New York, February 25, 2026, 18:01 (EST) — Trading after the bell
Shares of Booking Holdings Inc climbed 2.3% to close at $4,162.79 on Wednesday, then edged down 0.1% post-market to $4,159.55. The online travel company notched its second consecutive session of gains. Investing.com
Shares got a lift after Morgan Stanley bumped Booking up to “overweight” from “equal-weight.” The bank’s team, led by analyst Brian Nowak, argued that Booking can hold on to its core spot in travel bookings even as so-called “agentic” AI tools gain traction. Nowak highlighted Booking’s edge: its grip on customer data, which helps push more direct, higher-margin business. “A key driver of travel even as agentic tools evolve,” he wrote. Investing.com
Why this is on the radar: Booking is prepping a 25-for-1 forward split, a move that slashes its share price but leaves total company value intact. According to a filing, anyone holding shares as of market close March 6 nabs 24 extra shares per share already owned. The new shares go out post-close on April 2. Split-adjusted trading kicks in April 6. SEC
Morgan Stanley’s note arrives on the heels of a tough run for the expensive stock. Investors are weighing if AI “agents”—software that can handle things like booking travel—will funnel more reservations to major platforms or bypass them altogether.
Booking last week delivered a mixed update on consumers as it posted quarterly results. Fourth-quarter profit topped Wall Street forecasts, and gross bookings climbed 16% to $43 billion. Still, executives noted “slightly lower average daily rates” along with a “shorter length of stay”—potential hints of tighter spending in parts of the market. Reuters
Travel stocks picked up some tailwind from the wider market Wednesday. Booking trailed a bit, while Expedia Group jumped 2.8% for the day, according to MarketWatch data. MarketWatch
The upgrade hasn’t settled the issue. Should AI agents shift from just steering customers to actually handling bookings within chat-like platforms — while suppliers ramp up efforts to trim commissions — online travel agencies may soon feel the squeeze on both their visitor numbers and take rates.
Traders are eyeing whether the rally can stick through the March 6 stock-split record date. There’s also interest in seeing if more Wall Street research starts to echo the AI-driven travel booking story.
