Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call May 2, 2024 4:30 PM ET Company Participants Glenn Fogel - Chief Executive Officer Ewout Steenbergen - Chief Financial Officer Conference Call Participants Kevin Kopelman - TD Cowen Mark Mahaney - Evercore Justin Post - Bank of America Doug Anmuth - JPMorgan Brian Nowak - Morgan Stanley James Lee - Mizuho Securities Stephen Ju - UBS Lee Horowitz - Deutsche Bank. John Colantuoni - Jefferies Ronald Josey - Citi Jed Kelly - Oppenheimer Tom Whi ...

Financial Performance - In Q1 2024, global room nights increased by 9% year-over-year, driven primarily by strong travel demand in Europe and Asia[134]. - Room nights increased by 8.5% to 297 million in Q1 2024 compared to 274 million in Q1 2023, driven by strong travel demand in Europe and Asia[165]. - Total gross bookings rose by 10.4% to $43.535 billion in Q1 2024 from $39.427 billion in Q1 2023, with merchant gross bookings increasing by 29.3%[166]. - Merchant revenues increased by 36.3% to $2.388 billion in Q1 2024, while agency revenues decreased by 1.1% to $1.763 billion[176]. - Total revenues rose by 40% for the three months ended March 31, 2023, year-over-year; excluding foreign currency effects, revenues increased by approximately 46% on a constant-currency basis[221]. Marketing and Booking Trends - The mix of room nights booked on mobile apps rose to approximately 51% in Q1 2024, up from 46% in Q1 2023, indicating a shift towards mobile bookings[145]. - The percentage of gross bookings generated on a merchant basis increased to 59% in Q1 2024, up from 51% in Q1 2023, impacting operating margins due to associated expenses[146]. - Total marketing expenses in Q1 2024 were $1.6 billion, a 6% increase year-over-year, reflecting healthy demand and marketing investments[147]. - The mix of room nights booked for alternative accommodation properties increased to approximately 36% in Q1 2024, up from 33% in Q1 2023[151]. Expenses and Cost Management - Personnel expenses rose by 14.5% to $826 million in Q1 2024, influenced by a 7% increase in employee headcount from approximately 22,400 to 24,000[181]. - Marketing expenses increased by 6.1% to $1.610 billion in Q1 2024, while as a percentage of total revenues, it decreased from 40.2% to 36.5%[177]. - General and administrative expenses decreased by 29.1% to $186 million in Q1 2024, primarily due to a reduction in travel transaction taxes[184]. - Information technology expenses increased by 36.8% to $187 million in Q1 2024, driven by higher cloud computing and software maintenance costs[186]. - Depreciation and amortization expenses rose by 14.1% to $137 million in Q1 2024, mainly due to increased depreciation of computer equipment[188]. Cash Flow and Financing - Cash, cash equivalents, and investments totaled $16.4 billion as of March 31, 2024, with approximately $9.6 billion held by international subsidiaries[196]. - Net cash provided by operating activities was $2.7 billion for Q1 2024, compared to $2.9 billion in Q1 2023, reflecting a net income increase to $776 million[210][211]. - Deferred merchant bookings reached $5.3 billion at March 31, 2024, indicating cash payments received in advance of service completion[204]. - The company repurchased shares for $1.9 billion during Q1 2024, with a remaining authorization of $12.2 billion for share repurchases[199]. - Net cash provided by financing activities was $784 million in Q1 2024, primarily from long-term debt issuance of $3.0 billion[214]. - The company issued senior notes totaling €2.8 billion ($3.0 billion) in March 2024 for general corporate purposes, including share repurchases[198]. Future Outlook - For Q2 2024, the company expects year-over-year growth in room nights between 4% and 6%, gross bookings between 3% and 5%, and revenues between 4% and 6%[159]. - The company anticipates operating income to be slightly lower in Q2 2024 compared to Q2 2023, partly due to the negative impact from the shift in Easter timing[159]. - The company anticipates continued growth and aims to manage market risks related to interest rates and foreign currency exchange rates[218]. Tax and Interest - The effective tax rate for Q1 2024 was 17.1%, significantly higher than 12.4% in Q1 2023, mainly due to lower discrete tax benefits and higher international tax rates[201]. - Interest and dividend income increased to $243 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, up 6.4% from $228 million in 2023[191]. - Interest expense rose to $219 million, a 12.9% increase from $194 million in the prior year, primarily due to the issuance of senior notes[191]. Foreign Currency Exposure - Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations did not materially impact total gross bookings or revenue growth in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023[156]. - The company faces exposure to foreign currency exchange rate movements, particularly with Euros and British Pounds Sterling, which significantly impact financial results[221]. - The company designates certain portions of Euro-denominated debt as a hedge against foreign currency exposure related to specific subsidiaries[221].

st Second Quarter Dividend BOOKING HOLDINGS The Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") and include all normal and recurring adjustments that management of the Company considers necessary for a fair presentation of its financial position and operating results. To supplement the Unaudited Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: Adju ...

NORWALK, Conn., May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- First quarter 2024 financial results for Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) will be made available at approximately 4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 2 through a press release posted to the company's Investor Relations website: http://ir.bookingholdings.com. Booking Holdings intends to hold a conference call on Thursday, May 2 at 4:30 p.m. ET to discuss its first quarter 2024 financial results. The event will be webcasted at http://ir.bookingholdings.com. Audio replays w ...

Mother's Day was the biggest dining day of the year in 2023, and brunch was the most popular time to dine – celebrate this year at one of the Top 100 Brunch Restaurants diners love SAN FRANCISCO, April 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The mother of all dining days is upon us: Mother's Day was the biggest dining day of 2023 and the Saturday before (May 13) took the #2 spot,1 according to OpenTable data, pointing to festivities happening all weekend long. Research suggests the trend will continue this year as nearly ...

Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2024 results on May 2.The company has been benefiting from increasing global leisure travel demand, leading to substantial improvement across booking trends. Strong momentum across gross bookings is expected to have continued driving its top-line growth in the to-be-reported quarter.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for gross bookings is pinned at $42.13 billion, indicating growth of 6.9% year over year.Strength across alternative accommodatio ...

The upcoming report from Booking Holdings (BKNG) is expected to reveal quarterly earnings of $14.03 per share, indicating an increase of 21% compared to the year-ago period. Analysts forecast revenues of $4.25 billion, representing an increase of 12.5% year over year.The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has undergone a downward revision of 0.4% in the past 30 days, bringing it to its present level. This represents how the covering analysts, as a whole, have reassessed their initial estimates during th ...

The latest trading session saw Booking Holdings (BKNG) ending at $3,440.94, denoting a +0.76% adjustment from its last day's close. The stock's performance was behind the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.87%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.67%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.11%.The online booking service's shares have seen a decrease of 5.79% over the last month, not keeping up with the Retail-Wholesale sector's loss of 3.67% and the S&P 500's loss of 3.97%.Investors will be eagerly watching for the perfor ...

NEW YORK, April 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Booking.com releases new research, with insights gathered from more than 31,000 travelers across 34 countries and territories, exploring the latest consumer attitudes, priorities and influences related to sustainable travel, revealing: 48% of Americans feel traveling more sustainably is important, but not a primary consideration when planning or booking travel One-fourth (26%) feel the damage already done is irreversible, and that the choices they make are no ...

TORONTO, April 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Stay Inc. ("Stay" or the "Company"), a vacation rental platform with operations in both Canada and the United States of America, has announced a partnership with Booking.com, one of the world's leading online travel platforms with a mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. This strategic partnership allows Stay to expand their global property portfolio to guests worldwide through the properties listed on the Booking.com platform. Stay will n ...