Booking Stock a Strong Buy at Tigress Financial

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) delivered a blowout first-quarter performance, with earnings and revenue far exceeding analyst expectations, fueled by solid growth in travel demand across its global platform.

The company reported earnings per share of $24.81, crushing the consensus estimate of $17.45. Revenue rose 8% year-over-year to $4.76 billion, beating projections of $4.59 billion. On a constant currency basis, revenue growth reached 10%.

Room nights and gross bookings both increased 7% compared to the prior year, with bookings climbing 10% when adjusted for currency impacts. The results reflect continued strength in global travel demand and the company's broad geographic diversification.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is a leading player in the online travel industry, providing services through its well-known brands like Booking.com, Priceline, and Agoda. The company facilitates travel reservations, including hotel stays, car rentals, and airline tickets. It competes with other major online travel agencies such as Expedia Group and TripAdvisor.

In the past 30 days, BKNG has shown a modest gain of 1.23%, indicating a steady upward trend. This performance reflects investor confidence and market resilience, despite a recent 10-day decline of 3.87%. Such a pullback might present a buying opportunity for investors who believe in the stock's potential rebound.

BKNG's growth potential is robust, with an estimated stock price growth of 15.74%. This suggests that the stock is currently undervalued, offering room for appreciation. Growth-oriented investors may find this particularly attractive, as the stock's fundamentals support its potential for future gains.

The company's financial health is strong, as evidenced by a Piotroski Score of 8. This score indicates solid profitability, liquidity, and operational efficiency, making BKNG a financially sound investment. The Piotroski Score is a tool used to assess a company's financial strength, with higher scores indicating better financial health.

Analysts have set a target price of $5,156.25 for BKNG, reflecting a consensus on the stock's fair market value. This target suggests significant upside from its current trading levels, reinforcing the stock's attractiveness to investors. As always, potential investors should consider their risk tolerance and conduct thorough research before investing.

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) rallied more than 3% intra-day today after reporting fourth-quarter results that exceeded analyst expectations, driven by robust travel demand and higher-than-expected bookings.

For the quarter, the online travel giant posted adjusted earnings per share of $41.55, far surpassing analyst estimates of $36.13. Revenue came in at $5.47 billion, exceeding the $5.19 billion forecast.

Booking activity remained strong, with room nights rising 13% year-over-year to 261 million, while gross bookings climbed 17% from the same period last year, reflecting continued strength in global travel trends.

On top of the strong performance, Booking increased its quarterly dividend by 10% to $9.60 per share, signaling confidence in its future growth and commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is a leading player in the online travel industry, offering services such as hotel reservations, car rentals, and airline ticket bookings. As the company prepares to release its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings on February 20, 2025, Wall Street is keenly watching the anticipated figures. Analysts estimate an earnings per share (EPS) of $35.82 and project revenues to be around $5.18 billion.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate suggests a slightly lower EPS of $35.75, reflecting an 11.72% increase from the previous year. This growth is attributed to strong performance in gross bookings, hotel room nights sold, and airline ticket units sold. Despite a 2.8% downward revision in the EPS estimate over the past month, Booking Holdings has a track record of surpassing earnings estimates, with an average surprise of 16.75% over the last four quarters.

Revenue projections for Booking Holdings stand at $5.19 billion, marking an 8.59% increase from the same quarter last year. This growth is indicative of the company's robust business model and its ability to capitalize on the recovering travel industry. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of approximately 34.1 and a price-to-sales ratio of about 7.38 reflect the market's confidence in the company's earnings and revenue potential.

Investors are particularly interested in how the actual results will compare to these estimates, as any deviation could significantly impact the stock's price. A positive earnings surprise could lead to a rise in BKNG's stock price, while a miss might result in a decline. The management's discussion during the earnings call will be crucial in assessing the sustainability of any immediate price changes and future earnings projections.

Booking Holdings' financial metrics, such as an enterprise value to sales ratio of 7.42 and an enterprise value to operating cash flow ratio of 19.12, provide insights into the company's valuation relative to its cash flow. The earnings yield of about 2.93% offers a perspective on the return on investment. Despite a negative debt-to-equity ratio of -4.58, the company's current ratio of approximately 1.23 indicates its ability to cover short-term liabilities with short-term assets.

Benchmark analysts upgraded Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) to Buy from Hold, setting a new price target of $4,700 per share. The analysts highlighted the decision to align the rating with their positive long-term outlook for the company, despite current economic uncertainties and anecdotal reports of spending reductions in key European markets.

The analysts cited increased resilience in EMEA regions, better-than-expected growth in APAC, and growth in Latin America as key factors boosting confidence in Booking Holdings' potential to outperform consensus estimates over the next 18 months. Additionally, they noted that the company is expected to continue gaining market share, with further expansion anticipated in North America.

The new price target of $4,700 per share is based on a multiple of 20 times the estimated 2025 cash EPS of $235, or 16 times adjusted EBITDA.

DA Davidson analysts upgraded Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) to Buy from Neutral, maintaining a $3,400 price target. As a consequence, shares rose more than 4% intra-day today.

Following a recent stock dip and a strong Q3/23 performance, the analysts see potential in continued leisure travel demand and the company's cost management.

Despite increasing 2024 revenue and EBITDA estimates, the price target is based on DCF (discounted cash flow), implying a 14.5x 2024 EV/EBITDA. Booking Holdings is currently trading at an 11% discount to its five-year average P/E multiple.