Trivago N.V. ADS Q1 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Trivago reported a stronger-than-expected start to 2026 with Q1 total revenue up 15% YoY to EUR 142.9M, its fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, and raised 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to around EUR 25M while reaffirming double-digit full-year revenue growth.
• Operating costs rose due to higher brand and performance marketing, but product conversion is up 58% since Q1 2023 and global ROAS improved to 121%, supporting a strategy of moderated brand spend to drive incremental profitability.
• Trivago authorized a share buyback of up to EUR 20M backed by a cash balance of EUR 136.1M and zero long-term debt, and filed a multi-year antitrust damages claim against Google covering 2014–2025.

Trivago N.V. ADS NASDAQ: TRVG reported a stronger-than-expected start to 2026, posting 15% year-over-year total revenue growth in the first quarter and raising its full-year profitability outlook. Management said results were driven by compounding effects from prior brand investments, improving product conversion, and continued efforts to diversify both traffic sources and advertiser mix.

Quarterly performance and outlook update

CEO Johannes Thomas said trivago delivered its “fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth while improving profitability against our prior year,” with the Americas and developed Europe outperforming internal expectations. Thomas noted that branded traffic revenue again grew faster than total revenue, which he described as evidence that the company’s brand strategy “continues to compound.” He also said product conversion improved significantly, with conversion rate “up 58% since Q1 2023.”

Based on first-quarter performance and early momentum in the second quarter, Thomas said trivago reaffirmed its full-year revenue outlook of “double-digit percentage growth” while increasing profitability guidance. CFO Wolf Schmuhl later specified that the company now expects 2026 adjusted EBITDA of “around EUR 25 million,” up from prior guidance of at least EUR 20 million.

Revenue mix, regional trends, and FX and geopolitical headwinds

Schmuhl said first-quarter total revenue was EUR 142.9 million, up 15% year over year, despite foreign exchange headwinds of approximately 5% globally. He reported referral revenue growth of 17% in the Americas and 14% in developed Europe, attributing the outperformance to higher-quality traffic from branded channels and “compounding brand effects.”

Rest of world referral revenue declined 12% year over year. Schmuhl said the segment faced FX headwinds of approximately 9% and geopolitical pressure in the Middle East, citing airspace restrictions and elevated oil prices. He said the company managed these markets “tactically” by adjusting bidding, spend, and targets locally, while acknowledging continued near-term uncertainty.

Schmuhl emphasized trivago’s segment diversification, noting that developed Europe represented 44% of Q1 referral revenue and the Americas 39%, while rest of world was 17%, which limited the overall impact of localized pressures.

Profitability, marketing spend, and return on ad spend

For the quarter, Schmuhl reported a net loss of EUR 7.3 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of EUR 4.5 million, which he said was above internal expectations. Operating expenses rose EUR 19.2 million to EUR 152.9 million, driven primarily by a EUR 10.6 million increase in selling and marketing. Schmuhl said this reflected higher investments in brand and performance marketing and “incremental expenses resulting from the consolidation of trivago Deals, formerly Holisto.”

Advertising spend increased by EUR 7.8 million (20%) in developed Europe and by EUR 4.1 million (9%) in the Americas, while decreasing by EUR 1 million (5%) in rest of world. Despite higher marketing investments, Schmuhl said global return on advertising spend (ROAS) improved to 121% from 118.1% in the prior-year quarter. The Americas saw the largest improvement, rising to 116.1% from 102.7%, while developed Europe declined to 130.5% from 134% and rest of world fell to 111.2% from 120.3%.

In Q&A, Schmuhl explained that the Americas benefited from brand investments made in prior quarters that are now compounding, allowing the company to “spend less in order to generate the same revenue.” He added that improved conversion contributed to “better quality traffic.” In developed Europe, he attributed ROAS pressure to increased brand investment and the timing of brand benefits, saying the positive effects “will set in at later stages.”

Looking ahead, Schmuhl said trivago plans to continue scaling brand marketing investments but “at a more moderated pace compared to previous years,” aiming to use compounding effects to “gradually increase profitability in 2026.” He also reiterated the company’s longer-term goal of targeting a 10% adjusted EBITDA margin “in the next few years,” though management declined to provide a more specific timeline.

Thomas added that logged-in members and customer relationship management (CRM) efforts could provide incremental profit leverage over time, describing email engagement as a growing internal focus that he expects to “start to become meaningful for our bottom line very soon.”

Marketplace changes, member growth, and product initiatives

Thomas said trivago’s logged-in member strategy is advancing faster than expected, with logged-in members now driving more than 30% of referral revenue (before intercompany eliminations). He said members gain access to exclusive partner deals and provide more touchpoints that can extend the user life cycle, supporting retention and personalization.

On personalization, Thomas said trivago expanded explicit preference settings, allowing users to indicate priorities such as hotel style, quality, star rating, location, and budget. He said combining real-time behavior signals with stated preferences lays the groundwork for more tailored recommendations at scale.

Thomas also highlighted new product work, including the launch of “Nova Vista,” a new desktop architecture aimed at enabling more structural experimentation, and AI-related features such as AI-synthesized “top 10 badges by themes” to surface a hotel’s standout qualities and reduce decision fatigue.

On the partner side, Thomas said trivago’s marketplace has become less concentrated. Before intercompany eliminations, he said the share of referral revenue from “all other advertisers” increased from 20% in Q1 2023 to 35% in Q1 2026. He attributed the shift to multiple factors, including improved conversion, the company’s second-price auction, its transaction-based CPA model, trivago Book & Go, and the rollout of its property details page.

Thomas said the property details page, now rolled out globally after a long testing period, helps direct partners by handing off users “at the right moment” in the booking journey, which he said has “meaningfully improve[d] conversion for our direct partners.” He also said trivago Book & Go has scaled rapidly, with referral revenue through the funnel up 530% since Q1 2023 (before intercompany eliminations) and now a top-five player in trivago’s marketplace globally. Meanwhile, Schmuhl said the transaction-based CPA model processed over 30% of referral revenue (before intercompany eliminations), up from 25% in the prior quarter.

Share buyback, cash position, and Google-related developments

Trivago announced a planned share buyback of up to EUR 20 million. Schmuhl said details are to be finalized, with execution expected to start at the end of May. He cited a cash balance of EUR 136.1 million and zero long-term debt as of March 31, calling the buyback a “disciplined and high-return use of capital.” Schmuhl also said management believes the current share price “does not reflect the company's long-term earnings potential.”

Thomas also announced the company filed an antitrust damages claim against Google in the Regional Court of Hamburg, seeking compensation for alleged damages from Google’s self-preferencing in general search results. Thomas said the claim covers January 2014 through December 2025, is based on an independent expert analysis, and could be a “multi-year effort,” while stressing that litigation outcomes are inherently uncertain. He cited the European Commission’s 2017 Google Shopping decision—upheld by the European Court of Justice in September 2024—as part of the legal framework supporting such actions, and referenced two first-instance awards in comparable cases in Berlin in November 2025.

In response to an analyst question about Google’s recent changes, Thomas said trivago has not seen a material short-term impact and described Google, from trivago’s perspective, as “still not complying with DMA,” referencing the European Commission’s preliminary finding and pending final decision. He added that restrictions on Google placing its full hotel search and price comparison product at the top of search results are “strategically a positive development,” but said there was no notable change “in the last week.”

About Trivago N.V. ADS NASDAQ: TRVG

Trivago N.V. ADS NASDAQ: TRVG operates as a leading online travel metasearch platform focused on helping consumers compare hotel prices worldwide. Headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, the company aggregates accommodation offers from hotel websites, online travel agencies and other booking platforms, enabling travelers to find optimal rates and availability across millions of properties. Its platform is accessible via desktop and mobile applications, offering user-friendly search filters, customer reviews and detailed property information to support informed booking decisions.

The company's primary revenue model centers on cost-per-click (CPC) advertising, where accommodation providers and travel agencies bid for prominent placement in search results.

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