Deutsche Bank analyst Lloyd Walmsley upgraded Booking Holdings to Buy from Hold and raised his price target for the shares to $2,370 from $2,150. Booking's room night growth can accelerate in 2019 as the company "leans back into marketing channels," and this can drive multiple expansion, Walmsley tells investors in a research note. The analyst has cautious on issues including maturation of online leisure penetration, Google Travel, and competition. However, much of this risk now seems fully understood by investors and a re-acceleration in room night growth "could help mute this overhang in the near-term," says the analyst.

WEX (WEX) announced that it has reached a new long-term agreement with Booking.com (BKNG), effective April 2024. This agreement distinguishes WEX as Booking.com's preferred virtual card provider as it continues providing WEX payment solutions in support of Booking.com's payments vision to make buying and selling travel-related products and services easier for everyone. "With more than 800,000 active customer relationships worldwide, WEX is proud to work with eight of the top ten online travel agencies globally, including Booking.com," said Carlos Carriedo, WEX's Chief Operating Officer, International. "Building on years of working together, we remain committed to delivering WEX's deep expertise in both payments and travel, as well as the reliability of our technology platform, to help Booking.com power its B2B travel payment activities 24/7 and 365 days/year at scale, globally." Booking.com first became a WEX customer in 2013. Over a decade later, WEX now processes payments for Booking.com across the world.