Expedia rises on higher annual forecast

Expedia's shares EXPE.O rise nearly 18% to about $221 in premarket trading

Co raised its full-year gross bookings growth forecast to between 3% and 5%, up 1 percentage point from its earlier forecast

"Since the beginning of July, we've seen an uptick in overall travel demand, particularly in the U.S.," CEO Ariane Gorin said on the earnings call on Thursday

Co reported a 21% rise in Q2 adjusted earnings per share to $4.24, beating analysts' estimates of $4.1, according to data compiled by LSEG

Fifteen of 36 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, 20 "hold" and one "sell" or lower; their median PT is $200 - LSEG data

As of last close, shares up nearly 1% YTD