The Zhitong Finance App learned that in the early morning of November 4, Beijing time, Booking Holdings (BKNG.US), the world's largest online travel company, announced the results for the third quarter of 2026 after the US stock market on Tuesday. Total bookings for the quarter, number of room nights, and adjusted profit indicators all exceeded market expectations, with adjusted earnings per share surging 17%; however, GAAP revenue and net profit declined slightly year-on-year due to a US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related matter. At the same time, the company indicated that the disturbance of the tourism industry due to the Middle East conflict was affecting demand in the fourth quarter, and the Q4 guidelines were accordingly cautious.
Core performance: strong bookings, profit exceeding expectations
According to financial reports, Booking's total bookings for the third quarter reached US$54.5 billion, up 10% year on year (up about 11% in fixed exchange rate), higher than market expectations of US$52.69 billion; the number of rooms sold was 345 million nights, up 7% year on year, better than the expected 339 million nights. Among them, alternative accommodations (homestay and apartment categories) on the Booking.com platform increased 7% overnight.
Strong earnings performance: Adjusted EBITDA of US$4.6 billion, up 9% year over year, exceeding expectations of US$4.49 billion; adjusted net profit of US$3.5 billion, up 8%; adjusted earnings per share of US$4.66, up 17% year over year; GAAP earnings per share of US$3.61, up 7%. The adjusted EBITDA margin remained high at 47.0%, and the net profit margin was 30.6%.
Expense control was also excellent: total operating expenses decreased by 1% year on year, and the adjusted growth rate of fixed operating expenses was controlled at 6%. Among them, personnel costs also declined slightly; marketing expenses accounted for 4.8% of total bookings (4.7% in the same period last year).
What is the “decline” in GAAP revenue? FTC matters accrue $900 million
On the face of it, GAAP revenue for the third quarter was US$8.89 billion, down 1% year on year, and lower than market expectations of US$9.54 billion; net profit was US$2.7 billion, down 1% year on year. But this “decline” is mainly due to a one-off event: the company cut revenue of 900 million US dollars on an FTC-related matter and calculated a loss of 100 million US dollars, both of which have been excluded from the adjusted indicators. Excluding this effect, the company's preferred “Adjusted Revenue” (Adjusted Revenue) was $9.8 billion, up 9% year over year (about 10% increase in fixed exchange rate caliber).
Additionally, it should be explained that Booking implemented a 25-1 stock split on April 2, 2026, and all indicators for each share have been adjusted retroactively — this is also the reason why some market market software showed a “sharp year-on-year decline in earnings per share”. This is actually a difference in caliber caused by the split.
CEO Glenn Fogel (Glenn Fogel) said: “We are pleased with our third quarter operating performance — resilient travel demand and the team's strict commitment led to double-digit increases in total bookings, expanded margins, and 17% adjusted earnings per share growth. As AI transforms how travel is discovered, planned, and booked, we will continue to integrate AI across brands, develop AI-native experiences, and partner with industry-leading AI platforms.”
Return on capital and Q4 guidance: real money has not abated, but the growth rate has clearly changed gears
The return on capital was undiminished: the company repurchased $2.1 billion of shares this quarter — nearly double the current quarter's free cash flow ($1.1 billion); the board of directors announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.42 per share (caliber after stock split), paid on December 31, based on Tuesday's closing price of $155.67, with an annualized dividend rate of about 1.1%. According to the current pace of repurchases, the $12.4 billion authorization can support repurchases for the next two quarters, and management's willingness to “spend money” has not shrunk.
However, the Q4 guidance clearly conveyed a deceleration signal: compared with the actual performance in the third quarter, the company's expectations for the fourth quarter were completely “downgraded”. In terms of total reservation volume, the third quarter still maintained a 10% year-on-year growth rate (fixed exchange rate of about 11%), but the Q4 guidelines plummeted to 2% to 4% (fixed exchange rate 4% to 6%), decelerating by about 6 percentage points; the decline in the adjusted revenue growth rate was more obvious, from 9% (fixed exchange rate of about 10%) in the third quarter to 0% to 2% (fixed exchange rate 2% to 4%); the profit side pressure was greatest, but adjusted EBITDA still increased year-on-year in the third quarter, while the Q4 guide only increased year-on-year “Mostly flat.”
The company explained that global travel demand had cooled down at the end of the third quarter — international travel trends weakened while domestic travel remained resilient; since October, round-trip travel disruptions due to the Middle East conflict, indirect increases in ticket prices, and local turmoil in some European cities have affected demand. The Q4 guidelines have taken into account the assumption that these direct and indirect effects will continue until the end of the year.
The full-year perspective is still optimistic: extended to the full year, the company maintains the 2026 high single-digit growth guidelines for total bookings and adjusted EBITDA. The adjusted EPS growth is expected to be low to medium double digits — the latter is still close to the company's long-term target level of “at least 15% adjusted EPS growth”, while the 47% adjusted EBITDA margin and continued repurchases form the bottom line for profit growth. In other words, the message given by management is that short-term headwinds actually exist, but they have not shaken the basic market for the whole year.