Booking Holdings Inc

Booking Holdings reported both a strong revenue and EPS beat for the third quarter of 2022 as consumers begin to travel again and more of the world opens up. We anticipated this in our last report on the company, seeing the stock as a reopening play. The company reported revenue of $6.05B vs estimates of ~$5.9B and earnings per share of $53.03 vs. the street’s estimates of $49.85. Room nights booked were up 8% on a three-year stack. Q3 revenue was 20% higher on a three-year stack and adjusted operating earnings (EBITDA) was 7% higher. These are stellar results and the stock as justifiably rallied in spite of the broader market selloff. We reiterate what we have said in our reports on Visa and Mastercard: consumer spend is shifting from “things” to experiences and Booking Holdings benefits from this.