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Booking Holdings tops Q2 estimates, guides cautiously for Q3 revenue
The company forecast Q3 revenue of $9.4 billion to $9.55 billion, below analysts’ $9.71 billion consensus, while still projecting 3.9% year-over-year growth at the low end.
Booking Holdings Inc. delivered Q2 2026 results that beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines, and shares rose 6% the day after the report, according to MarketBeat Ratings. The travel platform reported Q2 revenue of $7.35 billion, up 8% year-over-year, and adjusted EPS of $2.54, up 15% from the prior-year quarter.
In its Q3 outlook, Booking guided revenue to $9.4 billion to $9.55 billion, below analysts’ expectation of $9.71 billion. Even so, the low end would still represent 3.9% year-over-year revenue growth, and gross bookings rose 9% to $51 billion in Q2.
Booking also emphasized profitability and cash generation. Adjusted EBITDA increased 9% to $2.65 billion, aided by fixed operating expenses rising 6% versus 8% revenue growth, and free cash flow climbed 16% year-over-year to $3.6 billion.
The company continued aggressive capital returns and raised its cost-savings target under its Transformation Program. Booking returned a record $4.1 billion to shareholders in the quarter, including $3.7 billion in buybacks and $0.3 billion in dividends, and it lifted expected annual run-rate savings to $650 million from roughly $550 million.
MarketBeat Ratings also noted that underlying growth cooled at the margin, with room night growth at 5% in Q2, down from 6% in Q1 and 9% a year earlier. Management attributed part of the slowing to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East weighing on long-haul international travel demand.