Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG used its second-quarter 2026 earnings call to emphasize resilient domestic travel demand, cost control and measured AI deployment, even as Middle East disruptions pressured long-haul travel and airline capacity.
Management’s message was that execution remains intact, but the outlook still depends on geopolitical stability. BKNG reported adjusted earnings of $2.54 per share, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.45. Revenues of $7.35 billion exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.18 billion.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Booking Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Booking Holdings Inc. Quote
BKNG Raises Its Savings Target
President and CEO Glenn Fogel said the company exceeded the high end of guidance across key metrics while continuing to fund long-term priorities.
Executive vice president and CFO Ewout Steenbergen said room nights rose 5%, gross bookings increased 9%, revenues advanced 8% and adjusted EBITDA grew 9%. The adjusted EBITDA margin reached 36%, up from 35.6%.
Steenbergen raised the expected annual run-rate transformation savings target to about $650 million from $550 million. The additional $100 million came mainly from procurement and should be realized primarily in 2027.
Booking Sets a Cautious Q3 Framework
Steenbergen guided for third-quarter room-night growth of 3-5%. Gross bookings, revenues and adjusted EBITDA are each expected to rise 4-6%.
The outlook assumes stable broader travel conditions, while elevated airfares, reduced capacity on some routes and softer long-haul international demand persist through the second quarter. Pressure on inbound Middle East travel also remains embedded in guidance.
For 2026, management expects high-single-digit growth in gross bookings, revenues and adjusted EBITDA, with adjusted earnings growth in the low-to-mid-teens. The gross bookings outlook was lowered mainly because of flight-ticket growth, while accommodation expectations were largely unchanged.
BKNG Keeps Connected Trip at the Center
Fogel said Connected Trip transactions grew in the low-double-digit range and represented a low-double-digit share of Booking.com transactions. Steenbergen said growth was more than twice Booking.com’s overall transaction pace.
Merchant gross bookings reached about 73% of total gross bookings, up roughly 4 percentage points year over year. Management views payments as the link connecting accommodations, flights, cars and attractions.
Fogel said higher-tier Genius members represented more than 30% of active customers and a high-50% share of room nights. Management tied that engagement to repeat activity and higher direct-booking rates.
Booking Says AI Benefits Are Real but Early
An Evercore ISI analyst pressed management for evidence that AI is improving conversion and customer satisfaction. Fogel said results are encouraging, but usage remains too limited for meaningful disclosure.
Steenbergen said traffic from large language models remains significantly below 1% of room nights and has not changed materially in recent months. Booking is testing paid channels while prioritizing AI tools within its own platforms.
Management was more explicit about internal returns. Fogel said AI is improving customer service and software development, while Steenbergen said AI costs remain a low-single-digit share of technology spending and are managed through cost-aware model routing.
BKNG Defends U.S. Growth & B2B Discipline
A Citi analyst asked how Booking can sustain its U.S. progress. Fogel pointed to high-single-digit room-night growth and said the focus remains on inventory, product, service and marketing, with alternative accommodations still needing improvement.
Wells Fargo and Oppenheimer analysts asked about consolidating the B2B operations of Booking.com, Priceline and Agoda. Fogel said the unified platform should combine the strongest tools from each operation and improve competitiveness.
Steenbergen stressed that B2B growth must be incremental. He said management will guard against cannibalizing the higher unit economics of the consumer business while pursuing supply partnerships.
Booking Maintains an Execution-First Posture
Fogel closed with confidence in travel-demand resilience while acknowledging unsettled geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions.
Priorities remain Connected Trip expansion, U.S. and Asia growth, AI deployment, partner value and disciplined capital allocation. Management emphasized controlled investment, measurable returns and continued execution against long-term priorities.
BKNG Signals Show a Mixed Near-Term Setup
BKNG carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Its Growth Score of B is favorable, but the Value Score of D and Momentum Score of F indicate weaker characteristics in those styles. The VGM Score of C is a middle-grade composite. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Zacks research emphasizes Zacks Rank #1 and 2 (Buy) stocks paired with A or B Style Scores. BKNG’s current combination is mixed, and the Zacks Rank can change as earnings estimates are revised following the just-reported results.
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