Booking Holdings Stock (BKNG) Upgraded to Buy at BofA As Sentiment Improves

Booking Holdings stock (BKNG) is moving higher this morning, up 1.23% in the pre-market, with Bank of America (BofA) upgrading its rating to ‘Buy,' signaling confidence in the company's strategic positioning. The markets reacted positively to the upgrade, which addresses concerns about potential risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) and competitive pressures.

Despite a year-to-date decline of 3.19%, the upgrade suggests a potential turnaround in investor sentiment. BofA's upgrade is rooted in the belief that concerns surrounding disintermediation risks from Google (GOOGL) and OpenAI's agentic tools are overstated.

The firm views the recent AI-related selloff in shares as a buying opportunity. Booking Holdings' strengths, including supplier relationships with less than 10% large chain hotel exposure, are seen as key to mitigating AI-related risks. The company can leverage proprietary user data, supplier relationships, and its Genius loyalty program to build competitive agentic AI capabilities.

A Chorus of Analyst Upgrades

Wedbush also upgraded Booking Holdings to ‘Outperform' on November 13, reaffirming a $6,000 price target. This decision was influenced by the company's continued market share gains in alternative lodging and effective cost optimization efforts. Strong third-quarter results and robust demand across major regions, particularly Asia, were highlighted as contributing factors.

Truist Securities upgraded Booking Holdings to ‘Buy' on October 27, raising the price target from $5,630 to $5,750. This upgrade reflects increased confidence in the company's performance outlook. Similarly, BTIG raised its price target for Booking Holdings to $6,250 from $5,500 on June 10, reiterating a ‘Buy' rating, citing a steady increase in reservation volumes and expectations for the company to exceed its second-quarter guidance.

TD Cowen increased its price target for Booking Holdings to $6,850 from $6,500 on July 30, maintaining a ‘Buy' rating. The firm cited margin upside and a clearer trend picture, pointing to the company's strong second-quarter results and upward revision of its 2025 outlook.

Aiding the bulls on the Street, the company reported robust third-quarter financial results on October 28, with revenue reaching $9.01 billion, surpassing Wall Street estimates of $8.72 billion. Gross bookings increased by 14% year-over-year to $49.7 billion, driven by consistent travel demand and increased bundling of reservations on its platform. Adjusted quarterly profit reached $99.50 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $95.66

Sentiment is clearly growing more bullish, after a year of underperformance for the stock. Close to 20% down from July's highs, time will tell whether momentum will prove strong enough to shift the price as the year draws to a close.