Booking Holdings and Expedia look like a secular short with capped upside as their take rates come under pressure, though probably not within the next 60 days. As with Salesforce, the argument that they could simply run headless will be raised, and the market knows it from SaaS. Take rates should compress first where barriers to bringing inventory online are lowest; the platforms would then respond with aggressive marketing and margin dilution, extending their growth runway somewhat. x.com 

AI agents threaten Booking Holdings' margins. That view could change if the company adapts, pivots and proves otherwise. 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 faces a valid long-term bear case as AI agents could take a share of the 13-18% online travel take rate. Testing Meta's Muse and Instinct for a hotel search showed them drawing on Booking and Expedia inventory for now, but agents could eventually build direct ties with long-tail hotels, better reviews and pre- and post-booking service at lower fees. OTAs' own agents look mediocre and lack users' context. At 13x 2027 EPS it tempts as a contrarian long, but looks too tough. x.com  … Show more

Expedia is unattractive from both an investment and a user perspective, with offerings less proprietary than Booking Holdings'. x.com 

Booking dominates Europe's online travel market with 71% share versus 15% for its closest rival Expedia, yet it still trades at just 17x forward earnings. x.com 

Booking Holdings faces a big risk from Meta's Muse and other AI agents that will find bookings without a middleman. x.com 

Booking Holdings' growth slowdown will accelerate as tech layoffs hit travel demand. Travel is already expensive and most spending comes from top earners, whom tech layoffs could affect. @Stock_Opine argues the Q2 guidance of 2-4% constant-currency growth mainly reflects March cancellations and that the underlying fundamentals are accelerating. x.com  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 

Booking Holdings' stock split is a topping sign, as stock splits generally are. A split attracts retail flow that minimizes damage on down days, such as one that would otherwise have been about a $300 drop. x.com  x.com