Booking Stock Surges After ‘Strong’ Results, Analysts Bullish on Travel Demand By Investing.com

Shares of Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:) are up more than 10% in premarket trading after the company reported better-than-expected Q1 revenue and gross bookings on Wednesday.

The travel technology company Q1 adjusted EPS of $3.90, topping the loss per share of $5.26 and above the consensus estimates of 71c per share. Revenue came in at $2.7 billion in the period, up from $1.14 billion in the year-ago period and above the analyst consensus of $2.54 billion.

Gross bookings totaled a record $27.3 billion, up from $11.94 billion in the same quarter last year and compared to the consensus projection of $25.39 billion. The number of room nights sold stood at 198 million in the quarter, compared to 99 million last year and 197.9 million expected by the analysts. BKNG’s marketing expenses in the quarter totaled $1.15 billion.

“Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, we have seen continued strengthening of global travel trends so far in the second quarter of 2022, and we are preparing for a busy summer travel season ahead,” the company said.

Stifel analyst Scott Devitt took note of “strong” results and a quarter-to-date (QTD) update that was “ significantly above our estimates and consensus.” Devitt lowered the price target to $2,600.00 from $2,650.00 while remaining at Hold.

“We are raising our estimates for 2Q and the remainder of the year reflecting current momentum and management’s expectation for elevated ADRs to persist in the near-term. We highlight that elevated ADRs continue to act as a material tailwind to growth, a dynamic that would reverse should ADRs begin to normalize towards pre-pandemic levels. We are cautious on share performance from here as uncertain ADR trends in 2H/2023 may limit upside to bookings growth, with further uncertainty stemming from potential consumer price sensitivity and a weaker macro backdrop,” Devitt said in a client note.

Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough reiterated a Buy rating and the company’s position on the Edward Jones Stock Focus List.

The analyst saw “strong” results when the war in Ukraine and lockdowns in China are taken into the account. Yarbrough expects that Booking will continue to benefit from pent-up demand for travel.

By Senad Karaahmetovic