Booking Holdings Inc Q1 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Doug Anmuth - JP Morgan - Analyst : Great, thanks for taking the questions; one for Glenn, one for Ewout. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 29, 2025 / 8:30PM, BKNG.OQ - Q1 2025 Booking Holdings Inc Earnings Call Glenn, just on AI, can you talk about what drives your confidence that travel vertical specific agents will prove to be valuable over time and just how they'll compare to agents on broader based platforms? And then Ewout, you mentioned the shift in travel patterns that you're seeing. Can you talk more about how booking is benefiting from the geographic diversification and whether you're seeing any shift toward lower cost alternatives or shorter booking windows into the summer travel season? Thanks.

Question: Doug Anmuth - JP Morgan - Analyst : Thank you, both. I Appreciate it.

Question: Mark Mahaney - Evercore ISI - Analyst : Okay, I want to ask two questions. First, on attractions, I think across the industry there's probably going to be a little bit of a greater focus on that this year. Glenn, is there anything in particular that's new about the strategy for you? I know you've got this high growth, but it's on a modest space. Is there something that's caused the opportunity to become more attractive than at other points in the past? And then just on the agentic tools that you have on your own sites, the Priceline, Penny, etc. You want to just talk a little bit about the product path? It seems like there's some really interesting functionality in there based on our testing, but it's still kind of beta-esque, or I think it actually literally still is in beta. When do you think that'll come out and and the average person coming to to priceline and the booking will actually be able to use the tool and it will be prominently displayed? Thank you.

Question: Mark Mahaney - Evercore ISI - Analyst : Thank you, Glenn.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Thanks so much for taking the questions. Maybe too if I could, following up on the SKUs and the shifts you're seeing around the edges in travel behavior, are you yourself changing any focus competitively about where you're aiming some of your incremental growth investments to capitalize on shifts in the broader environment or are you seeing any competitive intensity changes broader across the industry as result of some of those shifts? Second question, I think I got this right, but on the prepared remarks, I think you made a comment that there's been some successful experimentation in traditional marketing channels that had improved performance. And I just want to know if we can get a little more granularity in what you meant by that in terms of what kind of experiments or what kind of rate of change you might be seeing in terms of approved returns. Thanks so much. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. APRIL 29, 2025 / 8:30PM, BKNG.OQ - Q1 2025 Booking Holdings Inc Earnings Call

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Great, thank you.

Question: Brian Nowak - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Great, thanks for taking my questions. I have two, maybe the first one is on the new annual guidance and sort of the widening, I hear a lot of sort of things are stable. There's not a lot of changes going on in the business. Maybe to sort of walk us through the reasoning for the widening of the range just to sort of, in case or just being more pragmatic, or is there anything you're seeing in the business that is sort of informing your decision to widen the range versus what you thought 90 days ago? And then the second one, just to go back to that last answer about the lower ROIs driving growth, is that -- is it a geographic phenomenon or are there certain channels that are sort of like lower ROI or sort of -- Please help us understand a little more again by what's going on with the lower ROI incremental acquisition that you have? Thanks.

Question: Brian Nowak - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : Great, thank you very much.

Question: Lee Horowitz - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Alright, thanks, two quick ones if I could. Yeah, I think, Glenn, you talked about, if things were to perhaps go sideways, you guys have often used those opportunities to sort of lean in and take share, and I think we have certainly seen that in the past. But it does seem like there. Is perhaps some concerning about things flattening or going sideways in the US. Are you guys seeing that as a market that that maybe you lean in even more and you planned previously, just given that this could be an opportunity to gain share in a key strategic market? And then maybe just one on direct mix. We've obviously seen that number continue just to creep up over time. I wonder how you guys think about sort of what the high-end bar may look like over a longer period of time. You're building the connected chip, so presumably still higher from here. But where do you potentially see high water marks for direct mix over time? And how does generative AI perhaps impact that? Do Generative AI tools that you build perhaps help you build more direct mix over time or vice versa or partners who are building Gen AI tools perhaps take increased pay mix over time, if their tools turn out to be legitimate sources for travel demand? Thank you, both.

Question: Ken Gawrelski - Wells Fargo - Analyst : Thank you for the question, two if I may please. First, I want to address again in past periods of some macro weakness, the OTAs in general and booking in particular has had the opportunity to take share, and also has seen partners kind of lean into the OTA channel, meaning the big chains, etc. So I'm curious as if you're seeing anything, especially in the US where you're seeing some incremental weakness, if you're seeing that behavior already, and you expect that throughout the year? And then the second one is really -- I'd love your thoughts on alternative accommodations versus hotels. If you think about the ADR potential ADR performance throughout the year on a constant FX basis, would you expect to see maybe more volatility or more variability in ADRs on alternative accommodations relative to hotels? Thank you very much.

Question: Kevin Kopelman - TD Cowen - Analyst : Thanks a lot. Can you talk about how broadly and in what ways your suppliers are engaging with the Genius program, particularly with the tier 2 and tier 3 geniuses that are growing? And to what extent is Genius coming into play beyond traditional accommodations and alternative connected trip verticals, and just as a follow up to the last question when you are seeing some early signs of pressure like you know in the US, might you also see some pick up in supplier engagement with Genius. Thanks.