Key Takeaways

Shares of Booking Holdings ( BKNG ) rose in premarket trading on Friday after its fourth-quarter results topped expectations.

After the bell Thursday, the parent company of its namesake travel booking site along with Priceline, Kayak, and OpenTable reported $5.47 billion in revenue for the final quarter of 2024, better than the $5.19 billion analysts had expected.

Booking's adjusted earnings came in at $41.55 per share, well above the $36.70 analyst consensus compiled by Visible Alpha. The travel and dining company posted gross bookings of $37.2 billion, compared to the $34.5 billion analyst estimate. Bookings, revenue, and adjusted EPS all rose from the same time a year ago.

Booking Announces Dividend Hike, New Stock Buyback Plan

The company also said Thursday that its board last month approved $20 billion for a new stock buyback program, in addition to the $7.7 billion remaining in the previous program at the end of 2024. Booking is also lifting its quarterly dividend by 10% to $9.60 per share, up from $8.75 a year ago.

Booking said it expects revenue to grow 2% to 4% year-over-year in the first quarter while gross bookings increase by 5% to 7%. Each metric is expected to rise in the mid-single digit percent range for the full year, while adjusted EPS grows in the low double digit percent range.

Analysts for Jefferies and JPMorgan each lifted their price target for Booking stock following the report to $5,400 and $5,750, respectively. They each noted that Booking executives said travel demand remained strong in the quarter, and that the company expects to increase its social media advertising spend this year, mostly on Meta Platforms ( META ) products like Facebook and Instagram.

Booking shares were up about 3% Friday morning, and had risen roughly 35% over the last 12 months through Thursday's close.

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