Booking Holdings Inc.'s Net Income Declines 41% Amid Strong Revenue Growth

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) reported its second quarter 2025 financial results, with revenue reaching $6.8 billion, marking a 16% increase compared to the second quarter of 2024. Despite this strong revenue growth, GAAP Net Income experienced a significant decline, falling by 41% to $895 million. GAAP EPS was $27.43, a 38% decrease year-over-year. In contrast, Adjusted EPS grew by 32% to $55.40, indicating underlying operational strength.

Key Performance Drivers

The company's strong performance was primarily driven by an 8% growth in room nights compared to the second quarter of 2024, totaling 309 million. Gross bookings also saw a substantial increase of 13%, reaching $46.7 billion. Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, highlighted the milestone of Connected Trip transactions, which now represent a low double-digit share of Booking.com's total transactions, growing over 30% year-over-year. This growth was notably fueled by a 44% increase in flight ticket bookings. Alternative accommodation room nights at Booking.com also increased by a low double-digit percentage.

Financial Efficiency and Shareholder Returns

Booking Holdings demonstrated disciplined execution in managing expenses, with total operating expenses increasing by 14%, which was slower than the 16% growth in revenue. Adjusted fixed operating expenses rose by 11%, impacted by adverse foreign exchange changes, increased performance-based compensation accruals, and higher cloud computing costs. The company's Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $9.60 per share, payable on September 30, 2025. Additionally, Booking Holdings actively returned capital to shareholders by repurchasing $1.3 billion of stock during the quarter, with a remaining authorization of $24.6 billion.

Management Outlook

For the third quarter of 2025, Booking Holdings anticipates room nights growth between 3.5% and 5.5%, gross bookings growth of 8% to 10%, and revenue growth between 7% and 9%. Constant currency gross bookings growth is projected to be 4% to 6%, and constant currency revenue growth is expected to be 3% to 5%. Adjusted EBITDA is forecast to be between $3.9 billion and $4.0 billion, representing a 6% to 9% growth. For the full year 2025, the company expects low double-digit growth in both gross bookings and revenue on a constant currency basis, with mid-teens percentage growth in Adjusted EBITDA.