- Bank of America points to an improving travel backdrop in Europe as it reiterates a Buy rating on Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG).
- Analyst Justin Post says recent data suggests improving COVID conditions in Europe, with the number of daily infections falling sharply and daily COVID-related deaths reaching a seven-month low in Europe. Post also observes that European nations saw stronger vaccination pushes over the last four weeks. "In addition, EU regulators have extended the vaccine storage time for Pfizer/BioNTech from 5 days to 31 days which should aid the rollout," he adds.
- Booking is the top European travel recovery stock at BofA. The risk-reward profile is called attractive at 23X the firm's 2022 EPS estimate even if its stands at the higher end of the historic range. The 23X handle is called appropriate given "higher quality" of non-GAAP earnings that includes SBC expense, strong FCF generation, and exposure to the China market via Trip.com, Meituan and Didi investments.
- Shares of Booking Holdings are up 1.92% YTD.
- Wall Street ratings scorecard on Booking: 13 Buy-equivalent ratings, 19 Neutral-equivalent ratings and 1 Sell-equivalent rating.