Booking Holdings Outpaces Expectations As Analysts Highlight Growth, Margin Expansion

Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. BKNG were climbing in early Friday trading after the company reported upbeat fourth-quarter results on Thursday.

The results came in amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways.

Goldman Sachs On Booking Holdings

Analyst Eric Sheridan maintained a Neutral rating while raising the price target from $4,860 to $5,020.

Booking Holdings reported its fourth-quarter gross bookings, room nights, revenue, and adjusted EBITDA higher than expectations, Sheridan said in a note. The upside to estimates was driven by "outperformance across all regions, with the largest impact coming from Europe," he wrote.

The analyst stated that management guides to growth in both nights and gross bookings of 5%-7% year-on-year in the first quarter. The company considers AI an opportunity to increase customer conversion, improve booking performance, enhance customer service, and drive operational expense efficiency.

B Riley Securities On Booking Holdings

Analyst Naved Khan reiterated a Buy rating while lifting the price target from $5,700 to $6,000.

Booking Holdings reported fourth-quarter revenues of $5.471 billion, up 14.4% year-on-year and beating consensus of $5.180 billion, Khan said. The company's marketing efficiency improved by 30 basis points year-on-year to 4.2% of bookings, "due to higher direct mix and lower brand ad spend," he added.

Management’s outlook for 2025 suggests sustained strength with year-on-year margin expansion, the analyst stated. "We expect BKNG to continue to see above-market rates, benefiting from strategic initiatives and see potential for continued margin expansion (from leverage, efficiency gains) over the medium term," he further wrote.

Cantor Fitzgerald On Booking Holdings

Analyst Deepak Mathivanan reaffirmed a Neutral rating, while raising the price target from $4,900 to $5,540.

Booking Holdings reported strong fourth-quarter results, which were "consistent with the trends universally observed in the travel sector," Mathivanan said. Room nights and EBITDA exceeded Street estimates by 4% and 12%, respectively, he added.

Management guided to more than 8% growth in bookings and revenues in 2025 and EBITDA margin expansion slightly below 100 basis points, the analyst stated. This came in below the current Street forecasts, but "likely embeds the company's typical conservatism," he further wrote.

Check out other analyst stock ratings.

Benchmark On Booking Holdings

Analyst Daniel Kurnos reiterated a Buy rating, while raising the price target from $5,000 to $5,900.

Booking Holdings' results were expected to be strong, "based on all the other travel prints so far," Kurnos said. He added, however, that the company's growth was more impressive due to its size and "that a lot of surprise growth came from their biggest and most mature market in Europe," he added.

Due to the company's cost discipline, two-thirds of the revenue outperformance of $300 million "flowed through to EBITDA upside," the analyst stated. "Beyond these impressive metrics, or perhaps responsible for them, what stands out to us is just how efficient Booking's marketing machine is," he wrote.

Piper Sandler On Booking Holdings

Analyst Thomas Champion maintained a Neutral rating, while lifting the price target from $4,900 to $5,120.

The company recorded bookings of $37.1 billion in the fourth quarter, with growth accelerating to 17% year-on-year from the previous quarter's 9%, Champion said. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $1.85 billion, beating Street expectations by around 11%, he added.

The Board approved additional share repurchases of $20 billion, the analyst stated. "CFO Steenbergen continues to sound confident in the new role & they’ve again laid out a solid capital allocation framework for next year with HSD bookings growth and mid-teens EPS growth," he wrote.

RBC Capital Markets On Booking Holdings

Analyst Brad Erickson reaffirmed an Outperform rating, while raising the price target from $5,250 to $5,900.

Booking Holdings outperformed Street's room night expectations by nearly 500 basis points, growing 13%, Erickson said. The company "significantly outgrew" Airbnb Inc ABNB and Expedia Group Inc EXPE, he added.

The company's guidance reflects its track record of under-promising and over-delivering, the analyst stated. "BKNG remains most front-footed in the industry," he further wrote.

BKNG Price Action: Shares of Booking Holdings had risen by 2.33% to $5,137.93 at the time of publication on Friday.

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