Yahoo Finance Booking Holdings (BKNG) Boosts Business Travel Reach With KAYAK
Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG has been consistently working toward gaining momentum in the travel space on the back of its travel search engine, KAYAK.
KAYAK’s free corporate travel solution named KAYAK for Business recently incorporated Southwest Airlines into its platform to help travelers better plan business trips. This serves as a testament to the above-mentioned fact.
With the help of this integration, business customers of the airlines can compare all travel options in a single platform. They can also easily avail discounts and earn Southwest Rapid Rewards points.
The recent integration is expected to help Booking Holdings expand its reach to customers with corporate travel plans. This, in turn, is likely to contribute to its top-line growth.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price and Consensus
Booking Holdings Inc. price-consensus-chart | Booking Holdings Inc. Quote
Growing Business Travel Prospects
Though new emerging variants of coronavirus have created uncertainties in the global travel industry, the business travel space is witnessing optimism among travelers in the current environment. This is due to increased employee vaccination rates and reduction in virus transmission rates at venues wherein the companies hold or attend meetings.
According to a poll conducted by the Global Business Travel Association in October 2021, 66% of the respondents reported that their companies are permitting non-essential domestic business travel. Moreover, 78% of the polled buyers and procurement members reported that the employees of their companies are willing to travel for business in the current situation.
Further, a report by Allied Market Research indicates that the global business travel market is expected to hit $2 trillion by 2028, witnessing a CAGR of 13.2% between 2021 and 2028.
Thus, the integration of Southwest Airlines by KAYAK is expected to aid BKNG to capitalize on the above-mentioned prospects.
KAYAK Division in Focus
With the help of the latest initiative, the company has added strength to its travel search engine.
Apart from this, it recently rolled out two features to provide more flexibility to corporate travelers amid the coronavirus pandemic. With the help of these features, travelers can cancel and change their trips. They can also make payments for upcoming trips with the help of unused tickets or travel credit.
These growing efforts are helping it gain traction among small and medium-sized businesses. It is to be noted that 10 thousand businesses have already signed up for the platform.
Further, KAYAK expanded its hotel portfolio last year with new properties - KAYAK Miami Beach in Miami and KAYAK Sol and KAYAK Luna in Mexico. Thus, KAYAK’s efforts to expand itsglobal presence remain noteworthy.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, BKNG carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). In the past six months, the stock has returned 18.5% compared with the Retail-Wholesale sector’s decline of 8.9%.
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Further, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2022 earnings has been upwardly revised by a cent in the past 60 days to $99.44 per share.
Some better-ranked stocks in the same sector include CAPRI Holdings CPRI, AutoNation AN and Penske Automotive PAG. While AutoNation and Penske sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), CAPRI carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Penske has gained 37.5% in the past six months. The long-term earnings growth rate for PAG is currently projected at 20.9%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has been upwardly revised by 3 cents in the past 60 days to $13.67 per share.
AutoNation has gained 3.4% in the past six months. The long-term earnings growth rate for AN is currently projected at 23.6%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has been upwardly revised by 3 cents in the past 60 days to $17.87 per share.
CAPRI has gained 24.6% in the past six months. The long-term earnings growth rate for CPRI is currently projected at 32.2%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2022 earnings has been upwardly revised by a cent in the past 60 days to $5.34 per share.
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