Booking Reports Jump in Reservations on Travel Confidence

(Bloomberg) -- Booking Holdings Inc. reported a better-than-expected surge in room night reservations for the second quarter, signaling rising vaccine rates boosted travel.

The number of room-night reservations jumped 458% to 157 million in the period ended June 30, the first positive year-over-year growth since before the start of the pandemic. A year ago, Booking experienced an unprecedented 87% decline in the quarter due to Covid-19 border closings and lockdowns. The reservations topped the average analyst estimate of 136.3 million bookings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“We are encouraged by another quarter of meaningful sequential improvement in booking trends with second-quarter room nights increasing 59% versus the first quarter of 2021, primarily driven by stronger results in Europe and in the U.S.,” Chief Executive Officer Glenn Fogel said in a statement.

Total gross bookings were $22 billion in the quarter. Revenue more than tripled to $2.16 billion, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company said Wednesday in the statement. Analysts, on average, projected gross bookings of $16 billion and sales of $1.89 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Booking is among the long list of travel companies that have been significantly affected by pandemic restrictions. Lockdowns and travel quarantines shuttered hotels, closed restaurants and caused short-term rental booking to plummet for much of the past year. While domestic travel has largely resumed in the U.S. as infections have waned, international travel remains stunted and the delta variant is causing ongoing uncertainty.

“Barring something more significant happening with the delta variant, I wouldn’t expect travel demand behavior to alter all that much unless people are told that they can’t travel,” Dan Wasiolek, an analyst at Morningstar Investment Service, said in an interview before the results were released.

The online travel agent, formerly known as Priceline, reported an adjusted loss of $2.55 per share, missing estimates of a loss of $2.10.

Shares gained about 2.5% in extended trading after closing at $2,085.64 in New York. The stock has declined 6.4% this year.

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