Booking Holdings stock slipped late Tuesday despite the online travel booking company reporting first-quarter earnings and sales that exceeded expectations. The company also provided a stronger-than-expected sales forecast for the current quarter on a call with analysts.
Booking Holdings — parent company of Booking.com, Priceline and other brands — said it earned $24.81 per share on sales of $4.8 billion for the March-ended quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet projected the Norwalk, Conn.-based company would earn an adjusted $17.34 per share on sales of $4.6 billion.
Earnings increased 22% year-over-year on an adjusted basis. Sales, meanwhile, rose 8%.
"I am pleased to report a good start to 2025 where healthy growth of room nights and gross bookings in the first quarter benefited from our globally diversified business," Chief Executive Glenn Fogel said in a news release. "While there is uncertainty in the market around the near-term geopolitical and macroeconomic environment, we remain focused on driving our business for the long term by delivering value to our supplier partners and our travelers and executing on our strategic priorities."
On a call with analysts Tuesday, Booking CFO Ewout Steenbergen said the company expects revenue growth of 10% to 12%. Analysts were projecting sales would grow 8%, to $6.3 billion, prior to the report.
On the stock market today, Booking Holdings stock is down more than 3% at 4,741 in after-hours action.
Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni noted that total hotel room nights booked of 319 million for the March quarter may have fallen short of investor expectations.
"Nights were in-line with consensus, which is a deviation from Booking's historical track record of guiding with room for upside and delivering results low single-digit to mid-single-digit percentage above consensus," Colantuoni wrote to clients late Tuesday.
Booking Stock Down 1% This Year
Prior to earnings, Booking stock gained a fraction to close at 4,909.23 in Tuesday trading. Shares have slipped 1% this year but are still outperforming a 5.5% loss for the S&P 500.
Meanwhile, a potential advantage for Booking stock amid the U.S. tariff uncertainty is that a majority of its business comes from European travelers. The more U.S.-focused Expedia Group has seen its shares fall 14% this year.
Heading into the report, Booking stock had an IBD Composite Rating of 91 out of 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup. The score combines five separate proprietary ratings into one rating. The best growth stocks have an IBD Composite Rating of 90 or better.
