Booking Holdings Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y

Core Insights - Booking Holdings (BKNG) reported first-quarter 2025 earnings of $24.81 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 43.83% and reflecting a year-over-year increase of 21.7% [1] - Revenues reached $4.76 billion, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.58% and growing 8% year over year, with a 10% increase on a constant currency basis [2] Financial Performance - BKNG's earnings have consistently beaten the Zacks Consensus Estimate over the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 18.98% [1] - Adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter was approximately $1.1 billion, representing a 21% year-over-year growth and exceeding the high end of guidance by 28% [12] - Merchant revenues accounted for $2.91 billion (61.3% of total revenues), up 22.2% year over year, while agency revenues were $1.56 billion (32.8% of total revenues), down 11.3% year over year [4] Operational Highlights - The company achieved a record of 319 million room nights in the first quarter, marking the first time it exceeded 300 million in a single quarter, with a growth of over 7% year over year [5] - Total accommodation listings reached approximately 31 million, with alternative accommodations listings growing by 9% year over year to about 8.1 million [6] - Connected Trip transactions grew by 35% year over year, representing a high single-digit percentage of total transactions [7] Expense Management - Marketing expenses increased by 10% year over year, accounting for 3.8% of gross bookings, which was in line with expectations [8] - Adjusted fixed operating expenses decreased by 3% year over year, primarily due to lower general and administrative expenses [11] - Sales and other expenses as a percentage of gross bookings were 1.5%, slightly lower than the previous year, aided by efficiencies in customer service [10] Guidance - For Q2 2025, BKNG expects room night growth between 4% and 6%, gross bookings growth in the range of 10-12%, and revenue growth also between 10% and 12% [15]