As the pace of Covid-19 vaccination continues to ramp up in the U.S. — the weekly average of inoculations is now at 3 million new shots per day — previously shunned travel stocks are retaking the spotlight. Airline stocks are already starting to see the benefits of a reopening economy, and so are travel booking websites. Specifically, Expedia Group Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) and Booking Holdings Inc (NYSE:BKNG), which fell to multi-year lows during the pandemic market bottom, are fresh off record highs and entering a historically bullish month.
First, to Expedia stock, which has nearly quadrupled off its March lows to a March 18, all-time high of $187.93, with support from the 40-day moving average since January. And while EXPE has since cooled off from that peak, the $170 mark seems to have stepped in as a floor. Longer term, the equity sports a 231.6% year-over-year lead.
Similarly, Booking Holdings stock hit a March 17, all-time-high of $2,469.58, which is more than double its pandemic lows near the $1,100 mark. The equity suffered a notable bear gap since that record, but the $2,200 level contained served as a net and contained further losses. Now, shares are once again within a chip shot from that peak, and are up 79% year-over-year.
Both equities show up on Schaeffer’s Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White’s list of the 25 stocks with the best returns in April. According to this data, EXPE has ended the month higher eight times over the past 10 years, while BKNG has ended it higher nine times, averaging 8.2% and 4.8% pops, respectively. Similar moves would put EXPE over $190 and BKNG over $2,555 — brand new record highs for both stocks.
