Booking Holdings beats quarterly profit estimates amid steady international travel demand

Feb 18 (Reuters) – Online travel agency Booking Holdings beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday amid resilient international travel demand, sending its shares up 2% in extended trading.

Demand for international travel is expected to grow, fueled by upcoming events such as the FIFA World Cup and an increase in higher-income travelers spending more on premium experiences, benefiting companies such as Booking.

The Norwalk, Connecticut-based company reported a quarterly adjusted profit of $48.80 per share, compared with the analysts’ average estimate of $48.47 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. 

The Kayak-parent expects adjusted earnings growth for the full-year 2026 to be in mid-teens range. It expects gross bookings growth for the first quarter to be in the range of 14% to 16%.

Gross bookings for the fourth quarter came in at $43 billion, up 16% from the same period last year.

Total revenue for the quarter ended December 31 was $6.35 billion, compared to analysts’ estimates of $6.13 billion.

(Reporting by Anshuman Tripathy in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)