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Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG - Free Report) reported non-GAAP earnings of $32 per share for fourth-quarter 2023, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.7%. The figure jumped 29% from the year-ago quarter.
Revenues of $4.78 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.66 billion. The top line improved 18% 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 45.8% growth in the airline tickets unit in the reported quarter.
Booked room night numbers, amounting to 231 million in the fourth quarter, surged 9.2% from the prior-year quarter.
The company witnessed strong growth across its merchant and advertising and other businesses in the reported quarter.
Booking Holdings has gained 60.8% in the past year, outperforming the industry’s growth of 47.6%.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Agency revenues were $2.07 billion (43.2% of the total revenues), up 0.9% year over year.
Merchant revenues were $2.47 billion (51.6% of the total revenues), up 38.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Advertising & Other revenues were $247 million (5.2% of the total revenues), which increased 12.3% from the year-ago quarter.
Bookings
The company’s overall gross bookings totaled $31.7 billion, which increased 16% on a reported basis and 15% on a cc basis from the year-ago quarter.
Total gross bookings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $30.89 billion.
Merchant bookings were $18.4 billion, up 38.7% from the prior-year quarter. The figure topped the consensus mark of $16.8 billion.
Agency bookings were $13.3 billion, down 5.3% from the prior-year quarter. The figure lagged the consensus mark of $14.07 billion.
Operating Results
Adjusted EBITDA in the reported quarter was $1.5 billion, which improved 18% year over year.
The adjusted EBITDA margin was 30.6%, which contracted 10 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter.
Per management, operating expenses were $4.2 billion, up 54.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Booking Holdings generated an operating income of $609 million, which decreased 54.7% year over year.
Balance Sheet
As of Dec 31, 2023, the company’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $12.11 billion, down from $13.29 billion as of Sep 30, 2023. Short-term investments amounted to $576 million, down from $624 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Account receivables totaled $3.25 billion compared with $3.45 billion in the prior quarter.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Booking Holdings had $12.22 billion of long-term debt, up from $11.86 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 $32 per share for fourth-quarter 2023, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 7.7%. The figure jumped 29% from the year-ago quarter.
Revenues of $4.78 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.66 billion. The top line improved 18% 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 45.8% growth in the airline tickets unit in the reported quarter.
Booked room night numbers, amounting to 231 million in the fourth quarter, surged 9.2% from the prior-year quarter.
The company witnessed strong growth across its merchant and advertising and other businesses in the reported quarter.
Booking Holdings has gained 60.8% in the past year, outperforming the industry’s growth of 47.6%.
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 $2.07 billion (43.2% of the total revenues), up 0.9% year over year.
Merchant revenues were $2.47 billion (51.6% of the total revenues), up 38.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Advertising & Other revenues were $247 million (5.2% of the total revenues), which increased 12.3% from the year-ago quarter.
Bookings
The company’s overall gross bookings totaled $31.7 billion, which increased 16% on a reported basis and 15% on a cc basis from the year-ago quarter.
Total gross bookings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $30.89 billion.
Merchant bookings were $18.4 billion, up 38.7% from the prior-year quarter. The figure topped the consensus mark of $16.8 billion.
Agency bookings were $13.3 billion, down 5.3% from the prior-year quarter. The figure lagged the consensus mark of $14.07 billion.
Operating Results
Adjusted EBITDA in the reported quarter was $1.5 billion, which improved 18% year over year.
The adjusted EBITDA margin was 30.6%, which contracted 10 basis points (bps) from the prior-year quarter.
Per management, operating expenses were $4.2 billion, up 54.4% on a year-over-year basis.
Booking Holdings generated an operating income of $609 million, which decreased 54.7% year over year.
Balance Sheet
As of Dec 31, 2023, the company’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $12.11 billion, down from $13.29 billion as of Sep 30, 2023. Short-term investments amounted to $576 million, down from $624 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Account receivables totaled $3.25 billion compared with $3.45 billion in the prior quarter.
At the end of the fourth quarter, Booking Holdings had $12.22 billion of long-term debt, up from $11.86 billion at the end of the third quarter.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Booking Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some other top-ranked stocks in the Retail-Wholesale sector are American Eagle Outfitters (AEO - Free Report) , Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF - Free Report) and The Gap (GPS - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
American Eagle Outfitters shares have gained 8.6% year to date. AEO is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2023 results on Mar 7.
Abercrombie & Fitch shares have gained 37.4% year to date. ANF is set to report its fourth-quarter 2023 results on Mar 6.
The Gap shares have declined 8.7% year to date. GPS is set to announce fourth-quarter 2023 results on Mar 7.