Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG reported non-GAAP earnings of $20.39 per share for first-quarter 2024, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 45.3%. The figure jumped 76% from the year-ago quarter.
Revenues of $4.41 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.25 billion. The top line improved 16.9% year over year on a reported basis and 17% on a constant-currency (cc) basis.
Solid travel demand and booking trends from the year-ago quarter were tailwinds.
Booking Holdings witnessed growth of 10.7% in rental cars on a year-over-year basis and 33.1% growth in the airline tickets unit in the reported quarter.
Booked room night numbers, amounting to 297 million in the first quarter, rose 8.5% from the prior-year quarter.
The company witnessed strong growth across its merchant and advertising, and other businesses in the reported quarter.
However, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East region remained concerning for the company.
Booking Holdings has gained 2.5% year to date, underperforming the industry’s growth of 14.2%.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Booking Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Booking Holdings Inc. Quote
Top Line in Detail
Agency revenues were $1.8 billion (39.9% of the total revenues), down 1.1% year over year.
Merchant revenues were $2.4 billion (54.1% of the total revenues), up 36.3% on a year-over-year basis.
Advertising & Other revenues were $264 million (6% of the total revenues), which increased 8.2% from the year-ago quarter.
Bookings
The company’s overall gross bookings totaled $43.5 billion, which rose 10.4% on a reported basis and 10% on a cc basis from the year-ago quarter.
Total gross bookings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $42.1 billion.
Merchant bookings were $25.8 billion, up 29.3% from the prior-year quarter. The figure topped the consensus mark of $23.3 billion.
Agency bookings were $17.8 billion, down 8.9% from the prior-year quarter. The figure lagged the consensus mark of $18.8 billion.
Operating Results
Adjusted EBITDA in the reported quarter was $898 million, which improved 53% year over year.
The adjusted EBITDA margin was 20.3%, which expanded 480 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter.
Per management, operating expenses were $3.6 billion, up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis.
Booking Holdings generated an operating income of $791 million, which increased 78.8% year over year. The operating margin expanded 600 bps year over year to 17.9%.
Balance Sheet
As of Mar 31, 2024, the company’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $15.6 billion, up from $12.1 billion as of Dec 31, 2023. Short-term investments amounted to $362 million, down from $579 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Account receivables totaled $3.29 billion compared with $3.25 billion in the prior quarter.
At the end of the first quarter, Booking Holdings had $13.44 billion of long-term debt, up from $12.22 billion at the end of the fourth quarter.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Booking Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the retail-wholesale sector are The Gap GPS, DICK’S Sporting Goods DKS and Target TGT, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Gap has lost 3.9% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for GPS is estimated at 12%.
DICK’S Sporting Goods shares have gained 41.2% in the year-to-date period. DKS’s long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 35.5%.
Target has gained 11.5% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for TGT is anticipated at 11.36%.
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