Booking Holdings vs Hershey Company (The)
Side-by-side comparison of AI visibility scores, market position, and capabilities
Norwalk CT online travel (NASDAQ: BKNG) at $23.74B 2024 revenue (+11%), $166B gross bookings; $20B buyback authorized Jan 2025, 10% dividend increase, Booking.com dominant in European accommodations competing with Expedia and Airbnb.
About
Booking Holdings Inc. is a Norwalk, Connecticut-based online travel platform — publicly traded on NASDAQ (NASDAQ: BKNG) as an S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary component — operating the world's largest portfolio of online travel brands including Booking.com (global accommodations leader), Priceline (US discount travel), Agoda (Asia-Pacific travel), KAYAK (metasearch), OpenTable (restaurant reservations), and Rentalcars.com across 220+ countries and territories through approximately 24,800 employees. In fiscal year 2024, Booking Holdings reported $23.74 billion in revenue (up 11% year-over-year), $5.88 billion in net income, and $166 billion in gross bookings — with Q4 2024 room nights growing 13% and gross bookings up 17% year-over-year. The company maintains a market capitalization exceeding $167 billion as of 2025. In January 2025, Booking Holdings authorized a $20 billion stock repurchase program and increased its quarterly dividend 10% to $9.60 per share, reflecting strong free cash flow generation. CEO Glenn Fogel has led the company since 2017, overseeing both pandemic recovery and the subsequent travel demand surge. Booking.com's accommodation inventory of millions of properties (hotels, vacation rentals, apartments, villas) across 220+ countries represents the broadest accommodation distribution platform in the global travel market.
Hershey PA chocolate and snacks (NYSE: HSY) ~$10.2B FY2024 revenue; Reese's #1 US candy brand, cocoa inflation $2.5K→$12K/MT crisis, SkinnyPop salty snacks, competing with Mars and Ferrero.
About
The Hershey Company is a Hershey, Pennsylvania-based confectionery and snacks company — publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: HSY) as an S&P 500 Consumer Staples component — manufacturing and selling chocolate, candy, mints, gum, and salty snacks through iconic brands including Hershey's (chocolate bars, Kisses), Reese's (peanut butter cups — America's #1 candy brand by revenue), Kit Kat (licensed from Nestlé for the US market), York Peppermint Patties, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, Skinny Pop, Dot's Pretzels, and Pirate's Booty through approximately 18,000 employees in 80+ countries. In fiscal year 2024, Hershey reported net sales of approximately $10.2 billion, with earnings per share significantly compressed by unprecedented cocoa commodity inflation: West African cocoa prices (Ghana and Ivory Coast provide 70%+ of global cocoa supply) surged from $2,500/metric ton in 2022 to over $12,000/metric ton in early 2024 — the highest prices in 50+ years — driven by El Niño-related drought and crop disease (swollen shoot disease) reducing cocoa harvests, creating a chocolate manufacturer cost crisis that Hershey absorbed through price increases and hedging while managing volume declines as consumers resisted higher candy prices. CEO Michele Buck has guided Hershey through the cocoa inflation crisis by implementing 10-15% retail price increases in 2023-2024, reformulating some lower-margin products to reduce cocoa content, and hedging cocoa commodity exposure on a rolling 12-18 month forward basis to smooth out extreme spot price volatility.
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