A radiant summer, despite soaring holiday prices, the oppressive heat on the shores of southern beaches, bad weather elsewhere… The American Booking Holdings, the world leader in hotel reservations (in addition to owning Priceline, Agoda , Kayak, OpenTable and Rentalcars), sees the future bright, after an already positive start to the year.
“Strong second quarter activity trends continued in July,” said Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings. Under these conditions, we are expecting a record summer season.” That optimism propelled the stock past $3,100, with market capitalization approaching $115 billion on Wall Street.
In the second quarter, Booking Holdings’ sales volume jumped 27.2% to $5.5 billion; net profit stands at 1.3 billion (50.5% in one year). The Booking.com subsidiary, which accounts for most of the results, has become Airbnb’s most formidable competitor in the rental of furnished tourist accommodation. Now, hotels represent “only” 66% of overnight stays booked on the platform.
Airbnb claims 7 million active listings on its site, a figure up 19% in one year. Due to inflation, more and more owners looking for additional income are joining the platform (and Booking.com). Airbnb is also taking advantage of the new feature launched in May: Rooms, which highlights room rentals (and not entire homes) on the platform.
But analysts were disappointed by the announcement of a limited increase of 11% in the number of nights and activities (cooking lessons, dance classes, etc.) sold in the second quarter. Business volume increased by 18% to $2.5 billion. The net result reached 650 million (72%).
