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Merchant revenues rose 26.7%, driving growth despite Middle East-related headwinds.
Gross bookings rose 15% to $53.8B, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 19% Y/Y.
Booking Holdings (BKNG - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.14 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.64%. The figure increased 14% year over year.
Revenues of $5.53 billion edged past the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.61% and increased 16% year over year and about 10% on a constant currency (cc) basis.
Revenues as a percentage of gross bookings were 10.3% in the first quarter of 2026, up about 10 basis points year over year, driven by the estimated impact of the situation in the Middle East.
BKNG’s Q1 Top Line in Detail
Merchant revenues were $3.70 billion (66.8% of total revenues), up 26.7% year over year. Agency revenues were $1.53 billion (27.6% of total revenues), down 2.3% year over year. Advertising & Other revenues were $306 million (5.5% of total revenues), up 9.3% year over year. The mix underscores the company’s continued scale in its payments-enabled model, which management highlighted as a contributor to revenue growth in the quarter.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
First-quarter room nights of 338 million grew 6% year over year, even as the company cited headwinds tied to the Middle East conflict.
Alternative accommodation room nights at Booking.com grew 5.5% year over year, with total listings reaching 8.8 million, up 9% year over year.
Merchant gross bookings grew 24.3% year over year to $38.7 billion, representing 72% of total gross bookings.
Total gross bookings rose 15% year over year to $53.8 billion, with management noting a meaningful foreign-exchange benefit and modest constant-currency accommodation ADR gains.
Approximately 21 million airline tickets were booked across Booking Holdings' platforms in the first quarter, witnessing a 28.5% year-over-year increase.
BKNG’s Q1 Operating Results
Marketing expense, a highly variable expense line, increased 16.4% year over year. Marketing expense as a percentage of gross bookings was 3.8% in the first quarter of 2026, which was four basis points higher year over year, driven primarily by the situation in the Middle East, as certain bookings sourced through paid channels were subsequently canceled.
Sales and other expenses were $804 million, up 14.6% year over year. As a percentage of total gross bookings, sales and other expenses were 1.5%, similar to the first quarter of 2025. General and administrative expenses declined 29.3% year over year to $100 million, while information technology expenses rose 19.7% to $240 million. Personnel expenses increased to $893 million in the first quarter, up approximately 28.8% year over year.
Adjusted fixed operating expenses increased 14% year over year due to adverse FX changes and $53 million in one-time benefits in the first quarter of 2025.
Profitability reflected operating discipline. Operating income was $1.27 billion, an increase of 19.7% year over year. Net income margin improved to 19.6% compared to 7.0% a year-ago quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 19% year over year to approximately $1.29 billion. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 23.3%, expanded 50 basis points year over year, with the company pointing to leverage in adjusted fixed operating expenses as a key driver of the adjusted profit expansion.
BKNG’s Q1 Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of March 31, 2026, the company's cash and investments totaled $16.8 billion, down from $17.8 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Booking Holdings had $15.4 billion of total long-term debt, down from $16.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Free cash flow was $3.1 billion, up compared with $1.4 billion reported in the previous quarter.
Shareholder payouts also included a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per share. Separately, the company noted that it effected a 25-for-1 stock split on April 2, 2026, and that per-share figures have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the split.
Booking Holdings’ Q2 & 2026 Guidance
For the second quarter of 2026, room night growth is expected between 2% and 4%. Gross bookings, revenues and adjusted EBITDA are each projected to grow 4% to 6%. Constant-currency gross bookings growth expected at 2% to 4%.
For full-year 2026, BKNG expects gross bookings growth in the high-single-digit to low-double-digit range, constant-currency gross bookings growth in the high-single-digit range, and constant-currency revenue growth in the mid-to-high-single-digit range. Adjusted EBITDA growth is expected to be slightly faster than revenue growth, while adjusted earnings growth is projected in the low-to-mid-teens.
BKNG’s Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Booking Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Zacks
Booking Holdings Q1 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates, Rise Y/Y
Key Takeaways
Booking Holdings (BKNG - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.14 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.64%. The figure increased 14% year over year.
Revenues of $5.53 billion edged past the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.61% and increased 16% year over year and about 10% on a constant currency (cc) basis.
Revenues as a percentage of gross bookings were 10.3% in the first quarter of 2026, up about 10 basis points year over year, driven by the estimated impact of the situation in the Middle East.
BKNG’s Q1 Top Line in Detail
Merchant revenues were $3.70 billion (66.8% of total revenues), up 26.7% year over year. Agency revenues were $1.53 billion (27.6% of total revenues), down 2.3% year over year. Advertising & Other revenues were $306 million (5.5% of total revenues), up 9.3% year over year. The mix underscores the company’s continued scale in its payments-enabled model, which management highlighted as a contributor to revenue growth in the quarter.
Booking Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Booking Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Booking Holdings Inc. Quote
First-quarter room nights of 338 million grew 6% year over year, even as the company cited headwinds tied to the Middle East conflict.
Alternative accommodation room nights at Booking.com grew 5.5% year over year, with total listings reaching 8.8 million, up 9% year over year.
Merchant gross bookings grew 24.3% year over year to $38.7 billion, representing 72% of total gross bookings.
Total gross bookings rose 15% year over year to $53.8 billion, with management noting a meaningful foreign-exchange benefit and modest constant-currency accommodation ADR gains.
Approximately 21 million airline tickets were booked across Booking Holdings' platforms in the first quarter, witnessing a 28.5% year-over-year increase.
BKNG’s Q1 Operating Results
Marketing expense, a highly variable expense line, increased 16.4% year over year. Marketing expense as a percentage of gross bookings was 3.8% in the first quarter of 2026, which was four basis points higher year over year, driven primarily by the situation in the Middle East, as certain bookings sourced through paid channels were subsequently canceled.
Sales and other expenses were $804 million, up 14.6% year over year. As a percentage of total gross bookings, sales and other expenses were 1.5%, similar to the first quarter of 2025. General and administrative expenses declined 29.3% year over year to $100 million, while information technology expenses rose 19.7% to $240 million. Personnel expenses increased to $893 million in the first quarter, up approximately 28.8% year over year.
Adjusted fixed operating expenses increased 14% year over year due to adverse FX changes and $53 million in one-time benefits in the first quarter of 2025.
Profitability reflected operating discipline. Operating income was $1.27 billion, an increase of 19.7% year over year. Net income margin improved to 19.6% compared to 7.0% a year-ago quarter.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 19% year over year to approximately $1.29 billion. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 23.3%, expanded 50 basis points year over year, with the company pointing to leverage in adjusted fixed operating expenses as a key driver of the adjusted profit expansion.
BKNG’s Q1 Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
As of March 31, 2026, the company's cash and investments totaled $16.8 billion, down from $17.8 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Booking Holdings had $15.4 billion of total long-term debt, down from $16.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Free cash flow was $3.1 billion, up compared with $1.4 billion reported in the previous quarter.
Shareholder payouts also included a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per share. Separately, the company noted that it effected a 25-for-1 stock split on April 2, 2026, and that per-share figures have been retroactively adjusted to reflect the split.
Booking Holdings’ Q2 & 2026 Guidance
For the second quarter of 2026, room night growth is expected between 2% and 4%. Gross bookings, revenues and adjusted EBITDA are each projected to grow 4% to 6%. Constant-currency gross bookings growth expected at 2% to 4%.
For full-year 2026, BKNG expects gross bookings growth in the high-single-digit to low-double-digit range, constant-currency gross bookings growth in the high-single-digit range, and constant-currency revenue growth in the mid-to-high-single-digit range. Adjusted EBITDA growth is expected to be slightly faster than revenue growth, while adjusted earnings growth is projected in the low-to-mid-teens.
BKNG’s Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Booking Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Retail-Wholesale sector are Dutch Bros (BROS - Free Report) , Globale Online (GLBE - Free Report) and Portillo's Inc. (PTLO - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Dutch Bros shares have declined 9.5% year to date. BROS is set to report first-quarter 2026 results on May 6.
Globale Online shares have fallen 18.7% year to date. GLBE is slated to report its first-quarter 2026 results on May 13.
Portillo's shares have gained 33.9% year to date. PTLO is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2026 results on May 5.