Booking vs. Airbnb: The Battle for Alternative Accommodations

On today’s episode, Clay and Kyle give an overview of their best quality stock idea for Q2 2025. This quarter, they discuss Booking Holdings.

To our surprise, Booking Holdings is the world’s largest travel company. We explore how the company built a dominant position in Europe through its network effect, asset-light business model, and sound capital allocation decisions. We also cover Booking’s competitive advantages, financial performance, and key risks facing the business. 

Clay finds Bookings Holdings to be a compelling long-term compounder, which led him to initiate a position in the company earlier this year.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro

06:42 - How Booking built its dominant position in Europe and other markets globally.

11:47 - Why Booking Holdings is one of the most dominant and profitable online travel agencies in the world.

16:59 - An overview of the competitive landscape for online travel agencies.

38:21 - Booking Holdings’ competitive advantages.

40:46 - An overview of Bookings’ management team and incentive structure.

01:00:59 - How we view Bookings’ valuation today.

And so much more!

Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

• Join Clay and a select group of passionate value investors for a retreat in Big Sky, Montana. Learn more ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.
• Join the exclusive ⁠⁠⁠TIP Mastermind Community⁠⁠⁠ to engage in meaningful stock investing discussions with Stig, Clay, Kyle, and the other community members.
• Related Episode TIP698: Best Quality Idea Q1 2025 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP675: Best Quality Idea Q4 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP652: Best Quality Idea Q3 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP627: Best Quality Idea Q2 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Related Episode TIP604: Best Quality Idea Q1 2024 w/ Clay Finck & Kyle Grieve.
• Follow Kyle on ⁠X⁠ and ⁠LinkedIn⁠. 
• Follow Clay on ⁠X⁠ and ⁠LinkedIn⁠. 
• Check out all the books mentioned and discussed in our podcast episodes ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.
• Enjoy ad-free episodes when you subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Premium Feed⁠⁠⁠.

NEW TO THE SHOW?

• Get smarter about valuing businesses in just a few minutes each week through our newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠The Intrinsic Value Newsletter⁠⁠⁠.
• Check out our ⁠⁠⁠We Study Billionaires Starter Packs⁠⁠⁠.
• Follow our official social media accounts: ⁠⁠⁠X (Twitter)⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠.
• Browse through all our episodes (complete with transcripts) ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠.
• Try our tool for picking stock winners and managing our portfolios: ⁠⁠⁠TIP Finance Tool⁠⁠⁠.
• Enjoy exclusive perks from our ⁠⁠⁠favorite Apps and Services⁠⁠⁠.
• Learn how to better start, manage, and grow your business with the ⁠⁠⁠best business podcasts⁠⁠⁠.

SPONSORS

Support our free podcast by supporting our ⁠⁠⁠sponsors⁠⁠⁠:

• SimpleMining
• Hardblock
• AnchorWatch
• DeleteMe
• Fundrise
• Vanta
• The Bitcoin Way
• Unchained
• CFI Education
• Onramp
• Shopify

HELP US OUT!

Help us reach new listeners by leaving us a ⁠⁠⁠rating and review⁠⁠⁠ on ⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠! It takes less than 30 seconds, and really helps our show grow, which allows us to bring on even better guests for you all! Thank you – we really appreciate it!

Support our show by becoming a premium member!

https://premium.theinvestorspodcast.com/

Support our show by becoming a premium member! ⁠https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://theinvestorspodcastnetwork.supportingcast.fm