Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $26.42 EPS

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $27.56 by ($26.42), Zacks reports. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The business had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Booking’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Booking’s conference call:

• The company reported a solid first quarter — 338 million room nights (up 6% year-over-year, ~8% ex-Middle East), $53.8B gross bookings (+15%), revenue of $5.5B (+16%), adjusted EBITDA of ~$1.3B (+19%) and adjusted EPS of $1.14 (+14%).
• Management estimates the ongoing Middle East conflict shaved about 2 percentage points from Q1 room-night/gross-bookings growth and assumes a ~3-point headwind for Q2, incorporating the conflict through June and lowering the guidance midpoint with recovery expected in H2.
• Momentum in key regions and products — U.S. room-night growth accelerated to the low teens (fourth consecutive quarter), Asia delivered high single-digit room-night growth, and connected-trip transactions grew in the high teens, supporting cross-sell and repeat behavior.
• The company is advancing its Gen AI strategy (PriceLine’s Penny, Booking.com natural-language search, AI-driven service automation) with early conversion lifts and operational savings (e.g., Agoda cut customer-service cost per booking by double digits), and partnerships with major AI providers.
• Strong capital return and liquidity discipline — quarter-end cash/investments of $16.5B, a record $3.6B of share repurchases in Q1 (part of >40% share-count reduction since 2014), and continued commitment to returning capital while preserving strategic investment flexibility.

Booking Stock Up 1.7%

Booking stock traded up $2.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $176.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,018,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,367,293. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $192.54. The company has a market cap of $139.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.20. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $150.62 and a fifty-two week high of $233.58.

Booking Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on BKNG shares. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Booking from $240.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Booking from $224.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Booking from $244.00 to $240.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Booking in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Booking news, Director Vanessa Ames Wittman sold 1,125 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.00, for a total value of $216,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,081,600. The trade was a 6.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.21, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the sale, the director owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,288,502.40. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 60,876 shares of company stock worth $10,559,629 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Booking

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss RE Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Booking during the third quarter worth $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.42% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts reaffirm/raise — BTIG reiterated a Buy and set a $250 target, and UBS nudged its target to $260, providing upside and signaling continued analyst conviction. BTIG reaffirmation (Benzinga) UBS raises target (MarketScreener)
• Positive Sentiment: Product/AI initiatives — KAYAK launched “Ask AI” and management highlighted generative-AI assistants that cut costs and boost bookings, supporting longer‑term margin tailwinds. KAYAK Ask AI launch (GlobeNewswire) AI assistants boost (PYMNTS)
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns — Management flagged record share repurchases on the call, which supports shareholder value even as top-line headwinds persist. Earnings highlights / buybacks (Yahoo)
• Neutral Sentiment: Q1 results mixed but resilient — Gross bookings and revenue grew (~16% YoY to $5.5B); non‑GAAP EPS modestly topped some estimates, so fundamentals showed demand resilience despite regional disruption. Q1 results summary (Yahoo)
• Neutral Sentiment: Small analyst model tweaks — Erste trimmed FY26 EPS slightly (to $10.65) but the consensus remains close; some firms maintained Buy ratings even while adjusting estimates. (Research notes)
• Negative Sentiment: Guidance cut — Management reduced its full‑year revenue-growth outlook from low‑double digits to high‑single digits, citing the Middle East conflict; Q2 revenue guidance of ~$7.1–7.2B trails Street expectations (~$7.6B), a clear near‑term headwind. Outlook cut (WSJ) Press release / slides (Booking)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades/target cuts — Robert W. Baird trimmed its price target to $215 (still Outperform); such downward revisions can cap the stock near term. Baird target cut (The Fly)

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.