Priceline Switches to Booking Holdings and Reports Strong Earnings
Priceline officially changed its name to "Booking Holdings" on Tuesday as it reported Q4 results. Overall, Booking Holdings reported a strong Q4. CEO Glenn Fogel joins Cheddar to break down the name change and earnings news.
Q4 revenue came in at $2.8 billion, ahead of estimates, and 19% higher than last year. After earnings were reported, shares rose about 6%.
Fogel says that travel is what drives the business and that is still strong. When asked about compeition, Fogel is confident in Booking Holdings position in the market. Fogel says the great thing about booking.com, is that it is instantly confirmable. Fogel also touts that there is no booking travel fee with their businesses.
DroneUp is partnering with Walmart in a program to expand its drone delivery service to reach 4 million households. CEO Tom Walker joined Cheddar News to discuss the state of drone delivery regulations and the acceptance of the service so far. "I think they're going into this, there was obviously, and appropriately, some concerns of noise and, and the drones flying over, and the safety, and would it become an annoyance. And then on the retail side, would the customers really adopt this and embrace it as a new method for delivery," he said. "So we've seen really significant and positive embrace of this new delivery model."
The average city in California has a 38% higher cost of living than the average American city, according to a cost of living index. For many, the general minimum wage of $15/hour just doesn't cut it. Anti-poverty activist Joe Sanberg wants to get the minimum wage changed to $18/hour. He joins Cheddar News to discuss the Living Wage Act of 2022.
Coming off of their face masks endeavor, Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City," and her daughter Ally Shapiro, CMO of JIll & Ally, join Cheddar News to discuss their latest product: crystal manifestation candles. "We have tigers eye, we have amethyst, we have lapis, and alone those could be almost the price of the candle," said Zarin. "We were really able to do it in an affordable way, and if you don't know how to manifest or what that even means, we do it for you on the candle." Zarin also dished on the new season of "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip."
One month after its launch, new streaming venture CNN+ announced it was shutting down. Seth Schachner, the managing director of StratAmericas and digital business executive, joined Cheddar News to talk about the high-profile media flop. "That's a really, really different beast than what HBO Max is, which is video streaming, entertainment features," he said. “It's a tough sell when you really look at these things in the cold light of day as to whether or not they actually fit together."
