Tripadvisor (TRIP) - 2025 Goldman Sachs TMT Conference

Concise AI-driven summaries of earnings and conference calls, highlighting the numbers, context, and signals that matter most.

Thomas Reiner

Oct 02, 2025

Matthew Goldberg – President, CEO & Director
Michael Noonan – Chief Financial Officer

Financial Performance

“Viator and TheFork … are now nearly 60% of our revenue. Two years ago, they were burning. This year, they’re contributing nearly 1/4 of our profit”.
Tripadvisor became profitable in 2023, added more profit in 2024, and reiterated guidance to double margins in 2025.
CFO: “We have very high gross margins. … in that fourth, fifth and sixth booking, those contribution margins are very strong”.
TheFork delivered 20% revenue growth, 22% constant currency, and is “on target to nearly triple margins this year”.
Branded Hotels returned to growth “for the first time in a couple of years” driven by strong pricing and product innovation.

Guidance & Future Trends

Experiences (Viator) expected to remain fastest-growing category in travel, with “meaningful double-digit growth and EBITDA expansion”.
Management reaffirmed goal to achieve OTA-like margins over time for Viator.
Brand Tripadvisor targeted to return to growth in 2026, but executives acknowledged traffic headwinds in SEO/meta channels.
CEO: “We are literally just getting started. There is a lot of headroom ahead”.

AI & Technology Trends

Tripadvisor ranked #8 in citation rates in generative AI search per Semrush, and was the only travel company in the top 20.
CEO: “AI-first traffic … is growing exponentially … and the traffic is higher intent. So we’re converting it more effectively”.
Signed 5 AI partnerships in the last 6 months with LLM providers.
AI also being used internally: “We put AI tools into the hands of every single employee … this is the first year where we’ll go into make AI efficiency an advantage as part of our annual planning”.

Market & Demand Trends

Viator: largest supply base with 400,000 experiences from 65,000 operators.
Demand growth strong in U.S., Europe, Asia; pursuing international expansion and new categories like sports, music, wellness.
TheFork: #1 dining brand in Europe; pursuing both B2C penetration and fast-growing B2B SaaS tools for restaurants.
Partnerships: Vodafone (loyalty), Mastercard (exclusive dining experiences & payments), Michelin (restaurant integration).

Capital Allocation

Simplified to one-class share structure; repurchased 17% of stock via LTRIP deal.
Strong balance sheet: “very strong from a net cash position”.
Priorities:
1. Organic investment (low CapEx model, most spend in P&L).
2. Share repurchases: “future excess cash … redeploy into buying back stock.”
3. Opportunistic M&A to enhance experiences growth.
CEO: “We are increasingly positioned as an experience company, and that is the most exciting part of travel”.

10 Notable Quotes

“Viator and TheFork … are now nearly 60% of our revenue.”
“We were the only travel company and brand to come up in the top 20” [in AI search citations].
“AI-first traffic … is growing exponentially … the traffic is higher intent.”
“We’ve signed 5 deals in the last 6 months” with LLM providers.
“Viator has 400,000 experiences from 65,000 operators … multiples larger than anybody else.”
“We’re on track to double margins this year, which we’re really excited about.”
“We think Europe is really interesting. But certainly, we think it can be a global platform.”
“TheFork … delivered 20% revenue growth and is on target to nearly triple margins this year.”
“We repurchased a healthy amount of our stock, 17% retired there.”
“We are increasingly positioned as an experience company … we are literally just getting started.”

Q&A Summary

Q (Goldman Sachs): What are key takeaways from Q2 earnings and demand trends?
A (CEO): Experiences and dining now 60% of revenue; both profitable. Brand Tripadvisor focusing on high-value logged-in users; AI expected to be a major driver of synergy and growth.
Q: How does AI affect Tripadvisor?
A (CEO): Ranked top 10 in AI search citations; AI traffic higher intent; signed 5 AI deals; using AI internally for efficiency.
Q: Trends in Experiences (Viator) and competition?
A (CEO): Fastest-growing travel segment; largest supply base; better marketing ROI; synergy with Tripadvisor brand.
Q: Growth vs margins for Viator?
A (CFO): Focus on repeat users and OTA-like margins long term; doubling margins this year.
Q: International opportunities?
A (CEO): Expanding to Europe and other regions, adding categories like attractions, wellness, sports, music.
Q: Brand Tripadvisor recovery in 2026?
A (CFO): Dependent on stabilizing traffic and growing logged-in app users; app engagement and membership credits program launched.
Q: Capital allocation priorities?
A (CFO & CEO): Focus on organic growth, share buybacks, selective M&A. Strong net cash position.

These summaries are generated using artificial intelligence from publicly available earnings and conference call transcripts. The information presented reflects the author’s interpretation and does not represent the views of any other person or entity, including Altimeter Capital Management, LP (“Altimeter”). While the content is believed to be based on reliable sources, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness, and no liability is accepted for any errors or omissions.

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