Street View: Middle East war rattles Booking Holdings, but doesn't break the bull case

Booking Holdings

29/04/2026 13:11

** Booking Holdings BKNG.O on Tuesday lowered its annual revenue growth forecast and cautioned that the war in the Middle East could weigh on bookings through the end of June

** Shares down 4% at $166.15 premarket

WAR MUDDIES MID-TERM OUTLOOK

** Piper Sandler ("neutral", PT: $195) says BKNG is a great business and long-term EPS compounder of 15%+, but near-term visibility is limited given an uncertain timeline for conflict resolution

** Citigroup ("buy", PT: $225) says "while we acknowledge visibility challenges near-term, we are encouraged by the healthy travel demand ex-Middle East corridors"

** BTIG ("buy", PT: $250) says the rare negative surprise and uncertainty around duration of the war-related headwind will weigh on sentiment for BKNG and other travel agencies

** "But we don't see any impairment to the business here with solid traction on strategic initiatives, strength in the U.S. and healthy RoW trends ex-Middle East", BTIG adds

** RBC Capital Markets ("outperform", PT: $220) says near-term setup is debatable given macro but numbers coming down with the overt caveat on H2 risk should solidly lower the bar for going forward

** Adds, BKNG remains a long-term compounder with mid teens EPS growth

(Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru)

((joeljose@thomsonreuters.com))