Booking Holdings Stock: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?

Booking Holdings Stock: Is Wall Street Bullish or Bearish?

Wed, August 26, 2026 at 5:03 PM GMT+3 3 min read

With a market cap of $160.6 billion, Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) is a global leader in online travel and travel-related services, supporting consumers and partners throughout the entire travel journey across more than 220 countries and territories. Its portfolio of platforms, including Booking.com, Priceline, Agoda, KAYAK, and OpenTable, leverages advanced AI, machine learning, and other technologies to simplify and personalize the travel experience.

Shares of the online travel agency have underperformed the broader market over the past 52 weeks. BKNG stock has decreased 6.3% over this time frame, while the broader S&P 500 Index ($SPX) has rallied 18.7%. Moreover, shares of the company are down marginally on a YTD basis, compared to SPX's 12.2% gain.

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Focusing more closely, shares of the Norwalk, Connecticut-based company has lagged behind the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF's (XLY) 1.4% return over the past 52 weeks.

Booking Holdings shares climbed 6.6% following Q2 2026 results on Aug. 4 as adjusted EPS of $2.54 beat the analyst estimate, supported by resilient U.S. domestic and intraregional travel despite Middle East-related disruptions. Investor sentiment was also helped by evidence that Booking's AI investments are already generating a positive return on investment, while customer-service cost per booking continued to decline at a double-digit rate and customer satisfaction remained high.

However, the company cut its 2026 gross bookings growth forecast to high single digits from high single digits to low double digits, citing reduced inbound travel to the Middle East and continued pressure on global flight routes through Q3, and elevated airfares and reduced airline capacity are weighing on long-haul international travel.

For the fiscal year ending in December 2026, analysts expect Booking Holdings' adjusted EPS to grow 14.8% year-over-year to $10.47. The company's earnings surprise history is promising. It beat the consensus estimates in each of the last four quarters.

Among the 37 analysts covering the stock, the consensus rating is a "Strong Buy." That's based on 25 "Strong Buy" ratings, two "Moderate Buys," and 10 "Holds."

This configuration has remained unchanged over the past three months.

On Aug. 24, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney raised Booking Holdings' price target to $270 and maintained an "Outperform" rating on the shares.

The mean price target of $236.41 represents a 10.9% premium to BKNG's current price levels. The Street-high price target of $301 suggests a 41.2% potential upside.

On the date of publication, Sohini Mondal did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com