Hotel search and price comparison platform Trivago said its first quarter earnings surpassed its prior outlook and therefore it is revising its future guidance upward.
"We are thrilled to announce that we significantly accelerated our momentum in the first quarter of 2025, exceeding expectations on both the top and bottom lines,” said Johannes Thomas, CEO of Trivago. “In light of this strong performance and the continuing strong double-digit growth trajectory, we are revising our full-year revenue growth guidance upward to the mid-teens percentage range, along with stronger-than-anticipated adjusted EBITDA profitability.”
Thomas said Tuesday in a release that the results reflect the team’s “diligent execution” of its strategy over the past two years, and it is benefitting with returns from marketing investments and moves that have improved the metasearch site’s conversion rates.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
In the first quarter of 2025, revenue was €124.1 million, up 22% compared to the same period in 2024. Referral revenue was €123.4 million, marking a 23% rise year-over-year. And net loss was €7.8 million for the first quarter, down 7% compared to the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted EBITDA loss was €6.5 million for Q1, down 29% from the same period in 2024.
Advertising spend in the first quarter of 2025 was €104.5 million, up 24% from Q1 2024.
"Alongside impressive revenue growth, we maintained stable Return on Advertising Spend and improved our net results. We’re excited by the global potential of trivago’s strong brand and expect this initial success to be only the beginning,” said Robin Harries, chief financial officer for Trivago, said in the release. “Our value proposition remains compelling, especially in the current economic environment where we believe we can deliver significant cost savings to travelers.”
The results come after the company saw revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2024, for the first time since the first quarter of 2023.
On the company's first quarter earnings conference call Wednesday, Thomas said Trivago remains focused on three strategic priorities: brand marketing, enhancing Trivago's core search experience and empowering partners to maximize their potential on Trivago.
As the industry remains focused on the pending impact of artificial intelligence, Thomas was asked about the potential risks posed by "AI hyper scalers" to travel search.
He maintained his belief that metasearch is defensible.
"If you look at the general gen[erative] AI products, I think ... certainly on the upper funnel, on the research layer, they can support travelers in their research," Thomas said.
But when it comes to "vertical transaction" in which a user might pick a hotel, there is a use case for metasearch.
"How we generally see it, is that other search engines, let's say Google, they didn't take over travel," Thomas said. "As we know, travelers use dozens of sites and their travel research. We think this will not fundamentally change."
Thomas also emphasized the work Trivago is doing to integrate AI into its product after referencing earlier on the call moves such as filtering features powered by AI, hotel highlights generated by AI and more. "We're excited about the opportunities," he said. "And the question is, which brand brings these features in front of users faster and positions themselves as having these features available? And we think we are on top of that and happy with where we are today and continue to invest into it."
Also on the earnings call, Thomas gave thanks to Harries, who is departing Trivago and welcomed Wolf Schmuhl, who will step into the CFO role on June 1.
"Wolf has consistently proven himself during his tenure at Trivago, and is a natural fit for the role, bringing a wealth of experience in finance and strategic development," he said. "As a leadership team, we're very excited to build on momentum and transform the company together."
* This story was updated following Trivago's first quarter earnings conference call.