BKNG — All updates

Let's talk a little about Booking, as one of our guests has already discussed it. I also own shares in it, to be honest, but it seems to have been affected by artificial intelligence, or at least that's how it appears.

But, as you know, Muse released a report—and we're recording this episode on September 29, two weeks ago—that has had a major impact on Airbnb and Booking.

We did that earlier this year with Salesforce and Microsoft, and now we're doing it with Airbnb, Booking and some other stocks.

Let's talk a little about Booking, as one of our guests discussed it previously. It is a company in which I also own shares , with full disclosure, but it appears to be influenced by artificial intelligence, or at least that's how it seems.

So, Jonathan, for people like you, when you see this and look at Expedia and Booking, which we'll be talking about, you must be excited because you know historically what happens to some of these businesses that you've followed for a long time when automation competition emerges, because you've seen this before.

Okay. I mean, Booking and Airbnb, why they were in that basket and how Goldman comes up with those baskets, I have no idea. That's absolutely ridiculous. I think this will turn out to be a great buying opportunity. I don't know why some of those banks are there.

Booking Holdings is having one of its best years ever thanks mostly to AI, but also because of the war in Iran. The stock is down by over 20%. But the buyback yield is over 8.5%, and I have taken the opportunity this year to double my position in Booking Holdings.

It is today around 20% of my portfolio, my second-largest holding.

Then you're seeing Booking Holdings, RCL, which is Royal Caribbean. I mean, basically anything that an assistant can do is basically causing these stocks to fall.

So, for instance, booking holdings. Let's go to that here. We'll look at this one first. Booking holdings. Look at this drop on the daily chart. And you might say, well, why booking holdings?

Well, because a your AI assistant can find you the best price.

Can you explain your investment idea regarding Booking.com when you bought it, and what did you see that was different from the market's view of it? For Booking.com, it was really interesting because it wasn't just about Covid.

It is clear that Covid raised questions among people about the duration of the lockdown and the disruption to travel.

And here I'm talking about Wise and Booking Holdings because these companies hold cash for their customers.

Coming to Booking Holdings, this is different, right? Because people pay in advance when they're booking hotels. They get to keep the cash, and then they're going to pay the hotels after the person has checked out.

The management team at Booking Holdings was pleasantly surprised by the resilience of the travel sector despite the ongoing war in the Middle East. The management team anticipates near double-digit revenue growth in the next quarter, with profitability improving thanks to cost efficiency at a much faster rate than revenue growth.