Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG
NasdaqTravel, lodging and leisureFinancials to Jun 30, 2026 · Updated Oct 9, 2026
Moat ranks
Balance sheet
| $B | Dec 31 | Jun 30 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | 17.2 | 17.2 |
| Securities | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Restricted cash | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Debt | 18.7 | 20.2 |
| Net cash | -1.5 | -3.0 |
| Equity | -5.6 | -10.8 |
- Debt / EBITDA
- 2.05×
- Debt / equity
- –
- Leases (12/31/25)
- $678M
- Diluted shares
- 770M
- Book value / share
- −$14.00
- Price / book
- –
- Net cash / share
- −$3.85
- Market cap
- $120.2B
- Enterprise value
- $123.2B
Per-share record
Key indicators
| Indicator | Latest | Vs year ago | Last 8 quarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 8.1% | -7.9 pts | |
| Operating margin | 34.0% | +0.9 pts | |
| FCF margin | 49.6% | +3.4 pts | |
| Capex / revenue | 1.0% | +0.1 pts | |
| Room nights | 325.0M | +5% | |
| Gross bookings | $51.0B | +9% | |
| Merchant gross bookings | $37.0B | +15% | |
| Marketing expense | $2.4B | +11% | |
| Deferred merchant bookings | $10.1B | +11% |
Margins and growth from reported quarters; company KPIs as reported in results releases.
About BKNG
Booking Holdings connects travelers with accommodation, flights, cars and activities through Booking.com, Priceline and Agoda. Reservation revenue accounts for 95.1% of H1 2026 revenue; advertising and OpenTable make up the rest.
- Two Sided Network
More accommodation choices help attract travelers, while traveler demand helps partners fill rooms.
- Brand Trust
Recognized travel brands, reviews and support help travelers choose unfamiliar accommodation.
- Habit Default
Travelers increasingly book within Booking’s apps: trailing app mix moved from the mid-fifties to the high-fifties range.
- Float Prepayment
Merchant transactions collect traveler cash before Booking completes its service.
- Sep 14, 2026
Booking.com renewed its UEFA national-team partnership through EURO 2028 and Women’s EURO 2029, adding visibility within fan ticket purchases. The agreement expands an acquisition channel, but its cost and booking return are not disclosed. Source: https://news.booking.com/bookingcom-renews-partnership-with-uefa-national-team-competitions/
- Sep 9, 2026
The EU General Court upheld the prohibition of Booking’s Etraveli purchase, keeping the flight company outside the group and restricting this path to a broader travel platform. Source: https://curia.europa.eu/site/upload/docs/application/pdf/2026-09/cp260125en.pdf
- Sep 2026
Booking.com removed outside-price signals from Sponsored Benefit eligibility for EEA properties after regulatory dialogue. Hotels gain more freedom to offer cheaper prices through other channels, while Booking still funds its own customer discount. The Commission published the change on September 28; the implementation day was not disclosed. Source: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/factsheet-how-dma-ensures-businesses-using-bookingcom-are-free-set-their-prices-and-bookingcom-2026-09-28_en?prefLang=bg
- Aug 27, 2026
Google began rolling out hotel checkout inside AI Mode in the U.S., with Booking.com and Priceline among its partners. Booking keeps transaction and service duties, but Google owns the booking interface; conversion gains and acquisition costs remain unknown. Source: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/book-travel-ai-mode/
- Aug 26, 2026
OpenTable launched more than 20 new or updated features, including AI discovery and table automation. Restaurant retention and profit benefits are still to be tested. Source: https://www.opentable.com/blog/press/page/summer-product-launch/
Ownership
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On this page
Financial record
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | TTM | Trend | Change 2016–25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per share ($) | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 8.58 | 10.15 | 12.10 | 13.85 | 6.60 | 10.60 | 17.07 | 23.39 | 27.88 | 32.99 | 36.68 | +16.1%/yr | |
| Cash flow | 3.18 | 3.73 | 4.45 | 4.47 | 0.08 | 2.73 | 6.55 | 8.04 | 9.77 | 11.53 | 12.80 | +15.4%/yr | |
| Earnings | 1.71 | 1.87 | 3.33 | 4.47 | 0.06 | 1.13 | 3.05 | 4.70 | 6.91 | 6.62 | 9.36 | +16.3%/yr | |
| Free cash flow | 3.01 | 3.50 | 4.08 | 4.13 | -0.20 | 2.43 | 6.18 | 7.66 | 9.27 | 11.14 | 12.39 | +15.7%/yr | |
| Capex | 0.18 | 0.23 | 0.37 | 0.34 | 0.28 | 0.29 | 0.37 | 0.38 | 0.50 | 0.39 | 0.42 | +9.4%/yr | |
| Dividends | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.38 | 1.53 | 1.66 | – | |
| Book value | 7.85 | 9.02 | 7.32 | 5.45 | 4.76 | 5.97 | 2.78 | -3.00 | -4.72 | -6.84 | -14.00 | – | |
| Diluted shares (M) | 1,252 | 1,249 | 1,200 | 1,088 | 1,029 | 1,034 | 1,001 | 913 | 852 | 816 | 770 | -4.6%/yr | |
| Totals ($B) | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 10.7 | 12.7 | 14.5 | 15.1 | 6.8 | 11.0 | 17.1 | 21.4 | 23.7 | 26.9 | 28.2 | +10.7%/yr | |
| Operating income | 2.9 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 5.3 | -0.6 | 2.5 | 5.1 | 5.8 | 7.6 | 8.8 | 9.3 | +13.1%/yr | |
| Net income | 2.1 | 2.3 | 4.0 | 4.9 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 5.9 | 5.4 | 7.2 | +10.9%/yr | |
| Free cash flow | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.5 | -0.2 | 2.5 | 6.2 | 7.0 | 7.9 | 9.1 | 9.5 | +10.3%/yr | |
| Buybacks | 0.8 | 1.7 | 5.8 | 8.0 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 6.5 | 10.2 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 10.5 | +24.1%/yr | |
| Dividends | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | – | |
| Net cash | 5.6 | 6.7 | 3.1 | -0.3 | -1.0 | 0.2 | -0.3 | -2.1 | -0.4 | -1.5 | -3.0 | −$7.1B | |
| Margins & returns (%) | |||||||||||||
| Gross margin | 96.1 | 98.1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Operating margin | 27.1 | 35.8 | 36.8 | 35.5 | -9.3 | 22.8 | 29.9 | 27.3 | 31.8 | 32.8 | 32.9 | +5.7 pts | |
| Net margin | 19.9 | 18.5 | 27.5 | 32.3 | 0.9 | 10.6 | 17.9 | 20.1 | 24.8 | 20.1 | 25.5 | +0.2 pts | |
| FCF margin | 35.0 | 34.5 | 33.7 | 29.8 | -3.0 | 23.0 | 36.2 | 32.8 | 33.3 | 33.8 | 33.8 | -1.3 pts | |
| ROIC | 19.9 | 28.7 | 38.3 | 68.3 | -8.6 | 33.5 | 134.0 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Return on equity | 21.7 | 20.8 | 45.5 | 82.0 | 1.2 | 18.9 | 109.9 | – | – | – | – | – | |
| Stock pay % of revenue | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.0 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.1 | -0.0 pts | |
| Capex % of revenue | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 1.2 | 1.1 | -0.9 pts | |
Change uses 2016 and 2025 only: compound annual growth for amounts, points for margins and returns, and the change in amount for net cash. A dash means no 2016 base. Trend shows the fiscal years.
Moat
Moat scorecard
- Strength
- Confidence
- Structure
- Oligopoly
- Durability
- durable
- Trajectory
- stable
- Pricing power
- moderate
- Online travel reservations (Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda)95.1%4 claims
- Advertising and Other Revenues4.9%Not scored: evidence insufficient
Moat claims
- Applies to
- Online travel reservations (Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda)
- Confidence
- Durability
- durable
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 9, 2026
More accommodation choices help attract travelers, while traveler demand helps partners fill rooms. Booking.com offered about 4.7 million properties at June 2026 and group Q2 bookings reached 325 million room nights. European regulators and the court recognize its strong hotel-OTA position. Nonexclusive listings, price comparison and regional competitors limit the protection.
Accommodation supply keeps growing and bookings remain resilient, but room-night growth slowed to 5% in Q2 and inventory is not exclusive. European dominance is strong; further strengthening across all regions is not established.
- Room nights325,000,000+5%
- Gross bookings$51.0B+9%
- Booking.com properties~4,700,000+9%
- Supplier pushback (direct booking incentives, reduced OTA allocation)
- European parity restrictions let hotels undercut Booking on direct and rival channels; commission and ranking remedies can weaken monetization
- Traffic re-routing by large tech platforms/search
- FilingBooking Holdings Q2 2026 Form 10-QAug 4, 2026
- CourtEU General Court upholds Etraveli acquisition prohibitionSep 9, 2026
- SourceEuropean Commission: September 2026 Booking.com DMA compliance measuresSep 28, 2026
- Applies to
- Online travel reservations (Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda)
- Confidence
- Durability
- durable
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 9, 2026
Recognized travel brands, reviews and support help travelers choose unfamiliar accommodation. The practical evidence is repeat direct use and booking scale, rather than a reported trust or price-premium measure. The same benefits are available from large rivals, and consumers often prioritize price.
Brand familiarity still supports repeat use, but Q2 marketing spend rose to $2.371 billion and direct mix stayed in the same broad range. There is no published evidence that trust now commands a larger price premium.
- Gross bookings$51.0B+9%
- Marketing expense$2.4B+11%
- Brand damage from poor customer service during disruptions
- Fraud/scams or inconsistent property quality impacting trust
- Supplier and reseller misconduct can bring consumer claims and harm confidence in the group; San Francisco filed an inventory-supply lawsuit in July 2026
- FilingBooking Holdings Q2 2026 Form 10-QAug 4, 2026
- FilingBooking Holdings FY2025 Form 10-KFeb 18, 2026
- CourtSan Francisco City Attorney files hotel-reseller consumer-protection lawsuitJul 29, 2026
- Applies to
- Online travel reservations (Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda)
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 9, 2026
Travelers increasingly book within Booking’s apps: trailing app mix moved from the mid-fifties to the high-fifties range. Booking reports favorable repeat direct behavior, but total direct mix remains in the mid-fifties. Apps help repeat use without preventing comparison or switching. Google now offers hotel checkout inside AI Mode with Booking.com and Priceline as partners. This adds distribution but can place the traveler relationship with Google; the financial effect is not disclosed.
App use is rising, but the overall direct-booking mix has not moved out of its prior range. Less frequent travel purchases and easy price comparison keep the habit advantage moderate.
- Room nights325,000,000+5%
- Marketing expense$2.4B+11%
- Google, AI assistants and metasearch regain discovery control
- Travelers compare prices across multiple OTAs and supplier sites
- Poor disruption handling damages repeat use
- FilingBooking Holdings Q2 2026 Form 10-QAug 4, 2026
- SourceGoogle launches hotel booking through AI ModeAug 27, 2026
- Applies to
- Online travel reservations (Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda)
- Confidence
- Durability
- medium
- Trajectory
- stableas of Oct 9, 2026
Merchant transactions collect traveler cash before Booking completes its service. Deferred merchant bookings were $10.121 billion at June 2026 versus $5.270 billion at December 2025. The balance finances seasonal operations, but includes money owed to suppliers and is mostly refundable; it is not unrestricted profit.
The merchant model is expanding and generates more advance cash, but year-end and June balances are seasonal. Rival merchant OTAs use the same funding model, and lower rates or cancellations can reduce its value.
- Merchant gross bookings$37.0B+15%
- Deferred merchant bookings$10.1B+11%
- Cancellation and refund waves rapidly reverse customer float
- Escrow, payment or consumer-protection rules restrict use of funds
- Suppliers demand faster settlement
- FilingBooking Holdings Q2 2026 Form 10-QAug 4, 2026
- FilingBooking Holdings Q2 2026 Form 10-Q: merchant booking migrationAug 4, 2026
Profile change log
- Oct 9, 2026 · analyst revision
Removed the adjacent-service market leader list because the filing identifies competitors rather than ranking a common global travel-discovery and restaurant-services market. Added reported OpenTable restaurant reach without inferring market share or a stronger moat.
- Oct 9, 2026 · analyst revision
Extended the discovery and regulation debate with the Google hotel-checkout launch and September EEA pricing changes. Added the UEFA renewal and San Francisco reseller lawsuit to the event timeline; moat strengths and the advertising-category evidence status remain unchanged.
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
Booking.com removed outside-price signals from Sponsored Benefit eligibility for EEA properties after regulatory dialogue. Hotels gain more freedom to offer cheaper prices through other channels, while Booking still funds its own customer discount. The Commission published the change on September 28; the implementation day was not disclosed. Source: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/factsheet-how-dma-ensures-businesses-using-bookingcom-are-free-set-their-prices-and-bookingcom-2026-09-28_en?prefLang=bg
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
Booking.com renewed its UEFA national-team partnership through EURO 2028 and Women’s EURO 2029, adding visibility within fan ticket purchases. The agreement expands an acquisition channel, but its cost and booking return are not disclosed. Source: https://news.booking.com/bookingcom-renews-partnership-with-uefa-national-team-competitions/
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
Google began rolling out hotel checkout inside AI Mode in the U.S., with Booking.com and Priceline among its partners. Booking keeps transaction and service duties, but Google owns the booking interface; conversion gains and acquisition costs remain unknown. Source: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/book-travel-ai-mode/
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
San Francisco sued Booking Holdings and two hotel booking resellers, alleging misleading hotel websites and excessive prices. The city alleges Booking supplied inventory and assisted the conduct; liability and financial exposure remain unproven. Source: https://www.sf.gov/fil/news-city-attorney-lawsuit-cracks-down-on-hotel-booking-scam
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
The EU General Court upheld the prohibition of Booking’s Etraveli purchase, keeping the flight company outside the group and restricting this path to a broader travel platform. Source: https://curia.europa.eu/site/upload/docs/application/pdf/2026-09/cp260125en.pdf
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
OpenTable launched more than 20 new or updated features, including AI discovery and table automation. Restaurant retention and profit benefits are still to be tested. Source: https://www.opentable.com/blog/press/page/summer-product-launch/
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
Square and OpenTable expanded their preferred partnership to connect reservations, spending and guest information, making restaurant operations more connected. Source: https://www.opentable.com/blog/press/page/square-partnership/
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
Booking raised its transformation target to about $650 million in annual savings and extended most remaining implementation through 2027, leaving execution and investment costs to monitor. Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1075531/000107553126000037/bkng-20260630.htm
- Oct 9, 2026 · business change
Booking completed a 25-for-1 forward share split, changing share counts and per-share comparisons without changing business ownership. Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1075531/000107553126000037/bkng-20260630.htm
- Oct 9, 2026 · analyst revision
Added current management and ownership context from the 2026 proxy. Fogel remains CEO, the company has one common share class and no precise insider voting-power percentage is disclosed.
- Oct 9, 2026 · analyst revision
Removed the 24%–32% implied global share because Booking gross bookings were divided by a publisher’s revenue-based market estimate. Linked both revenue categories to shared market profiles; kept advertising and other outside the scored moat because separate protection and retention evidence remains missing.
- Oct 9, 2026 · analyst revision
Reduced the network strength from 5 to 4 and brand trust from 4 to 3. Scale and European leadership are supported, but nonexclusive supply, price comparison and rising paid discovery costs do not establish exceptional global protection or a strong trust premium. Added current trajectories and a testable debate.
Industry & peers
Peer map
Hover a point for its values; click a peer to compare. Dashed lines: industry medians.
Global online travel agencies
Digital intermediaries that reserve accommodation, flights, ground transport, packages and activities for leisure and business travelers. Supplier-direct bookings, advertising-only metasearch and restaurant software are outside this reservation market.
- Trip.com Group
- Booking Holdings
- Expedia Group
- Airbnb
- Tongcheng Travel
| Stocks | Moat | Gross m. | Op. m. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BKNG | 87 | – | 32.9% | |
| Industry median | 9 | 80 | 77.7% | 32.9% |
| Sector median | 85 | 74 | 55.5% | 16.9% |
| All stocks median | 398 | 76 | 52.9% | 19.6% |
Moat medians cover every stock. Margin medians count only stocks with collected numbers and need at least three.
Drivers & risks
- Travelers continue moving from offline agents to apps; local payment and language support broaden the reachable customer base.
- Independent hotels and fragmented accommodation hosts value broad distribution, while large chains can invest in direct channels.
- Asia and other growing travel regions add demand, but local supply, payment and support requirements favor established regional platforms.
- Connected itineraries can improve repeat use and cross-selling, although flights and other services often have lower margins than accommodation.
- Interest rates affect earnings on advance cash and borrowing costs; their effect on travel budgets also influences demand.
- Recessions, lower household purchasing power and weaker business activity can cut room nights, prices and advance bookings.
- Wars, flight capacity loss and higher fuel prices reduce long-haul demand and can trigger cancellation and refund waves.
- Google now offers hotel checkout inside AI Mode with OTAs and hotel chains as partners. This can add distribution while moving discovery and checkout away from platform apps; conversion and acquisition economics are not yet disclosed.
- European parity restrictions let hotels offer lower prices on direct and rival channels. Commission, privacy, consumer-protection and short-term-rental rules can reduce fees, inventory or supplier dependence and create legal costs.
- USD moves translate international demand into different reported totals; agency-to-merchant migration can raise revenue without equivalent new travel volume.
Bulls & bears
Can Booking keep growing accommodation bookings and repeat direct use without higher discovery, payment and regulatory costs taking the gain?
Arguments
What to watch
- 1Room nights, available accommodation properties and demand by region
- 2Direct and app booking mix, marketing expense and gross bookings
- 3Merchant gross bookings, deferred merchant cash, payment costs and cancellations
- 4Operating income before specific settlements and impairments, with recurring FX and taxes left visible
- 5Booking volume and customer costs from Google AI Mode, hotel direct-price differences in the EEA, and reseller litigation outcomes
Next check: November 3, 2026 Q3 results: compare room nights with the 3%–5% guidance, direct mix and marketing spending; check regulatory cases and the $650 million savings programme.
Sources: company filings and dated sources collected for Find My Moat; market cap as of Oct 8, 2026. Not investment advice.
Free to reuse, commercially too, with a credit link. See the data license.
Moat Score 87/100 by <a href="https://www.findmymoat.com/stocks/XNAS:BKNG">Find My Moat</a> (as of September 2026)Request update
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