Online travel agency Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) reported Q4 CY2025 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 16% year on year to $6.35 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $48.80 per share was in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy Booking? Find out by accessing our full research report, it’s free.
Booking (BKNG) Q4 CY2025 Highlights:
- Revenue: $6.35 billion vs analyst estimates of $6.13 billion (16% year-on-year growth, 3.6% beat)
- Adjusted EPS: $48.80 vs analyst expectations of $48.67 (in line)
- Adjusted EBITDA: $2.20 billion vs analyst estimates of $2.11 billion (34.6% margin, 3.9% beat)
- Operating Margin: 32%, in line with the same quarter last year
- Free Cash Flow Margin: 22.3%, up from 15.2% in the previous quarter
- Room Nights Booked: 285 million, up 24 million year on year
- Market Capitalization: $133.5 billion
Company Overview
Formerly known as The Priceline Group, Booking Holdings (NASDAQ: BKNG) is the world’s largest online travel agency.
Revenue Growth
Reviewing a company’s long-term sales performance reveals insights into its quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Luckily, Booking’s sales grew at a solid 16.3% compounded annual growth rate over the last three years. Its growth beat the average consumer internet company and shows its offerings resonate with customers, a helpful starting point for our analysis.
This quarter, Booking reported year-on-year revenue growth of 16%, and its $6.35 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 3.6%.
Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 8.6% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last three years. This projection is underwhelming and implies its products and services will see some demand headwinds. At least the company is tracking well in other measures of financial health.
Software is eating the world and there is virtually no industry left that has been untouched by it. That drives increasing demand for tools helping software developers do their jobs, whether it be monitoring critical cloud infrastructure, integrating audio and video functionality, or ensuring smooth content streaming. Click here to access a free report on our 3 favorite stocks to play this generational megatrend.
Room Nights Booked
Booking Growth
As an online travel company, Booking generates revenue growth by increasing both the number of stays (or experiences) booked and the commission charged on those bookings.
Over the last two years, Booking’s room nights booked, a key performance metric for the company, increased by 8.6% annually to 285 million in the latest quarter. This growth rate is decent for a consumer internet business and indicates people enjoy using its offerings. 
In Q4, Booking added 24 million room nights booked, leading to 9.2% year-on-year growth. The quarterly print isn’t too different from its two-year result, suggesting its new initiatives aren’t accelerating booking growth just yet.
Revenue Per Booking
Average revenue per booking (ARPB) is a critical metric to track because it not only measures how much users book on its platform but also the commission that Booking can charge.
Booking’s ARPB growth has been mediocre over the last two years, averaging 3.6%. This isn’t great, but the increase in room nights booked is more relevant for assessing long-term business potential. We’ll monitor the situation closely; if Booking tries boosting ARPB by taking a more aggressive approach to monetization, it’s unclear whether bookings can continue growing at the current pace. 
This quarter, Booking’s ARPB clocked in at $22.28. It grew by 6.3% year on year, slower than its booking growth.
Key Takeaways from Booking’s Q4 Results
We enjoyed seeing Booking beat analysts’ EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also happy its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a solid quarter with some key areas of upside. The market seemed to be hoping for more, and the stock traded down 2.2% to $4,181 immediately after reporting.
Is Booking an attractive investment opportunity right now? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).
