Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG)

(A Top Pick September 19, 2017. Up 2%). This is one of the most successful companies on the exchange. There are some issues for the company, coming out of its advertising. They are trying to remedy that to get higher margin growth. He thinks the company has a good future.

Booking.com has become the core of the growth of this company. Their main target area is Europe. They have 1.5 million signed up lodgings and book a million bookings a day. (Analysts’ target: $2504.70).

He's long owned this and enjoyed phenomenal success. Booking has 475,000 relationships with hotels worldwide and continues to grow. A strong company.

Owns this name. If it gets above 2,000 it would “vanquish the enemy”. Pattern indicates that it should move higher. Interesting business model. Good name.

Trades at a decent valuation. Only about 35% of travel bookings are done online. People still use travel agents. This is a great emerging market story, because as per capital income rises in emerging markets, you are going to see travel spending increasing significantly.

(A Top Pick Dec 20/16. Up 18%.) Thinks this company can still grow 15% a year for the next few years. It continues to dominate online travel, especially in Europe where it has the most hotel properties of any of its competitors.

Took a pretty severe haircut. This is a high beta stock, which reacts pretty meaningfully both up and down. They said that although they had outperformed and beaten the current quarter’s earning and revenue estimates, the 4^th quarter will not be as strong as what the street was anticipating. They are changing their advertising model slightly. They’ll make $73-$74 per share in 2017, so we are talking $.50 on $74. Next year they will make in the mid-$80 range in EPS. They are growing gross bookings in the mid-20% year-over-year. A very, very well-run company. Online searches travel is still a nascent business. There is a long runway for them.

He really likes Internet retail. This stock pulled back twice to the 150-day moving average this summer. A great business and a good way to participate.

Thinks online travel booking, which is only 25% of the market in Asia right now, is going to be huge, and this company is only one of 2 huge players in the industry right now. It is going to make a lot of money going forward. The stock is down about 10% from where it was and has a wonderful growth profile ahead of it. (Analysts’ price target is $2,100.)

Got a little weak. In early August, it made a new high and then came back down. It has a moving average at around $1735, which would be a base. It would probably line up with the bottoms of the last several months. If buying for new clients today, he would not take a full position. He would rather pay a little more, and wait for it surge to around $1940 to get a full position. A well-run company that is well followed on the street.

This has been one of the best performing stocks in the NYSE’s history. Had owned this about 15 years ago at $19, but the multiple is lower today than it was then. They will make somewhere in the neighbourhood of $78 a share in earnings this year, and may even touch $90 a share next year. They’ve been very acquisitive over their lifespan. (Analysts’ price target is $2,100.)

The PE is 38 times earnings and 22 times forward earnings. The optimal time to buy is September 25^th with a sell date of April 30^th. It should return 23.92% according to seasonal averages. This year it had a gap lower. It had a parabolic rise this year and so you expect that to alleviate. $1728 would be the ideal point to pick it up at.

He likes the space. Online travel has double digit growth and secular trends are good. Valuation has probably got a little stretched. Taking a bit of a hit today as their guidance was a little squishy compared to what people were hoping for. They did beat estimates. This is in a space which is really over-loved, a flag for caution. A well-run company. There will be some volatility.

(A Top Pick June 24/16. Up 60.39%.) This has done an amazing job. It is a poster child for what a network affect is. They have the best hotel listings, they get the most customers, and because they have the most customers booking, they get more hotel listings. The runway for this company is still significant.

A good example of a stock that will benefit from a lot of technology trends of more and more people doing things online. 30% of travel bookings are done online right now, still a relatively low number. The industry is dominated by 2 players, Priceline and Expedia. The estimated P/E of 42X is way too high. Next year’s estimates are closer to 21X, and if you strip out cash, it is actually below 20X. They are going to be able to grow through acquisition, which they’ve done a good job of. (Analysts’ price target is $2040.)