BKNG Q2 2021 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Booking Holdings Inc. Q2 2021 Earnings Call
• Date: August 4, 2021 at 8:30 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Glenn Fogel (Chief Executive Officer)
  • David Goulden (Chief Financial Officer)
  • Alax Wang (Head of Investor Relations)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Consolidated revenue for Q2 was $2.2B and decreased 44% versus Q2 2019.
• Gross bookings declined 12% in Q2 versus Q2 2019 driven by stronger ADRs and flight growth despite room night declines.
• Reported room nights were down 26% versus Q2 2019 and improved materially from the 54% decline in Q1 2021.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $48M in Q2, which was the first positive EBITDA quarter since the first COVID wave except for Q3 2020.
• The company recorded a non-GAAP loss of $105M and a GAAP net loss of $167M in Q2, which included $126M of income tax expense.
• Q2 ending cash and investments were $16.1B, operating cash flow was $1.2B for the quarter, and unrealized gains on long-term investments contributed $0.5B.
• Total debt at quarter end was about $12.3B, which is approximately $3.6B higher than pre-pandemic levels.
• Marketing expense declined 29% versus 2019 and decreased more than gross bookings due to higher ROI in paid channels and a higher direct booking mix.

Bookings Growth & Mix

• Q2 room nights improved sequentially with a 59% increase versus Q1 2021.
• Domestic room nights grew in the mid-teens in Q2 while international room nights remained significantly down versus 2019.
• International mix of room nights increased to about 25% in Q2 from about 15% in Q1.
• Mobile bookings represented over 60% of total room nights in Q2 with app usage increasing versus pre-pandemic peaks in the U.S.
• Alternative accommodations represented 32% of Booking.com room nights in Q2, up three percentage points from Q1.
• As of June 30, Booking.com reported over 28.0M listings, of which 6.6M were alternative accommodations.
• June alternative accommodation room-night growth was flat versus June 2019, marking the first segment parity with 2019 since COVID started.