BKNG vs CSCO: SPOTLIGHT Buys vs MONITOR Signals
How did Booking Holdings (BKNG) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) fare under JumpstartSignal's 5-stage screening pipeline across our full 2012–2025 walk-forward backtest? We flagged BKNG 2 times (2 signal days, first signal in 2013) and CSCO 6 times (132 signal days, first signal in 2023). Every entry price, return, and SPY comparison below is from the frozen backtest snapshot.
📌 Note: CSCO only ever reached our MONITOR watchlist tier, it was never promoted to a SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY buy signal. BKNG did reach SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY. That asymmetry is the story of this comparison.
Head-to-Head Stats
BKNG ✅ OPPORTUNITY Booking Holdings · Consumer Discretionary
CSCO 📌 MONITOR Cisco Systems · Technology
Per-Signal Returns
Each bar below shows the best return from one signal cluster, held from the entry date through Feb 1, 2026. The SPY return over the same period is shown alongside each entry, alpha is the gap between the two.
BKNG Signal Clusters
| Entry Date | Entry Price | Return | SPY Return | Alpha vs SPY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 2013 | $29.18 | +584% | +439% | +145% |
| Feb 12, 2014 | $48.95 | +308% | +363% | -55% |
CSCO Signal Clusters
| Entry Date | Entry Price | Return | SPY Return | Alpha vs SPY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2023 | $55.24 | +42% | +62% | -20% |
| Nov 15, 2024 | $57.01 | +37% | +18% | +19% |
| Jan 15, 2025 | $59.82 | +31% | +17% | +14% |
| Feb 3, 2025 | $61.04 | +28% | +16% | +12% |
| May 20, 2025 | $63.05 | +24% | +17% | +7% |
| Oct 2, 2025 | $68.31 | +15% | +3% | +11% |
What This Teaches
Which stock a quant system picks more often says more about price-action shape than about the business. CSCO kept printing clean SMA20/50 crossover + breakout-volume setups (6 distinct clusters over 14 years); BKNG printed them 2× in the same window. Same universe, same rules, different output, and that is exactly what a rules-based pipeline is supposed to produce.
Compare More
Get signals like these delivered daily
Free daily signals from the same 5-stage pipeline that flagged these entries.
No spam. Unsubscribe in one click.
FAQ
Did JumpstartSignal ever buy CSCO?
No. CSCO only ever cleared our weekly MONITOR tier, a watchlist of stocks matching some but not all of our buy criteria. MONITOR signals are published for research context, not executed as trades; only SPOTLIGHT and OPPORTUNITY signals enter the backtested portfolio. BKNG, by contrast, did reach SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY in our pipeline; that asymmetry is the core story of this page.
Is BKNG or CSCO a better momentum stock?
These two are not directly comparable as momentum buys. BKNG reached our buy tiers and averaged +45% alpha per buy signal across 2 clusters. CSCO only ever cleared the MONITOR watchlist (6 clusters, never promoted to a buy), so it has no buy-tier alpha. MONITOR signals are watch-only and not comparable to executed buy signals.
When did JumpstartSignal first flag BKNG?
Apr 12, 2013 at an entry price of $29.18 (SPOTLIGHT or OPPORTUNITY buy signal). That signal has returned +584% held to the snapshot date, versus +439% for SPY over the same period.
When did JumpstartSignal first flag CSCO?
Aug 21, 2023 at an entry price of $55.24 (MONITOR watchlist tier only). That signal has returned +42% held to the snapshot date, versus +62% for SPY.
Does this mean one stock is a buy and the other isn't?
No. Historical signal frequency and past returns are not buy recommendations. Our pipeline identifies entries that would have matched the template historically. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Use these pages as methodology research, not investment advice.
Where does the underlying data come from?
All entries on this page come from the R30 walk-forward validated backtest covering 2012-2025 (the 'seo_active' snapshot in our golden archive). Entry prices, returns, and SPY comparisons are computed from end-of-day OHLCV and frozen at snapshot time. See our methodology for details.