The Joseph Carlson Show: New Stock Purchase & Financial Updates

New Stock Addition

Stock Added: Booking Holdings (booking.com)
Portfolio: Passive Income Portfolio
Reason: High growth potential, global dominance, strong financials, and market valuation

Largest Online Travel Agency: Comprehensive travel services including flights, car rentals, hotels, and reservations
Platform Ecosystem: Owns rentalcars.com, Kayak, OpenTable, etc.
Competition: Competing directly with Airbnb and manages a portfolio of companies that offer comprehensive travel services

Middle Class Growth: Middle class incomes rising, increasing expenditure on experiences beyond basic needs like travel
Secular Trend: Increasing travel spending as a long-term trend, not just a post-COVID recovery
Profitability: High margins, high free cash flow, low stock-based compensation
Market Leader: Dominant player in Europe, competing with Expedia in the US
Regulation & Competition: Constant regulatory scrutiny and competition from companies like Google

Valuation: Low PE ratio (24) compared to S&P 500 (22), high free cash flow yield (~5%)
Free Cash Flow: Consistent and growing, $7 billion last year
Share Buybacks: Significant reduction in shares outstanding, funded by profits not debt
New Dividend: Recently started paying quarterly dividends

Increase Details: $5 increase for Gold plan to $65/year, $10 increase for Executive membership to $130/year
Impact: Likely no significant membership cancellations, expected additional earnings ~$300 million
Membership Revenue: High margin revenue stream crucial to Costco’s profitability

Incident: Sam Altman seen driving a Koenigsegg Regera (~$3.8 million)
Contradiction: Previous statements on not caring about money or personal wealth
Public Reaction: Criticism about the apparent disparity between his statements and actions