Booking Holdings results top estimates after summer travel boom

BOOKING Holdings reported gross bookings and revenue in the third quarter that beat analysts’ estimates, reflecting a summer surge in travel after two years of pent-up demand.

Gross bookings, which include all travel services booked by customers net of cancellations, jumped 36 per cent to US$32.12 billion. Analysts had forecast US$30.74 billion. Revenue was US$6.1 billion, a quarterly record and up 29 per cent from last year. The shares rose 5.4 per cent in extended trading before giving up those gains.

The largest US online travel company has rebounded from an early pandemic slump and had been anticipating one of the strongest summer seasons ever with the end of Covid restrictions around much of the world. But rising inflation and a strong dollar have injected some doubt into the outlook for the rest of the year. On Tuesday (Nov 1), Airbnb said it expected nights and experiences booked to “moderate slightly” in the current period.

“Despite the rising concern around the macroeconomic environment, we are encouraged by the slight improvement in room night growth we have seen in October and by the level of bookings for travel in early 2023,” chief executive officer Glenn Fogel said in a statement.

Booking operates across six sites, giving it a comprehensive view of the global travel market. Its namesake brand offers online reservation services at hotels, resorts and apartments around the world in addition to a growing alternative accommodations platform to rival Airbnb and Expedia Group’s Vrbo. The parent company also owns Priceline, which provides discount bookings for hotels, cruises, cars and vacation packages. Other brands include flight aggregator Kayak and restaurant reservation portal OpenTable. The company earns about 85 per cent of its revenue from international markets, making it particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in currencies.

Even with record revenue across the travel industry, investors have punished travel companies, sending shares of Booking down 26 per cent this year. The company has fared better than its rivals Airbnb and Expedia, which have declined 43 per cent and 50 per cent so far this year, respectively. BLOOMBERG