Say No To Trading
Public Markets Investor, Opportunistic Buying & Cost-Basis Management
Royal Caribbean's latest move looks like diworsification of the already difficult cruise industry, because owning travel assets is a bad model. Booking and royalty-style franchisers such as Marriott and Hilton, which avoid owning those assets, are the better way to play travel. x.com
Booking Holdings looks ridiculously cheap against its own history, and its business and moat inspire much more confidence than Uber's even with AI risk. Its P/FCF is 11.94, versus a ten-year median of 18.85. x.com
Booking Holdings is a great business at a nice discount and one of the best ways to play an end to the war and the reopening of the Middle East, as @vijaythirumalai argues. It is a best-in-class asset-light travel business trading at about 16x earnings with roughly 15% EPS growth and a near-10% free cash flow yield, with limited AI disruption risk, unlike Uber with autonomy. The war has created some overhang. Lower prices would be even better for the long term. x.com
Cruise demand remains strong despite recession concerns. Royal Caribbean beat Q3 EPS expectations at $6.57 versus $6.38, grew revenue 9%, raised guidance and reported surging 2027 bookings; Viking and Carnival are also named in the cruise-operator view. x.com
Booking Holdings' buybacks keep increasing each shareholder's ownership share every quarter without any additional purchases. x.com
Marriott and Hilton are toll booths on a global travel boom, capturing most new hotel growth without owning hotels. Royalties on 19k hotels need near-zero capex, and loyalty programs, 20-30-year contracts and lenders' demand for a major brand flag drive 4-7% unit growth against 1-2% supply. Hilton's fees, about 95% of EBITDA, rose from $814M in 2009 to an estimated $3.7B in 2026, a 10% CAGR on minimal capital. Buybacks and operating leverage compound EPS 11-14%. x.com x.com x.com x.com
AI agents threaten Booking Holdings' margins. That view could change if the company adapts, pivots and proves otherwise. x.com
AI price-comparison risk to Booking Holdings is a big nothing burger, since Google and Google Maps have offered comparisons for ages. Personal checks find Google showing no better price than Booking about two-thirds of the time, and saving a few euros is not worth another spam account or the lost time. Having all bookings in one app is also far more convenient than digging through a messy Gmail inbox. x.com x.com
Booking Holdings' valuation is quite clearly attractive, though AI agents may roam around and book hotels directly for people. Google I/O raised concerns about most internet names, leaving it unclear whether agentic AI will really hurt Booking. x.com x.com
Royal Caribbean's drop after Carnival reported 30% higher fuel costs is an algo-driven opportunity, because Royal Caribbean is far better protected. Carnival is the only US cruise line that does not hedge fuel, while Royal Caribbean is 59% hedged for the rest of 2026 at below-market rates. A 10% rise in oil is a 1.1% headwind to Royal Caribbean's 2026 EPS versus 4.2% for Carnival. x.com
Hantavirus headlines are being pattern-matched to 2020, and markets react to perception before confirmed reality, so fear alone can shift attention, behavior and capital flows. Whether a lockdown happens matters less than whether the headlines dominate for 60-90 days. That puts Delta, United, American Airlines, Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Marriott, Hilton, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn on the bearish side, while automation and AI infrastructure trends accelerate. x.com
