BKNG changes
Pick any two versions below to diff them.
- Price
- $163.45 → $160.21(−2.0%)
- Next earnings
- Nov 3, 2026 → Feb 3, 2027
- Next earnings is estimate
- No → Yes
- About
- Booking Holdings runs online travel brands, mainly Booking.com, and also Priceline, Agoda, Kayak, and OpenTable. Travelers use these sites and apps to book hotel rooms, homes and apartments, flights, rental cars, and restaurant tables. Booking makes most of its money from commissions that hotels and other travel providers pay for each booking, either as an agent or as a merchant that takes the traveler's payment. It also earns advertising revenue from Kayak and OpenTable. In removed: Q2 added: Q3 2026, travelers booked removed: 325 added: 345 million room nights and removed: $51.0 added: $54.5 billion of travel through its platforms, and revenue was removed: $7.4 billion. added: $8.9 billion after a $900 million reduction for a matter with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Most of its business is outside the US, mainly in Europe. On April 2, 2026, the company did a 25-for-1 stock split, so its share price is now about one 25th of the price before the split.
- Thesis
- The market prices Booking at a discount mainly because it fears that AI assistants will take travel searches and bookings away from online travel agencies. In its 2025 annual report, Booking says that Google and other platforms add AI answers and assistants that can answer a traveler's question without sending the traveler to Booking.com, and that companies that offer AI agents are now competitors. A large part of its traffic comes from these platforms. removed: Slower added: Uneven growth adds to the doubt. Room removed: night growth slowed from 6% added: nights grew 7% in removed: Q1 2026 to 5% added: Q3 2026, but Booking said that demand became weaker in removed: Q2, added: October because added: of the conflict in the Middle removed: East raised flight prices added: East, higher airfares and removed: reduced long-haul travel, added: unrest in some European cities, and removed: the company added: it guided to removed: 3% added: only 1% to removed: 5% added: 3% room night growth for removed: Q3. added: Q4 2026. In Q3 2026, Booking also cut revenue by $900 million and recorded a $100 million loss for a possible settlement with the FTC about Priceline's fees, disclosures and billing. European rules under the Digital Markets Act also limit how Booking can work with hotels. For the gap to close, removed: three added: four things must be true. Room nights must removed: keep growing at added: return to about removed: mid-single digits added: mid-single-digit growth in 2027 while marketing costs stay near 4.7% of gross bookings, which shows that travelers still come to Booking directly. Adjusted EPS must grow in the low to mid teens in 2026, as guided, helped by the Transformation Program savings of about $650 million a year by the end of 2027. added: The FTC matter must settle near the amount that Booking added: recorded. Booking must show that its own AI tools and its direct channel, which is in the mid-fifties percent of room nights, keep customers. The next check is the removed: Q3 added: Q4 2026 report removed: on November 3, 2026, then added: with the 2027 removed: outlook added: outlook, expected in added: early February 2027. If growth holds and AI does not reduce traffic, the gap can close over the next four to six quarters.
- Risks
- AI assistants and AI agents from Google and other companies can answer travel questions and book trips without sending travelers to Booking.com. A large part of Booking's traffic comes from these platforms, so this can reduce bookings or raise marketing costs. Travel demand depends on the economy and on events such as the conflict in the Middle East, which raised flight prices and reduced long-haul travel in 2026. added: Booking guided Q4 2026 room night growth of only 1% to 3% because of this conflict and unrest in some European cities. A recession or a new conflict can slow room night removed: growth. added: growth further. FTC staff plan to recommend a complaint against Priceline about disclosures, fees, customer support and billing. Booking recorded $1.0 billion for the matter in Q3 2026, but the FTC may seek more, a settlement can force Priceline to change how it works, and similar claims can come in other countries. Regulators in Europe limit how Booking can work with hotels. The European Commission named Booking a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act. In Spain, the competition authority fined Booking.com in 2024, and the company removed: has recorded added: had a removed: $472 added: $469 million liability added: for it at September 30, 2026 while it appeals. In September 2026, the EU General Court upheld the Commission's block of the Etraveli purchase. Most of Booking's business is in Europe, and it reports in US dollars. A stronger dollar lowers reported revenue and profit. Booking removed: has added: had negative stockholders' equity of removed: $10.8 added: $10.4 billion at removed: June added: September 30, 2026, because it buys back large amounts of stock. It funds part of the buybacks with debt, so debt can keep rising.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: removed: $17.2B added: $15.8B Debt: removed: $20.3B added: $20.2B Net debt: removed: $3.1B added: $4.4B Interest cover: removed: 6.8× added: 8.3× Undrawn credit line: $2.0B Debt due within 12 months: $2.0B Last debt due: 2046 Booking funds itself with senior notes, most of them in euros, and with cash that travelers pay before their trips. At removed: June added: September 30, 2026, senior notes had a principal amount of removed: $20.3 added: $20.2 billion, up from $18.9 billion at December 31, 2025, after it sold €1.9 billion and $750 million of new notes in May 2026 and repaid $1 billion in June. added: Notes in euros were $19.0 billion of this, and $2.0 billion falls due within 12 months. Cash was added: $15.8 billion at September 30, 2026, down from $17.2 removed: billion. added: billion at June 30, 2026. Part of this cash belongs to travelers who paid in advance: deferred merchant bookings were removed: $10.1 added: $6.5 billion at removed: June added: September 30, 2026, so net cash is lower than it looks. added: Current liabilities also include the liability for the FTC matter, for which Booking recorded $1.0 billion in Q3 2026. Stockholders' equity was a deficit of removed: $10.8 added: $10.4 billion because of buybacks; it bought back removed: $7.8 added: $9.9 billion of stock in the first removed: half added: nine months of added: 2026, and $12.4 billion of buyback authorization was left at September 30, 2026. Interest cover is operating income divided by interest expense for the first removed: half added: nine months of 2026. The $2 billion revolving credit facility had no borrowings and $10 million of letters of credit at removed: June added: September 30, 2026. The filings do not give the credit ratings. As of removed: Jun added: Sep 30, 2026.
- Checkpoints
- Nov 3, 2026: Q3 2026 results: room nights and Q4 outlook. removed: Pending. added: Passed. Watch: Room night growth within the guided 3% to 5% and full-year adjusted EPS growth in the low to mid teens pass; growth below the guidance or a cut to the full-year outlook fails. added: Outcome: Room nights grew 7%, above the guided range, and Booking kept its 2026 guidance for adjusted EPS growth in the low to mid teens, although it guided Q4 2026 room night growth of only 1% to 3%. Feb added: 3, 2027 (estimate): Q4 2026 results and 2027 outlook. Pending. Watch: A 2027 outlook with mid-single-digit room night growth and stable marketing costs as a share of gross bookings passes; slower growth or higher marketing costs fail. Dec 2027 (estimate): Transformation Program savings. Pending. Watch: Annual run-rate savings of about $650 million by the end of 2027 pass; lower savings or a delay fails.
- Recent events
- added: Nov 3, 2026: Booking reported Q3 2026 results. Room nights grew 7% to 345 million, above the guided 3% to 5%, and gross bookings grew 10% to $54.5 billion. Adjusted revenue grew 9% to $9.8 billion, and adjusted EPS grew 17% to $4.66. It bought back $2.1 billion of stock in the quarter. Booking said that demand became weaker in October because of the Middle East conflict, and it guided Q4 2026 room night growth of 1% to 3% and about flat adjusted EBITDA. It kept its 2026 guidance for adjusted EPS growth in the low to mid teens. Nov 3, 2026: Booking said that FTC staff plan to recommend a complaint against Priceline and one of its business partners about disclosures, fees, customer support and billing. Priceline is in talks with the FTC. Booking reduced Q3 2026 revenue by $900 million and recorded a $100 million loss for the matter, and it said that the FTC may seek more. Oct 6, 2026: Booking said that it will report Q3 2026 results after the market closes on November 3, 2026, with a conference call at 4:30 p.m. ET. Sep 9, 2026: The EU General Court dismissed Booking's appeal against the European Commission's 2023 decision to block its purchase of Etraveli, a flight booking company. The court accepted the Commission's view that the deal would make Booking's position in hotel bookings stronger. Booking can still appeal to the EU Court of Justice. Aug 4, 2026: Booking reported Q2 2026 results. Room nights grew 5% to 325 million, gross bookings grew 9% to $51.0 billion, and revenue grew 8% to $7.4 billion. Adjusted EPS was $2.54, up 15%. It bought back $3.7 billion of stock and raised its expected Transformation Program savings to about $650 million a year by the end of 2027. For Q3 2026, it guided to room night growth of 3% to 5%. May 11, 2026: Booking sold €1.9 billion of senior notes: €600 million at 3.500% due 2030, €700 million at 4.000% due 2034, and €600 million at 4.500% due 2039. May 7, 2026: Booking sold $750 million of 5.375% senior notes due 2036. Apr 28, 2026: Booking reported Q1 2026 results. Room nights grew 6%, and the company estimated that the conflict in the Middle East reduced this growth by about 2 percentage points. Gross bookings grew 15%, revenue grew 16%, and adjusted EBITDA grew 19%.