Booking Holdings Inc.

Booking's core travel marketplace was as profitable as ever in the third quarter. Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, excluding items management treats as one-off) rose 9% to $4.6B at an unchanged 47.0% margin, on 9.6% growth in gross bookings. Reported revenue still fell 1.3%, primarily because of an unsettled $1.0B Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charge at Priceline, and fourth-quarter guidance of 1%–3% room-night growth is below every quarter since Q3 2024. Buybacks and dividends of $10.9B over nine months outran free cash flow of $7.8B, which lifted net debt (debt minus cash) to $4.2B from $0.5B a year earlier (my calculation). The balance sheet absorbs this easily; the open questions are the size of the regulatory bill and whether growth returns in 2027.

• Room nights rose 6.7% to 345M and gross bookings 9.6% to $54.5B (about 11% at constant exchange rates); adjusted revenue rose 9% to $9.8B.
• GAAP revenue fell 1.3% to $8,893M and net income 1% to $2,717M, after a $900M revenue reduction and a $100M accrued loss for the FTC matter. GAAP EPS rose 7% to $3.61 and adjusted EPS 17% to $4.66.
• Quarterly operating cash flow fell 21% to $1.1B; over nine months it rose 2% to $8.1B.
• Q4 guidance calls for room nights up 1%–3%, adjusted revenue up 0%–2% and adjusted EBITDA about flat. Management said it "continue[s] to expect" its full-year guidance: high-single-digit growth in bookings, revenue and EBITDA, and low-to-mid-teens growth in adjusted EPS.
• Booking repurchased $2.1B of stock in the quarter. In October 2026 the European Commission opened a Digital Services Act investigation of Booking.com.

Its findings, each with the evidence, the strongest counterpoint and what would prove it wrong:

• The revenue decline is a legal charge, not weaker economics
• The fourth quarter brings a sharp slowdown
• Regulatory and legal costs recur, and the FTC bill is open
• Per-share growth leans on debt-funded buybacks

Then its finances, the quality of its earnings, its management, the case for and against, and what to watch, its claims cited to the filings and checked against them.

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