Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG) delivered better-than-expected results for the fourth quarter of 2022. The provider of online travel and related services witnessed strong demand during the quarter.
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $24.74 exceeded the Street’s expectations of $22.01 and increased 56% year-over-year. Also, the company’s Q4 revenues rose 36% to $4 billion, surpassing analysts’ expectations of $3.9 billion.
Coming to other key metrics, gross travel bookings increased 44% to $27.3 billion, and room nights booked grew 39% from the prior-year quarter to 211 million. It’s worth noting that, excluding the impact of currency fluctuations, gross travel bookings were up 58%, reflecting a considerable impact of forex headwinds.
For the full-year 2022, Booking reported record-high revenues of $17 billion, up 56% from the previous year. Adjusted EPS grew 118% from the prior year to $99.83.
Looking forward, the company remains optimistic about its performance in 2023 based on strong trends witnessed in the first quarter so far. For January, room nights were up 60% year over year. Moreover, Booking expects 2023 revenue as a percentage of gross bookings to be about 50 basis points higher than in 2022.
Is Booking Holdings a Good Stock to Buy?
BKNG stock has a Moderate Buy consensus rating on TipRanks. This is based on nine Buy and six Hold recommendations. The average price target of $2,648.92 implies 9.2% upside potential from current levels. Shares of the company are up 19.4% in 2023 so far.
It is worth mentioning that the stock has a maximum Smart Score of “Perfect 10” on TipRanks. Note that shares with a “Perfect 10” Smart Score have historically outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by a wide margin.
