Booking Holdings shares sink as cautious 2026 outlook trumps Q4 beat
Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:BKNG), the world’s largest online travel agency, saw its shares slide 7.4% on Thursday morning.
While the company delivered a robust fourth-quarter performance that cleared Wall Street’s revenue and EBITDA hurdles, a forecast of decelerating growth in 2026 left investors uneasy about the long-term outlook for the travel sector.
The Norwalk, Connecticut-based travel giant reported a fourth-quarter net income of $1.4 billion, or $44.22 per share.
On an adjusted basis, earnings reached $48.80 per share, a 17% increase that narrowly edged past the analyst consensus of $48.23.
Quarterly revenue climbed 16% to $6.35 billion, driven by a 9% rise in room nights booked and a continued structural shift toward its higher-margin merchant model.
Despite the "beat and raise" nature of the quarter, the market focused on a cooling trajectory.
Sell-side analysts noted that the company’s revenue growth is projected to slow to 8.6% over the next 12 months—a significant step down from the 16.3% compound annual growth rate seen over the last three years.
