10 Stocks That May Be Splitting Soon

2. Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Share Price as of August 30: $3,907.57

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 96

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) is an American travel technology company that owns and operates several travel fare aggregators. It owns and operates several popular travel websites, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, Kayak, and OpenTable, providing platforms for hotels, flights, rental cars, and vacation packages.

Booking.com saw slower room night growth in Q2 due to a smaller booking window expansion and moderating European travel growth. Still, travelers booked 287 million room nights across the company’s platforms, increasing 7.27% year-over-year improvement in revenue. The revenue recorded was $5.86 billion, with an earnings per share value of $41.90. Repeat travelers are growing quickly.

By the end of Q2, the alternative accommodation listings rose 11% from last year, boosting bookings. The Genius program boosts direct bookings, with nearly 30% of travelers in higher tiers and a 15% increase in benefits. Merchant bookings grew to 58% of total bookings in Q2, with connected transactions up 45%. Flight bookings increased 28% year-over-year.

The company remains optimistic for the remainder of 2024, focusing on strategic initiatives such as connected trips, expanded merchant offerings, AI development, and loyalty program enhancements, while prioritizing cost efficiencies. For the full year, management expects gross bookings growth to exceed 6%, slightly below previous forecasts due to lower flight prices. Revenue growth is projected over 7%, slightly higher than before.

In 1 year, the company’s share price also rose 24.70%. Most companies might not go towards a stock split on such an increase, but since Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) has already observed a stock split once in 2003, the company might resort to it again considering its high share price. 96 hedge funds are long on it. The biggest stake is valued at $1,605,652,190, held by Fisher Asset Management, as of June 30.

Wedgewood Partners stated the following regarding Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

“Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) contributed to performance as travel spending across the U.S. and Europe remains quite healthy, whereas the Company took share in alternative accommodations, and looks set to expand margins after a few years of reinvestment. The Company has also been aggressively reducing its share count at reasonably attractive valuation multiples. Booking should be able to compound earnings at an attractive, double-digit rate for the next few years given these various initiatives.”