Booking Holdings removed from Best Ideas List at Wedbush

Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt removed Booking Holdings from the firm’s Best Ideas List, while keeping an Outperform rating and a price target of $3,850 on the shares. Nonetheless, Wedbush expects Booking will continue to execute well in the current travel environment. Further, the firm continues to favor Booking within the online travel vertical given its leading competitive position, strong free cash flow dynamics, and commitment to returning capital to shareholders with $16B of current share repurchase authorization remaining. With nearly all major markets now back above 2019 levels and mixed signals from recent data across air travel, hotels, and alternative demand, Wedbush sees less opportunity for upside to intermediate-term estimates in the coming quarters. Against this backdrop, it expects the frequency and magnitude of future earnings beats to be lower relative to the stellar revenue and profit growth Booking delivered in 2023.