Erste Group Bank Forecasts Increased Earnings for Booking

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) – Analysts at Erste Group Bank raised their FY2026 EPS estimates for Booking in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 18th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now expects that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $269.31 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $268.79. The consensus estimate for Booking’s current full-year earnings is $209.92 per share.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.96 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $41.55 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BKNG. Mizuho upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $6,000.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $5,920.00 target price on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $4,495.00 price target (down previously from $5,830.00) on shares of Booking in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Booking from $6,250.00 to $5,600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Booking from $6,250.00 to $6,400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Twenty-eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,971.64.

Booking Stock Performance

BKNG stock opened at $4,076.79 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,007.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5,179.11. The company has a market cap of $129.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. Booking has a fifty-two week low of $3,871.01 and a fifty-two week high of $5,839.41.

Booking’s stock is going to split on Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly created shares will be distributed to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total value of $204,214.40. Following the sale, the director owned 840 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,502.40. This trade represents a 4.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of Booking stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,631,984.10. The trade was a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 3,108 shares of company stock valued at $15,287,682 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Booking by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 251 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Booking during the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Booking by 25.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Bouchey Financial Group Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Booking in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in shares of Booking by 13.3% in the second quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 136 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $787,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Booking

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat: BKNG reported Q4 revenue of $6.35B (+16% y/y) and EPS of $48.80, with room nights +9% and gross bookings +16% — strong operating metrics that underpin the stock’s upside. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: 25-for-1 stock split: management announced a 25-to-1 split effective early April, which increases retail accessibility/liquidity and often supports demand from individual investors. MarketBeat BKNG page (split)
• Positive Sentiment: AI as a productivity lever: management highlighted generative-AI initiatives to improve personalization and conversion, which could be a medium-term margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: company gave constructive revenue growth guidance for the quarter (revenue growth range above some Street estimates), though currency-adjusted growth and margin cadence bear watching. Guidance & metrics comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation released: earnings transcript, slide deck and call replay are available for investors who want to dig into unit economics and regional trends. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: multiple firms trimmed targets (examples include Susquehanna, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others), which pressured sentiment and contributed to recent near-term weakness. Benzinga: price-target cuts / 52-week low
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation fears & insider selling: investors remain concerned that big‑tech AI agents could bypass OTAs and that higher marketing spend may compress near-term margins; CEO share sales in February add a modest negative optics element. Deep dive on AI/marketing impact Read More.

About Booking

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.