Bernstein Reiterates Market Perform on Booking Holdings (BKNG) After 'A Very Strong Quarter'

Bernstein SocGen Group analyst Richard Clarke reiterated a Market Perform rating and $5,200.00 price target on Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG).

The analyst commented: "The classic BKNG Q4: a very strong quarter, room night growth up 13.0% clearing the high bar set by Expedia (11.6%) and Airbnb (12.3%) — all are gaining share, Booking the most. Room nights beat by 4%, revenue by 6% and EBITDA by 12%; only FCF (-49% YoY and missing by 40%) missed due to a large drop in customer deposits QoQ. However, once again the strong quarter was offset by a soft guidance: Q1 Room nights implies a halving of growth, EBITDA guide of $800-850m well below consensus’ $950m and FY25 Gross Bookings/Revenue growth of MSD below consensus’ view of 8%, albeit with a big FX headwind. This is the classic YE dance — lowering expectations to set up for a year of beats. Our outlook predicted this early low-balling and that any investors should hold off — Booking is up 3% YTD but has lagged S&P +5%, ABNB/EXPE up DD.

The AI question: Unlike Expedia, Booking’s call was AI dominated. The company suggest they’ve seen the disintermediation risk narrative before but while Google sent customers to Booking.com, AI agents will do the navigation itself. Given Booking’s cross-selling, upselling and sponsored listing required customer interaction this is a risk. Market-Perform."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Booking Holdings click here. For more ratings news on Booking Holdings click here.

Shares of Booking Holdings closed at $4990.64 yesterday.

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