1. Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 93
The Best Leisure Stock, Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is the world’s largest online travel agency in terms of revenue. It provides booking and payment services for hotels and other accommodation rooms, airline tickets, rental cars, restaurant reservations, cruises, experiences, and other vacation packages. Several branded travel booking websites, including Booking.com, Agoda, OpenTable, and Rentalcars.com, are owned and operated by the firm. It has now made its foray into the travel media market with the acquisition of Kayak and Momondo. Online reservation transaction fees provide the lion’s share of revenue and earnings.
The company’s network advantage and financial health are both excellent. Advanced marketing and technology scalability support its strong position in the Asia-Pacific area, continued leadership in Europe, and expanding presence in restaurants, experience, travel, and hotel booking.
Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) had a strong third quarter, generating $8 billion in revenue, up 9% YoY, and $3.7 billion in adjusted EBITDA, up 12%. A 14% increase in hotel nights at alternative lodgings and a 10% increase in listings to 7.9 million helped to support the 16% year-over-year gain in adjusted EPS. Connected trip transactions increased by more than 40% year on year, primarily due to advancements in AI such as an AI trip planner and Penny, a generative AI travel assistant. Asia had strong growth, exceeding pre-pandemic levels with double-digit expansion, accounting for 24% of global room nights in the last year. Bookings made through mobile apps and direct channels also made a substantial contribution, with both falling between the mid-50% range of room nights.
The platform currently has over 29 million postings and over 3.4 million properties, while the business is growing into new regions and creating new products and services.
Mizuho maintained its Outperform rating on Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) shares and increased the firm’s price objective from $5,400 to $6,000. The company’s outlook for the shares is still positive through 2025. The consensus fiscal 2025 room night growth of 7% for Booking seems modest, according to Mizuho’s analysis by geography. By 2025, it anticipates that the company’s EBITDA will be in the mid-teens, with revenue increasing more quickly than expenses due to automation and headcount reductions.
Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management was the largest stakeholder in the company from among the funds in Insider Monkey’s database. It owns 418,742 shares worth $1.76 billion as of Q3.
Overall, Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) ranks first on our list of the best leisure and recreation services stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential for BKNG to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than BKNG but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. 10 Best Leisure and Recreation Services Stocks to Buy Now is originally published on Insider Monkey. Insider Monkey focuses on uncovering the best investment ideas of hedge funds and insiders. Please subscribe to our free daily e-newsletter to get the latest investment ideas from hedge funds’ investor letters by entering your email address below.
