News

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 accommodation and mobile app room nights booking is expected to have boosted hotel room nights sold during the quarter to be reported.

The consensus mark for hotel room nights sold implies growth of 5.7% year over year to 289.52 million units.

Solid momentum in airline ticket units sold, driven by the continued growth of Booking.com’s flight offering, is likely to have aided the company in the quarter under review.

The consensus estimate for airline tickets sold is pegged at 9.88 million units, suggesting growth of 23.5% year over year.

The company’s growing focus on enhancing its merchandising capabilities is likely to have boosted its merchant revenues in the to-be-reported quarter.

The consensus estimate for merchant revenues is pegged at $2.2 billion, indicating growth of 25.7% from the year-ago reported figure.

Given the above-mentioned factors, we can say that BKNG is a compelling buy right now.

However, weakening momentum across its agency model is expected to have hurt the company’s top-line growth during the first quarter.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for agency revenues is pegged at $1.78 billion, indicating a decline of 0.3% year over year.

Macroeconomic uncertainties and intensifying online travel competition are likely to have been headwinds for the company during the quarter under review.

Booking Holdings Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Estimates Trend

For the first quarter of 2024, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $4.25 billion, suggesting growth of 12.5% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $14.03 per share, indicating a rise of 21% from the year-ago quarter’s reported number. The consensus mark has increased 0.2% in the past 30 days.

What Our Model Says

Per the Zacks model, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. That’s exactly the case here.

Booking Holdings currently has an Earnings ESP of +4.13% and a Zacks Rank #1. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are some other stocks worth considering, as our model shows that these, too, have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this season.

APi Group APG has an Earnings ESP of +2.06% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

APi Group is scheduled to release first-quarter 2024 results on May 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APG’s earnings is pegged at 32 cents per share, indicating growth of 28% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Arista Networks ANET has an Earnings ESP of +2.49% and a Zacks Rank #1 at present.

ANET is set to report its first-quarter 2024 results on May 7. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ANET’s earnings is pegged at $1.74 per share, indicating growth of 21.7% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Cardinal Health CAH has an Earnings ESP of +1.11% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

CAH is scheduled to release third-quarter fiscal 2024 results on May 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CAH’s earnings is pegged at $1.95 per share, indicating growth of 12.1% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.