$BKNG (+0.38%) | Booking Holdings Q3'24 Earnings Highlights:

🔹 EPS: $83.89 (Est. $77.16) 🟢; UP +7% YoY

🔹 Revenue: $8.0B (Est. $7.63B) 🟢; UP +9% YoY

Operational Metrics:

🔹 Room Nights Sold: 299M; UP +8% YoY (Est. 290.11M) 🟢

🔹 Rental Car Days: 23M; UP +16% YoY (Est. 21.84M) 🟢

🔹 Airline Tickets Sold: 13M; UP +39% YoY (Est. 11.42M) 🟢

Revenue Breakdown:

🔹 Merchant: $5.0B; UP +26% YoY

🔹 Agency: $2.8B; DOWN -12% YoY

🔹 Advertising and Other: $269M; UP +3% YoY

Bookings Performance:

🔹 Gross Bookings: $43.4B (Est. $41.37B) 🟢; UP +9% YoY

   🔸 Merchant Bookings: $28.4B; UP +28% YoY

   🔸 Agency Bookings: $15.1B; DOWN -14% YoY

Profitability Metrics:

🔹 Adjusted EBITDA: $3.7B (Est. Not Provided); UP +12% YoY

🔹 Adjusted EBITDA Margin: 45.8% (vs. 44.7% in Q3 2023)

🔹 Net Income: $2.5B (Flat YoY)

🔹 Free Cash Flow (9 months): $7.2B (vs. $5.7B YoY)

Key Financial Events:

🔸 $365M accrual for Italian indirect tax settlement

🔸 $250M reduction in income tax expense from U.S. Tax Court decision

🔸 Marketing Expense: $2.15B; UP +6.4% YoY

Dividend:

🔹 Quarterly Dividend: $8.75 per share, payable December 31, 2024

CEO Glenn Fogel’s Commentary:

🔸 "We are pleased to report third-quarter room night growth of 8%, which exceeded our prior expectations, driven primarily by stronger performance in Europe. We continue to make progress against our strategic initiatives while driving cost efficiency in our business, which I believe will position our company well for the long term."