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Booking Holdings to Report Q3 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

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Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG - Free Report) is scheduled to report its third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 30.

For the third quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $7.63 billion, suggesting growth of 3.92% from the year-ago quarter’s reported figure.

The consensus mark for earnings is pegged at $77.8 per share, indicating a rise of 7.58% from the year-ago quarter’s reported number. The consensus mark has moved north by 0.2% in the past 30 days.

Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.

The company’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 16.49%.

Let’s see how things have shaped up for the upcoming announcement.

Booking Holdings Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Booking Holdings Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Booking Holdings Inc. price-eps-surprise | Booking Holdings Inc. Quote

Key Factors to Note

Booking Holdings is expected to have demonstrated robust top-line growth in third-quarter 2024, primarily driven by strong leisure travel demand. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company's gross bookings is pegged at $41.43 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 4.1%.

Booking Holdings is riding on its strong portfolio. The introduction of several key initiatives, including enhanced connected trip features, expansion of merchant options on Booking.com, advancing AI capabilities, growing alternative accommodations and upgrading the Genius loyalty program are noteworthy developments.

The company's performance in hotel accommodations remains particularly strong, with hotel room nights sold forecasted to grow 5.1% year over year to 290 million units.

The company's performance in hotel accommodations remains particularly strong. The consensus mark for hotel room nights sold implies an increase of 5.1% year over year to 290 million units. This growth is expected to have been driven by the company's success in alternative accommodation offerings and direct booking channels.

Additionally, Booking.com's flight segment shows remarkable momentum. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for airline tickets sold is pinned at 11.35 million units, suggesting a surge of 26.1% year over year. 

In terms of revenue streams, the consensus estimate for merchant revenues is pegged at $4.57 billion, indicating growth of 15.8% from the year-ago reported figure, likely to be driven by BKNG’s enhanced merchandising capabilities.

However, the agency model shows signs of weakness. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for agency revenues is pegged at $2.77 billion, indicating a decline of 11.4% year over year.

Despite the overall positive trajectory, Booking Holdings faces several challenges. The company must navigate through macroeconomic uncertainties, heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and increasing competition in the online travel sector. These factors might have potentially impacted the company's performance and market position negatively in the quarter under review.

What Our Model Says

According to 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. But that’s not the case here.

Booking Holdings currently has an Earnings ESP of -0.19% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some companies worth considering, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings in their upcoming releases:

Reddit (RDDT - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +37.55% and carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Reddit shares have surged 55.9% year to date. RDDT is slated to report third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 29.

Garmin (GRMN - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.03% and a Zacks Rank of 2 at present.

Carrier Global shares have gained 26% year to date. GRMN is scheduled to report third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 30.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +2.86% and carries a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

Cognizant shares have lost 0.8% year to date. Cognizant is slated to report third-quarter 2024 results on Oct. 30.

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

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