Booking shares drop 4% on ‘mixed’ results, CEO notes ‘significant negative impact’ from Middle East conflict

(Updated – November 3, 2023 6:33 AM EDT)

Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:) shares fell 4% in pre-market Friday despite the company reporting better-than-expected Q3 results.

EPS came in at $72.32, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.78. Revenue grew 21% year-over-year (up 18% on a constant-currency basis) to $7.3 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $7.26B.

Gross travel bookings were $39.8 billion in Q3, representing an increase of 24% year-over-year (up 21% on a constant-currency basis). Room nights booked rose 15% year-over-year.

“We are pleased to report record quarterly room nights, gross bookings, revenue, and net income driven by a strong summer travel season. We are encouraged by the resilience of leisure travel demand, and we remain focused on executing against our key strategic priorities, which helps position our business well for the long term,” said CEO Glenn Fogel.

He also said there was a “significant negative impact” on business in Israel.

“Globally, we saw a slowdown starting the second week of October due to cancellations and a drop in new bookings after the start of the war in the Middle East,” said David Goulden, chief financial officer of Booking Holdings.

“The cancellations we saw that started in the second week of October were concentrated in Israel, but we also saw some impact on travel trends outside the country as people absorb the news. We are pleased to see room night growth recover towards the end of the month.”

RBC analysts reiterated an Outperform rating and a $3,550 per share price target on BKNG.

“BKNG’s report was mixed though fine from a bigger picture standpoint. Favorably, comfortable mid-teens growth is set to continue with air, payments and strong marketing execution being the major drivers,” they said.

Piper Sandler analysts raised the target to $3,110 per share and blamed the weakness in stock on less-than-usual earnings upside.

“BKNG remains a great OTA asset, but we think this is largely reflected in valuation. Plus, the name has out-performed travel peers YTD,” they wrote.