Booking Holdings (BKNG) stock’s bid to turn around a difficult 2026 got some help Tuesday as independent research firm CFRA upgraded the travel-site company’s shares.
Analyst Alex Fasciano lifted BKNG stock to Strong Buy from Buy, and raised his 12-month target to $209 per share from $196 previously, on three concerns he called overblown: Generative artificial intelligence (AI) disintermediation, European Union digital taxes, and consumer softness.
“On AI, marketing and personnel costs as a % of gross bookings have improved since 2022 while take rates remain stable, evidence that direct bookings are intact,” he says. “On digital taxes, BKNG’s leverage over fragmented supply supports pass-through pricing. On the consumer, travel skews high income and has gained wallet share versus goods.”
Fasciano now sees BKNG earning $10.49 per share in 2026, and $12.32 in 2027, up from $10.33 and $11.58, respectively. Optimism comes from Middle East-related issues calming down, as well as “incremental demand” from the World Cup.
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More Analyst Thoughts on BKNG
Booking Holdings’ stock has lost 18% of its value so far in 2026, diving in early February, then largely trading up and down since then.
Still, analysts are largely optimistic on the stock. BKNG currently enjoys 30 Buy calls versus just seven Holds and no Sells. Their average price target of $224.41 implies 28% upside over the next 12 months or so. And over the long term (the next three to five years), they see Booking growing its earnings by 16% annually.
| Booking Holdings (BKNG): Quick Stats | |
|---|---|
| Market cap | $136.2 billion |
| Dividend yield | N/A |
| Forward price-to-earnings (P/E) | 16.7 |
| Price/earnings-to-growth (PEG) | 0.76 |
| Source: Yahoo! Finance. Data is as of June 17, 2026. | |
In April, Argus Research analyst John Staszak reiterated his Buy rating and raised his target price on BKNG following the company’s first-quarter beat.
“Booking Holdings beat first-quarter revenue and EBITDA estimates, posting strong margins and issuing solid—albeit conservative—guidance, implying that its business remains strong,” he says. “Booking’s 25-for-1 stock split, effective on April 2, 2026, has made the shares more marketable.” He also favors the company’s “many loyal users and easy-to-use platform.”
Staszak’s upgraded price target of $205 per share, from $188 previously, implies 17% upside from current levels.
Also in April, UBS analyst Stephen Ju (Buy) lowered his target, but to a still-high $249 per share (+42%) on the believe that the shares were trading near their trough. He noted that the company took more of an impact than expected from disruptions to Middle East travel, but that he believes “we are passing through the point of maximum cancellations … and room night growth should as a result rebound, now that booking windows have stabilized.”
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