Shares of Booking Holdings (BKNG) were up 3.26% as of the close in New York today, May 5, after the company announced first quarter earnings that beat Wall Street estimates. The company reported adjusted earnings of $3.90 a share, up from a loss of $5.26 in the first quarter of 2021. Revenue climbed to $2.7 billion from $1.14 billion in 2021. Wall Street analysts were expecting earnings of 85 cents a share on revenue of $2.53 billion.
Gross bookings in the quarter rose to $27.3 billion, the highest quarterly figure in the company’s history. In the first quarter of 2021 the company reported gross bookings of $11.94 billion.
“Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, we have seen continued strengthening of global travel trends so far in the second quarter of 2022, and we are preparing for a busy summer travel season ahead,” said Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings.
It certainly didn’t hurt the share price today that analysts rushed to up their target price for the stock, which was trading at $2171.91 at the close. Analysts at J.P. Morgan, for example, reiterated their Overweight rating on the shares and their $2,900 price target. “The macro environment remains volatile, but we believe it is more than offset near-term by pent-up travel demand,” JP Morgan wrote in a note. Citi analysts reiterated their Buy rating on Booking Holdings and raised their price target to $2,800 from $2,600. Booking Holdings was “gaining share of the rebounding travel market globally,” Citi analysts added.
I added shares of Booking Holdings to my Jubak Picks Portfolio with a target price of $2800 on April 22. The position was down 3.01% as of the close on May 5.
