, at December 31, 2022, and $909
million and $330 million, respectively, at December 31, 2021. A
hypothetical 10% decrease in the fair values at December 31, 2022
of our investments in equity securities of publicly-traded
companies and minority investments without readily determinable
fair values would have resulted in a loss, before tax, of
approximately $89 million, being recognized within other, net in
our consolidated statements of operations.
Part II. Item 8. Consolidated
Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
The Consolidated Financial Statements and Schedule listed in the
Index to Financial Statements, Schedules and Exhibits on
page F-1 are filed as part of this report.
Part II. Item 9. Changes
in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial
Disclosure
None.
Part II. Item 9A. Controls
and Procedures
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting.
There were no changes to our internal control over financial
reporting that occurred during the quarter ended December 31,
2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to
materially affect, our internal control over financial
reporting.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures.
As required by Rule 13a-15(b) under the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), our management,
including our Chairman and Senior Executive, Chief Executive
Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of
the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act). Based
upon that evaluation, our Chairman and Senior Executive, Chief
Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of
the end of the period covered by this report, our disclosure
controls and procedures were effective.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial
Reporting.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining
adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in
Rule 13a-15(f) of the Exchange Act. Internal control over
financial reporting is a process to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of our financial reporting for external
purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America. Management conducted an
evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over
financial reporting based on the criteria for effective control
over financial reporting described in
Internal Control — Integrated Framework
(2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of
the Treadway Commission. Based on this evaluation, management has
concluded that, as of December 31, 2022, the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting was effective. Management
has reviewed its assessment with the Audit Committee.
Ernst & Young, LLP, an independent registered public
accounting firm, has audited the effectiveness of our internal
control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, as
stated in their report which is included below.
Limitations on Controls.
Management does not expect that our disclosure controls and
procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will
prevent or detect all error and fraud. Any control system, no
matter how well designed and operated, is based upon certain
assumptions and can provide only reasonable, not absolute,
assurance that its objectives will be met. Further, no evaluation
of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due
to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and
instances of fraud, if any, within the Company have been
detected.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Expedia Group,
Inc.
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited Expedia Group, Inc.’s internal control over
financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria
established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission
(2013 framework) (the COSO criteria). In our opinion, Expedia
Group, Inc. (the Company) maintained, in all material respects,
effective internal control over financial reporting as of December
31, 2022, based on the COSO criteria.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB),
the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31,
2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations,
comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash
flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31,
2022, and the related notes and our report dated
February 9, 2023
expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective
internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of
the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting
included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal
Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express
an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial
reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm
registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with
respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal
securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the
Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the
PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal
control over financial reporting was maintained in all material
respects.
Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control
over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material
weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating
effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and
performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the
circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable
basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial
Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process
designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability
of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements
for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial
reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain
to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail,
accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of
the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that
transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of
financial statements in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the
company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of
management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable
assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized
acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could
have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over
financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also,
projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods
are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because
of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the
policies or procedures may deteriorate.
/s/Ernst & Young LLP
Seattle, Washington
February 9, 2023
Part II. Item 9B.
Other Information
None.
Part II. Item 9C.
Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdiction that Prevent
Inspections
Not Applicable.
Part III.
We are incorporating by reference the information required by
Part III of this report on Form 10-K from our proxy
statement relating to our 2023 annual meeting of stockholders (the
“2023 Proxy Statement”), which will be filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of our
fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.
Part III. Item 10. Directors,
Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
The information required by this item is included under the
captions “Election of Directors — Nominees,” “Election of
Directors — Board Meetings and Committees,” “Information
Concerning Executive Officers” and “Delinquent Section 16(a)
Reports” in the 2023 Proxy Statement and incorporated herein by
reference.
Part III. Item 11. Executive
Compensation
The information required by this item is included under the
captions “Election of Directors —Compensation of Non-Employee
Directors,” “Election of Directors — Compensation Committee
Interlocks and Insider Participation,” “Compensation Discussion and
Analysis,” “Compensation Committee Report” and “Executive
Compensation” in the 2023 Proxy Statement and incorporated herein
by reference.
Part III. Item 12. Security
Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related
Stockholder Matters
The information required by this item is included under the
captions “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and
Management” and “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in the 2023
Proxy Statement and incorporated herein by reference.
Part III. Item 13. Certain
Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director
Independence
The information required by this item is included under the
captions “Certain Relationships and Related Person Transactions”
and “Board of Directors — Director Independence” in the 2023 Proxy
Statement and incorporated herein by reference.
Part III. Item 14. Principal
Accounting Fees and Services
The information required by this item is included under the caption
"Fees Paid to Our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm"
and “Audit Committee Review and Pre-Approval of Independent
Registered Public Accounting Firm Fees” in the 2023 Proxy Statement
and incorporated herein by reference.
Part IV. Item 15. Exhibits,
Consolidated Financial Statements and Financial Statement
Schedules
(a)(1)
Consolidated Financial Statements
We have filed the consolidated financial statements listed in the
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements, Schedules and Exhibits
on page F-1 as a part of this report.
(a)(2)
Financial Statement Schedules
All financial statement schedules have been omitted because they
are not applicable, not material or the required information is
shown in the consolidated financial statements or the notes
thereto.
(a)(3)
Exhibits
The exhibits listed below are filed as part of this Annual Report
on Form 10-K.
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Exhibit
No. |
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Filed
Herewith |
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Incorporated by Reference |
Exhibit Description |
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Form |
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SEC File No. |
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Exhibit |
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Filing Date |
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2.1 |
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8-K |
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000-51447 |
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2.1 |
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12/21/2012 |
2.2 |
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8-K |
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000-51447 |
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2.2 |
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12/21/2012 |
3.1 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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3.1 |
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12/4/2019 |
3.2 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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3.1 |
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4/16/2019 |
4.1 |
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X |
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4.2 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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4.1 |
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12/8/2015 |
4.3 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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4.1 |
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9/21/2017 |
4.4 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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4.1 |
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9/20/2019 |
4.5 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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4.1 |
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5/5/2020 |
4.6 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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4.2 |
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7/15/2020 |
4.7 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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4.1 |
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2/19/2021 |
4.8 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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4.1 |
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3/3/2021 |
10.1 |
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8-K |
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000-51447 |
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10.2 |
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12/27/2011 |
10.2 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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10.3 |
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4/16/2019 |
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10.3 |
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8-K |
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001-3749 |
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10.1 |
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4/10/2020 |
10.4 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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10.7 |
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4/16/2019 |
10.5 |
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8-K*^ |
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001-33982 |
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10.1 |
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11/7/2016 |
10.6 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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10.10 |
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4/16/2019 |
10.7 |
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POS-
AM*† |
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333-210377 |
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2.1 |
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11/4/2016 |
10.8 |
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8-K |
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001-37429 |
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10.1 |
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4/18/2022 |
10.9* |
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DEF 14A |
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001-37429 |
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App.A |
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5/7/2020 |
10.10* |
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S-8 |
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333-208548 |
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99.1 |
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12/15/2015 |
10.11* |
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10-Q |
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001-37429 |
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10.3 |
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11/5/2020 |
10.12* |
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10-Q |
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001-37429 |
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10.4 |
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11/5/2020 |
10.13* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
000-51447 |
|
10.1 |
|
8/1/2014 |
10.14* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
001-37429
|
|
10.34 |
|
2/12/2021 |
10.15* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.22 |
|
2/10/2017 |
10.16* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.1 |
|
4/27/2018 |
10.17* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.23 |
|
2/10/2017 |
10.18* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.2 |
|
4/27/2018 |
10.19* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.3 |
|
4/27/2018 |
10.20* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.46 |
|
2/8/2019 |
10.21* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.2 |
|
5/3/2019 |
10.22* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.3 |
|
5/3/2019 |
10.23* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K/A |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.64 |
|
4/29/2020 |
10.24* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K/A |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.65 |
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4/29/2020 |
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10.25* |
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|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
000-51447 |
|
10.13 |
|
2/19/2009 |
10.26* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
000-51447 |
|
10.17 |
|
2/19/2009 |
10.27* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
000-51447 |
|
10.20 |
|
2/6/2015 |
10.28* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.1 |
|
3/7/2018 |
10.29* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.6 |
|
4/27/2018 |
10.30* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.7 |
|
4/27/2018 |
10.31* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K/A |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.4 |
|
9/21/2017 |
10.32* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K |
|
000-51447 |
|
10.3 |
|
4/1/2015 |
10.33* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.45 |
|
2/8/2019 |
10.34* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.4 |
|
5/3/2019 |
10.35* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-Q |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.4 |
|
5/21/2020 |
10.36* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.1 |
|
2/26/2021 |
10.37* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.2 |
|
2/26/2021 |
10.38* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.3 |
|
2/26/2021 |
10.39* |
|
|
|
|
|
10-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.62 |
|
2/14/2020 |
10.40* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.1 |
|
9/14/2022 |
10.41* |
|
|
|
|
|
8-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
10.2 |
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9/14/2022 |
21 |
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X |
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22 |
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X |
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23.1 |
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X |
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31.1 |
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X |
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31.2 |
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X |
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31.3 |
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X |
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32.1*** |
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32.2*** |
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32.3*** |
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99.1 |
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|
10-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
99.1 |
|
2/10/2022 |
99.2 |
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|
10-K |
|
001-37429 |
|
99.2 |
|
2/10/2022 |
101.INS |
|
Inline XBRL Instance Document-the instance document does not appear
in the Interactive Data File as its XBRL tags are embedded within
the Inline XBRL document |
|
X |
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101.SCH |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema |
|
X |
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101.CAL |
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase |
|
X |
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101.DEF |
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase |
|
X |
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101.LAB |
|
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase |
|
X |
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101.PR
E |
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Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase |
|
X |
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104 |
|
Cover page formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit
101 |
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* |
Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or
arrangement. |
*† |
Indicates reference to filing of Liberty Expedia Holdings,
Inc. |
*^ |
Indicates reference to filing of Qurate Retail, Inc. |
*** |
Furnished herewith |
Part IV. Item 16. Form
10-K Summary
Not applicable.
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Section 13 or 15(d)
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused
this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto
duly authorized.
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|
Expedia Group, Inc. |
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|
By: |
/s/ PETER KERN |
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|
Peter Kern
Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman |
February 9, 2023
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on
behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities indicated on
February 9, 2023.
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Signature |
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Title |
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/s/ PETER KERN |
|
Chief Executive Officer, Vice Chairman and Director |
Peter Kern |
|
(Principal Executive Officer) |
|
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/s/ JULIE WHALEN |
|
Chief Financial Officer and Director |
Julie Whalen |
|
(Principal Financial Officer) |
|
|
/s/ LANCE SOLIDAY |
|
Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting |
Lance Soliday |
|
Officer and Controller |
|
|
(Principal Accounting Officer) |
|
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/s/ BARRY DILLER |
|
Chairman of the Board, Senior Executive and Director |
Barry Diller |
|
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/s/ SAMUEL ALTMAN |
|
Director |
Samuel Altman |
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/s/ BEVERLY ANDERSON |
|
Director |
Beverly Anderson |
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/s/ CHELSEA CLINTON |
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Director |
Chelsea Clinton |
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/s/ HENRIQUE DUBUGRAS |
|
Director |
Henrique Dubugras |
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/s/ CRAIG JACOBSON |
|
Director |
Craig Jacobson |
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/s/ DARA KHOSROWSHAHI |
|
Director |
Dara Khosrowshahi |
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/s/ PATRICIA MENENDEZ CAMBO |
|
Director |
Patricia Menendez Cambo |
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/s/ ALEX VON FURSTENBERG |
|
Director |
Alex von Furstenberg |
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|
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, SCHEDULES AND
EXHIBITS
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of Expedia Group,
Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of
Expedia Group, Inc. (the Company) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021,
the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive
income, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of
the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the
related notes
(collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial
statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements
present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
the Company at December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its
operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the
period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with U.S. generally
accepted accounting principles.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB),
the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of
December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal
Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework), and our
report dated February 9, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion
thereon.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's
management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the
Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public
accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be
independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S.
federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of
the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the
PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit
to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial
statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error
or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the
risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether
due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to
those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis,
evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial
statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting
principles used and significant estimates made by management, as
well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial
statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising
from the current period audit of the financial statements that were
communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee
and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material
to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially
challenging, subjective or complex judgments. The communication of
critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the
consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are
not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing
separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts
or disclosures to which they relate.
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|
Loyalty Programs |
Description of the Matter |
|
As discussed in Note 2 of the financial statements, travelers
enrolled in the Expedia Rewards and Hotels.com Rewards loyalty
programs (collectively “loyalty programs”) earn reward points with
each eligible booking made which can be redeemed for free or
discounted future bookings. Member consideration is allocated
between travel services and reward points earned in the loyalty
programs. The Company defers the relative standalone selling price
of earned reward points, net of rewards not expected to be redeemed
(known as “breakage”), as deferred loyalty rewards within deferred
merchant bookings on the consolidated balance sheet. To estimate
the relative standalone selling price for reward points, the
Company considers the stated redemption value per point dictated by
the terms of the loyalty programs and then estimates the future
breakage of reward points based on statistical modeling techniques
using historical member activity. The deferred loyalty rewards
balance, net of amounts paid to the travel suppler, is recognized
as revenue when the travel service purchased with the loyalty
reward is satisfied.
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|
Auditing the Company’s deferred loyalty rewards balance is
especially complex and judgmental due to significant measurement
uncertainty in determining the expected future breakage of reward
points. Management uses statistical modeling techniques to estimate
future breakage based on historical member activity. The amount of
member consideration allocated to the reward points earned is
sensitive to the expected future breakage assumption. Changes in
loyalty program terms or the method or manner in which reward
points can be redeemed by members can change member behavior which
increases the measurement uncertainty as historical member activity
may not be indicative of future behavior.
|
How We Addressed the Matter in Our Audit |
|
We obtained an understanding, evaluated the design and tested the
operating effectiveness of controls over Management’s review of the
statistical modeling techniques and resulting breakage estimates.
We also tested controls over the completeness and accuracy of
member activity data used in the breakage estimate analyses. This
included controls over the Company’s systems and the application
controls involved in the process to track loyalty reward member
activity.
To test the deferred loyalty rewards balance, we performed audit
procedures that included, among others, involving our actuarial
specialists to assist us in assessing the methods used by
Management and to develop an independent actuarial estimate of a
reasonable range of breakage rates. We then compared this
reasonable range of breakage rates to the Company’s estimates.
Additionally, we tested the completeness and accuracy of the member
activity data used by our actuarial specialists in their breakage
analyses.
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|
Deferred Tax Assets Valuation Allowance |
Description of the Matter |
|
A |