Booking’s Q4 results beat forecasts as global travel stays steady

Booking Holdings posted fourth-quarter 2025 results that exceeded expectations. It reported adjusted EPS of $48.80, vs. $48.47 expected, and revenue of $6.35 billion, vs. $6.13 billion expected. Year over year, revenue and gross bookings rose 16 percent, and room nights grew 9 percent to 285 million. In simple terms, more people booked travel, and Booking made more money than analysts expected from those bookings.

EBITDA shows this was a high-quality quarter

Booking’s growth also translated into stronger profitability. The company reported adjusted EBITDA of about $2.2 billion, up 19 percent year over year, and adjusted EBITDA margin of 34.6 percent, up from 33.8 percent a year earlier. In simple terms, Booking did not just sell more travel — it kept more profit from each dollar of revenue than last year.

Why it matters for travel companies

Booking is a major distribution channel for hotels, apartments, and other travel sellers worldwide. When it reports stronger volumes, it often means destinations and lodging providers are still seeing broad demand—especially for international travel. This quarter also highlighted a structural change in how OTAs make money: Booking said payments revenue was higher than expected. That points to more transactions happening inside Booking’s own checkout flow, which can increase which can increase its influence over how offers are packaged and converted (add-ons, payment options, and retention). That setup is also known as the merchant of record model, where the OTA owns the payment flow and related responsibilities such as refunds and chargebacks, which is why payments revenue can grow faster as the merchant mix rises.

What drove performance

Booking credited stronger-than-expected room-night volumes and higher payment revenue for beating the high end of its own guidance. It also continues to push products meant to keep travelers inside one ecosystem, including its Genius loyalty program and its “Connected Trip” strategy (planning, booking, and managing multiple trip parts in one place). In its earnings materials, Booking also emphasized momentum in Asia and the US and said booking windows were more extended than it expected, which usually helps travel companies forecast demand and optimize pricing.

What happens next

The most recent update is the company’s outlook for early 2026 and its shareholder actions. For the first quarter of 2026, Booking guided to room-night growth of 5 percent to 7 percent and gross bookings and revenue growth of 14 percent to 16 percent, with foreign exchange effects affecting reported growth. It also announced a dividend increase to $10.50 per share, payable on March 31, 2026, and a 25-for-1 stock split, expected to take effect on April 2, 2026. Next, the key watch item is whether Booking can keep growing room nights while expanding its payments-driven merchant mix without overspending on marketing.

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