Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG)

Over the past six months, Booking Holdings' stock has shown strong momentum, gaining over 38%. In Q4 2024, Booking Holdings reported robust performance, with room nights growing by 13% and gross bookings up 17% year-over-year. In Q1 2025, constant currency revenue growth was about 15% and Adjusted EBITDA grew 21% year-over-year. Recent news includes KAYAK revealing flight delay hotspots and travel hacks, Booking.com and Etraveli Group extending their strategic partnership, UrVenue and OpenTable expanding integration, and KAYAK and Affirm expanding their exclusive partnership into Canada. As of June 26, 2025, the share price was $5,596.00, representing a 39.57% increase from June 27, 2024.

Demand for Booking Holdings' products and services exhibits seasonality, particularly benefiting from increased travel bookings during spring and summer vacations. Historically, the company shows a consistent seasonal uptick starting in late January, aligning with a key planning phase for leisure and business travel. The first quarter is typically the seasonally lowest EBITDA quarter for the company. Booking Holdings employs dynamic pricing strategies that adjust rates based on demand fluctuations and seasonal variations. The company continues to see healthy demand for leisure travel globally and anticipates normalized growth for the travel industry in 2025.

Booking Holdings, Inc. is a global leader in the online travel industry, providing a wide array of travel-related services. The company operates within the Consumer Cyclical sector, specifically in the Travel Services industry. Its core business revolves around connecting travelers with various offerings through a network of well-known brands. The company operates several primary consumer-facing brands, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, and OpenTable. These platforms facilitate bookings for hotel stays, alternative accommodations, airline tickets, car rentals, restaurant reservations, cruises, experiences, and vacation packages. Beyond just bookings, Booking Holdings offers a wide range of services such as hotel bookings, flight reservations, car rentals, and experiences and attractions. Brands like KAYAK function as metasearch engines, offering price comparisons for travel-related services. The company primarily generates revenue through commissions from online bookings, with a smaller portion derived from advertising.

Booking Holdings maintains a significant global presence, operating in over 220 countries and territories and supporting more than 40 languages. While it has a global reach, its operations are primarily concentrated in three regions: the United States, The Netherlands, and other international regions. Notably, the company has focused on developing its international operations, with businesses outside the U.S. accounting for approximately 90% of total revenue in 2024. Booking.com, for instance, is particularly focused on the European market, while Agoda specializes in the Asian market.

Booking Holdings aims to foster cultural exchange and deepen shared understanding by making it easier for everyone to experience the world. The company emphasizes absolute integrity, relentless innovation, and diversity as sources of strength. In 2024, Booking Holdings' Scope 3 emissions decreased year-over-year, driven by enhancements to their data infrastructure and increased use of supplier-specific emission factors. The company's targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions were validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2024, working towards a long-term net-zero emissions target. The company emphasizes its continuous integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology to improve operational efficiencies and consumer experiences, including a generative AI-assisted trip planner.

Booking Holdings is primarily owned by institutional shareholders, who hold 89.73% of the company. Major institutional owners include Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock, Inc., State Street Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Capital World Investors, Price T Rowe Associates Inc., and Geode Capital Management LLC. Individual ownership is relatively small, with insiders holding 32.58% and retail investors holding 0.00%. Par Investment Partners LP is noted as the largest individual shareholder, owning 19.46% of the company's shares.