Booking Holdings gross bookings reached $53.8 billion in the first quarter of 2026

On April 28, 2026, Booking Holdings reported that its gross bookings reached $53.8 billion during the first quarter of 2026, representing a 15% increase compared to the first quarter of 2025. The travel technology company, which operates Booking.com, Priceline, and other brands, achieved this growth despite geopolitical headwinds that trimmed its overall volume. On a constant currency basis, the company's gross bookings grew by approximately 8% year over year.

The company reported that room nights booked across its platforms reached 338 million in the first quarter of 2026, a 6% increase compared to the first quarter of 2025. Booking Holdings estimated that the conflict in the Middle East negatively impacted its room night growth by approximately 2 percentage points, with a corresponding impact on its gross bookings. Within its short-term rental segment, alternative accommodation room nights at Booking.com increased by 5.5% year over year.

What the data shows

Booking Holdings reported that total revenue grew 16% compared to the first quarter of 2025, reaching $5.5 billion. On a constant currency basis, revenue grew by approximately 10%. The company estimated that the conflict in the Middle East impacted revenue growth slightly lower than the approximately 2 percentage point impact observed in room night growth. Looking at the revenue breakdown, merchant revenues rose to $3,698 million from $2,918 million in the first quarter of 2025. Agency revenues fell to $1,528 million from $1,564 million, while advertising and other revenues rose to $306 million from $280 million, bringing total revenues to $5,532 million compared to $4,762 million in the prior-year period.

The company's profitability measures saw significant increases. GAAP net income reached $1,083 million, representing a 225% increase compared to the $333 million reported in the first quarter of 2025. This brought the GAAP net income margin to 19.6%, compared to 7.0% in the first quarter of 2025. GAAP diluted earnings per share rose 239% to $1.36, up from $0.40 in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA rose 19% to $1.3 billion, representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 23.3%, compared to 22.9% in the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted earnings per share grew 14% to $1.14.

Operating cash flows and capital returns showed different dynamics. Net cash provided by operating activities fell 2% to $3,215 million, compared to $3,283 million in the first quarter of 2025. Free cash flow also fell 2% to $3.1 billion. During the quarter ended March 31, 2026, Booking Holdings repurchased $3.6 billion of its common stock, leaving a total remaining authorization of $18.2 billion as of March 31, 2026. The company's board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0.42 per share, payable on June 30, 2026, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 5, 2026. This followed a 25-for-1 stock split effected on April 2, 2026.

Alternative accommodations and channel performance remained key drivers. Alternative accommodation room nights at Booking.com grew 5.5% year over year. According to Rental Scale-Up, alternative accommodation listings expanded. The alternative accommodation share of Booking.com room nights remained a key metric in the first quarter of 2026. Merchant bookings continued to represent a significant portion of total bookings. Over the trailing four quarters, the share of total room nights booked through the direct channel was a mid-fifties percentage, which was similar to the previous year. Booking Holdings reported strong engagement through its direct channels and loyalty programs.

How it was measured

Booking Holdings compiled these figures for the three months ended March 31, 2026. The financial metrics were prepared in accordance with GAAP, with supplementary non-GAAP measures including Adjusted Net income, Adjusted EPS, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, and Free cash flow. Free cash flow was defined as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures. Constant currency measures were calculated based on the predominant transactional currency in each country, converting current-period results in currencies other than U.S. dollars using the corresponding prior-period monthly average exchange rates. Constant currency average daily rates increased by about 1%.

Gross bookings was defined as an operating and statistical metric capturing the total dollar value, generally inclusive of taxes and fees, of all travel services booked by customers, net of cancellations. Rental Scale-Up analyzed Booking Holdings' earnings materials alongside historical performance data, comparing the first quarter of 2026 with previous quarters in 2025.

Geographic shifts and demand rerouting

The conflict in the Middle East served as a primary headwind, trimming overall room-night and gross-bookings growth by about 2 percentage points. However, travel demand rerouted to other regions rather than disappearing entirely. According to Rental Scale-Up, regional and domestic travel demand showed resilience. This shift highlighted how regional and drive-to travel can absorb demand when international corridors face disruptions.

The company's guidance for the second quarter of 2026 assumed that the direct and indirect impacts of the conflict would continue through the end of June 2026. This outlook accounted for fluctuations in travel demand across Middle Eastern inbound, outbound, and intra-region routes, as well as disruptions to transit corridors between Europe and Asia. For the full year 2026, the company's planning assumption was that the conflict's impact would persist through June, followed by a recovery in bookings in the second half of the year. The company noted that a sustained disruption could introduce broader inflationary pressures, including fluctuations in jet fuel prices, airline capacity reductions, and weigh on traveler sentiment, though these extended impacts were not included in the guidance assumptions.

Platform control and loyalty dynamics

The shift toward the merchant model continued, with merchant revenues rising to $3,698 million from $2,918 million in the first quarter of 2025. Agency revenues fell to $1,528 million from $1,564 million. Advertising and other revenues rose to $306 million from $280 million. The growth of merchant bookings to a 72% mix meant that more guests paid Booking Holdings upfront rather than paying at the property. This payment model shift provides the platform with greater control over transaction flows and cancellation policies.

To support its Connected Trip vision, the company highlighted Priceline's generative AI assistant, named Penny, and natural-language search with Smart Filters at Booking.com. CEO Glenn Fogel emphasized partnerships with OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic to integrate booking functionality into frontier models. Marketing expenses rose to $2,068 million from $1,777 million in the first quarter of 2025. However, marketing expense as a percentage of gross bookings remained flat at 3.8% in both the first quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2025. This consistency suggests that the platform did not need to increase its marketing intensity to maintain its booking volumes.

Operating expenses and cost structure

Total operating expenses rose 15% to $4,261 million, growing slower than the 16% increase in revenue. In the first quarter of 2025, operating expenses were $3,700 million. Adjusted fixed operating expenses grew 14%, driven by adverse foreign exchange changes and the comparison against $53 million in one-time benefits recorded in the first quarter of 2025. Personnel expenses, including stock-based compensation, rose to $893 million from $693 million in the first quarter of 2025. Stock-based compensation itself was $141 million, compared to $142 million in the prior-year period.

Sales and other expenses rose to $804 million from $702 million. General and administrative expenses decreased to $100 million from $142 million. Information technology expenses rose to $240 million from $200 million. Depreciation and amortization fell to $131 million from $154 million. Transformation costs fell to $25 million from $32 million. These shifts indicate that while the company expanded its technology and personnel investments, it managed to reduce administrative and depreciation costs during the quarter.

Future outlook and guidance assumptions

For the second quarter of 2026, Booking Holdings expected room nights growth of 2% to 4%, gross bookings growth of 4% to 6%, and constant currency gross bookings growth of 2% to 4%. Revenue growth was projected at 4% to 6%, which included a benefit of about 2% due to foreign currency exchange rates. Constant currency revenue growth was expected to be 2% to 4%. Adjusted EBITDA growth was projected at 4% to 6%.

For the full year 2026, the company expected gross bookings growth to reach high single digits to low double digits, with constant currency gross bookings growth in the high single digits. Revenue growth was expected to be in the high single digits, including an exchange rate benefit of about 1.5%. Constant currency revenue growth was projected at mid to high single digits. Adjusted EBITDA growth was expected to be slightly faster than revenue growth, while Adjusted EPS growth was projected in the low to mid-teens. The company noted that it could not provide a reconciliation between forward-looking Adjusted EBITDA and GAAP net income because it could not forecast certain unpredictable items without unreasonable effort.

What to take from it

The first quarter of 2026 highlighted how international disruptions can shift demand patterns without necessarily reducing total travel spend. Short-term rental operators can draw several lessons from the performance metrics reported by Booking Holdings:

• Monitor regional demand shifts: When geopolitical conflicts or flight disruptions affect international transit corridors, track whether domestic and drive-to bookings in your local market experience a corresponding lift, as seen in the low-teens U.S. domestic growth.
• Evaluate channel distribution: With alternative accommodations representing about 38% of Booking.com's room nights, operators relying solely on single platforms should assess whether listing on multi-vertical platforms helps capture diverted demand.
• Understand payment model implications: The rise of the merchant mix to 72% shows a clear traveler preference for upfront platform payments, which can lead to more predictable payouts but may alter cancellation dynamics for individual managers.
• Watch listing supply growth: Compare local listing growth against the global 9% expansion in alternative accommodation listings to determine if your market is facing increased competition that could pressure occupancy rates.