Priceline Bottom Line Spikes; Stock Soars

Updated to reflected recent stock movements.

NORWALK, Conn. (TheStreet) -- Could this be the beginning of the end of the staycation? Online travel agency Priceline.com(PCLN) announced a 35% jump in second-quarter earnings as its bookings increased.

The news sent shares in Priceline soaring by more than 13% to $148.51 in early morning trading.

During the quarter, the company earned $67 million, or $1.38 a share, compared with $49.8 million, or $1, in the year-ago period.

Excluding one-stime items earnings were $2.02 a share, beating analysts expectations of $1.79 a share.

Revenue jumped 17.5% to $603.7 million, while bookings rose 13% to $2.38 billion, as travel was stronger-than-expected even amid the recession.

Last week, rival Orbitz Worldwide(OWW)swung to profit in its second-quarter due to cost cuts, despite a 19% decline in revenue from falling hotel rates and the elimination of air booking fees.

Rival Expedia(EXPE), however, saw its second-quarter profit more than halved.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.