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Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG - Free Report) reported non-GAAP earnings of $24.74 per share for fourth-quarter 2022, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17.9%. Further, the figure increased 56% from the year-ago quarter’s level.
Revenues of $4.05 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.86 billion. The top line improved 36% year over year on a reported basis and 49% on a constant-currency (cc) basis.
Improving travel demand and booking trends from the year-ago quarter were tailwinds.
Booking Holdings witnessed growth of 27.6% in rental cars on a year-over-year basis. BKNG also experienced 61.5% year-over-year growth in the airline tickets unit in the reported quarter.
Booked room night numbers, amounting to 211 million in the fourth quarter, surged 39.5% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
The company witnessed strong growth across its agency, merchant and advertising and other businesses in the reported quarter.
However, headwinds related to the coronavirus pandemic and macroeconomic uncertainties remain overhangs for BKNG.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Booking Holdings generates the bulk of its revenues from international markets, where the agency model is more popular. This is reflected in the merchant/agency split of revenues, which was 44/50.6% in the fourth quarter (the previous quarter’s split was 43.2/52.9%).
Agency revenues were $2.05 billion, up 17% year over year. Merchant revenues were $1.8 billion, up 71.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Advertising & Other revenues were $220 million (5.4% of total revenues), increased by 15.8% from the year-ago quarter.
Bookings
Booking Holdings’ overall gross bookings totaled $27.3 billion, which increased by 43.6% on a reported basis and 58% on a cc basis from the year-ago quarter’s respective readings.
Total gross bookings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $30.14 billion.
Merchant bookings were $13.3 billion, up 85.9% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
Agency bookings were $14.03 billion, rising 18.2% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
Operating Results
Adjusted EBITDA in the reported quarter was $1.2 billion, which improved 32% year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 30.6%, which contracted 90 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter’s level.
Per management, operating expenses were $2.7 billion, up 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a percentage of revenues, the figure contracted 480 bps from the year-ago quarter’s figure.
Booking Holdings generated an operating margin of 33.2%, which expanded 480 bps year over year.
Balance Sheet
As of Dec 31, 2022, cash and cash equivalents were $12.2 billion, up from $9.02 billion as of Sep 30, 2022. Short-term investments were $175 million, up from $116 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Account receivables amounted to $2.2 billion in the reported quarter compared with $2.3 billion in the previous quarter.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Booking Holdings had $11.9 billion of long-term debt, up from $7.9 billion at the end of the third quarter.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Booking Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Image: Bigstock
Booking Holdings (BKNG) Q4 Earnings Beat, Revenues Rise Y/Y
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG - Free Report) reported non-GAAP earnings of $24.74 per share for fourth-quarter 2022, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 17.9%. Further, the figure increased 56% from the year-ago quarter’s level.
Revenues of $4.05 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.86 billion. The top line improved 36% year over year on a reported basis and 49% on a constant-currency (cc) basis.
Improving travel demand and booking trends from the year-ago quarter were tailwinds.
Booking Holdings witnessed growth of 27.6% in rental cars on a year-over-year basis. BKNG also experienced 61.5% year-over-year growth in the airline tickets unit in the reported quarter.
Booked room night numbers, amounting to 211 million in the fourth quarter, surged 39.5% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
The company witnessed strong growth across its agency, merchant and advertising and other businesses in the reported quarter.
However, headwinds related to the coronavirus pandemic and macroeconomic uncertainties remain overhangs for BKNG.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Booking Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Booking Holdings Inc. Quote
Top Line in Detail
Booking Holdings generates the bulk of its revenues from international markets, where the agency model is more popular. This is reflected in the merchant/agency split of revenues, which was 44/50.6% in the fourth quarter (the previous quarter’s split was 43.2/52.9%).
Agency revenues were $2.05 billion, up 17% year over year. Merchant revenues were $1.8 billion, up 71.1% on a year-over-year basis.
Advertising & Other revenues were $220 million (5.4% of total revenues), increased by 15.8% from the year-ago quarter.
Bookings
Booking Holdings’ overall gross bookings totaled $27.3 billion, which increased by 43.6% on a reported basis and 58% on a cc basis from the year-ago quarter’s respective readings.
Total gross bookings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $30.14 billion.
Merchant bookings were $13.3 billion, up 85.9% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
Agency bookings were $14.03 billion, rising 18.2% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
Operating Results
Adjusted EBITDA in the reported quarter was $1.2 billion, which improved 32% year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 30.6%, which contracted 90 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter’s level.
Per management, operating expenses were $2.7 billion, up 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a percentage of revenues, the figure contracted 480 bps from the year-ago quarter’s figure.
Booking Holdings generated an operating margin of 33.2%, which expanded 480 bps year over year.
Balance Sheet
As of Dec 31, 2022, cash and cash equivalents were $12.2 billion, up from $9.02 billion as of Sep 30, 2022. Short-term investments were $175 million, up from $116 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Account receivables amounted to $2.2 billion in the reported quarter compared with $2.3 billion in the previous quarter.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Booking Holdings had $11.9 billion of long-term debt, up from $7.9 billion at the end of the third quarter.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Booking Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the retail-wholesale sector are Ulta Beauty (ULTA - Free Report) , Costco Wholesale (COST - Free Report) and Ross Stores (ROST - Free Report) , each currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Ulta Beauty has gained 42.4% on a year-to-date basis. The long-term earnings growth rate for ULTA is currently projected at 13.75%.
Costco Wholesale has lost 1.6% on a year-to-date basis. The long-term earnings growth rate for COST is currently projected at 9.57%.
Ross Stores has gained 24.3% on a year-to-date basis. The long-term earnings growth rate for ROST is currently projected at 10.5%.