Signal Ledger valuation · BKNG
Booking Holdings Inc.
What the shares are worth today on our research (management’s own targets for each business): every line valued at the end of FY2030, net debt rolled forward, then discounted back to Jun 30, 2026.
- Business value at FY2030
- $215B
- FY2030 revenue
- $40B
- FY2030 EPS · P/E
- $14.46 · 23×
- Discount rate (WACC · equity)
- 8.52% · 9.31%
Latest quarter in this research: Q2 2026
Reported Aug 4, 2026 for the quarter to Jun 30, 2026 (company release ↗). This valuation already reflects these results (researched Oct 23, 2026).
| Segment | Revenue | vs a year ago | Operating income | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global online travel | $7.35B | +8% | $2.50B | 34.0% |
- Room nights grew 5%; gross bookings 9%; revenue 8%.
- Transformation savings annual run-rate target raised to$650M by end 2027.
- FY2026 revenue outlook remains high single digits.
What each business is worth
| Business | Model | FY2030 revenue | Value today | Per share | 2030 multiple | Value from beyond FY2030 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global online travel | Margin | $40B | $180B | $239.28 | 14.7× EBIT | 67% |
| All businesses | $40B | $180B | $239.28 |
From 2030 back to today
- Enterprise value at end of FY2030$215B
- Plus net cash at FY2030$31B
- Equity value at FY2030$245B
- ÷ (1 + 9.31%)^4.5 years at the cost of equity$164B
- + dividends paid on the way, discounted$4.6B
This reconciliation checks the published Signal Ledger valuation against the net-debt path. The difference is 4.4%, inside our 5% tolerance.
From businesses to one share
- All businesses, valued today$180B
- − borrowings$20B
- − finance leases$0B
- + cash and short-term investments$17B
- ÷ diluted shares0.751B
- Signal Ledger valuation$235.32
Year by year to FY2030
| Fiscal year | Revenue | EBITDA | Capex | Free cash flow | Net debt at year end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $29B | $10B | $0.7B | $6.6B | $0.3B |
| FY2027 | $31B | $11B | $0.7B | $7.3B | $5.7B cash |
| FY2028 | $34B | $13B | $0.8B | $8.2B | $13B cash |
| FY2029 | $37B | $14B | $0.8B | $9.1B | $21B cash |
| FY2030 | $40B | $15B | $0.9B | $10B | $31B cash |
What must be true
- Global online travel grows revenue from $29.1B in FY2026 to $39.5B in FY2030 (1.4×).
- Global online travel raises its EBIT margin from 32.8% to 36.8%.
- The company spends $3.9B of capital expenditure through FY2030.
- Net debt peaks at $3.0B in FY2025 and stays financeable.
What the price implies
At our discount rate, the price assumes less than our research overall: one combination matching $161.10 is about $26.3B of FY2030 sales (a decline of about 2.5% a year from FY2026) with 36.8% GAAP EBIT margin — versus $39.5B and 36.8% GAAP EBIT margin in our research.
At the research price of $161.10 (2026-10-23), the price asks less than our assumptions overall. These are operating requirements at that price, not additional valuations or forecasts.
If sales and margins changed together
Each row matches the same research price at our unchanged discount rate, by scaling every operating line's margin by one common factor. Sales cover margin and capacity lines only; other valuation lines stay fixed. Margins are revenue-weighted within each metric, before separately modeled corporate costs and eliminations. The conclusion uses the row at our research margins when sales alone can match the price, otherwise the solved row needing the least sales growth; this is a trade-off between growth and profitability, not a forecast.
| FY2030 sales factor | FY2030 sales | FY2026–30 CAGR | Required FY2030 margin | Requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.66×At research margins | $26.3B | −2.5% | 36.8% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
| 1.50× | $59.3B | 19.5% | 17.4% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
| 2.00× | $79.1B | 28.4% | 13.2% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
| 3.00× | $118.6B | 42.1% | 8.9% GAAP EBIT | Within margin guardrails |
CAGR uses $29.1B of same-scope FY2026 sales from the published model or its sourced research base, over four fiscal years. “Within margin guardrails” checks numeric limits only, not commercial plausibility. Each line and year must stay at or below 50.0% GAAP EBIT and 100% EBITDA, or our research margin where that is higher; capacity EBIT uses the engine's equipment depreciation. Unsolved margins are not extrapolated.
- Implied discount rate
- 10.9%
- All-business FY2030 sales factor
- 0.66×
The WACC that makes model value equal the price, shifting WACC and cost of equity by the same amount. Model: 8.5% WACC · 9.3% cost of equity.
FY2030 revenue would need to reach $26.3B (model: $39.5B) across the margin and capacity businesses. FY1 stays fixed; the sales change ramps to FY2030 and stays at that factor thereafter.
If only one business changed
Businesses with margin or capacity revenue paths, ordered by value today. Revenue and margin are separate alternatives; these requirements are not added together.
Global online travel
- Revenue alone
- FY2030 revenue would need to reach $27.1B (model: $39.5B).
- Margin alone
FY2030 EBIT margin would need to reach 25.4% (model: 36.8%).
Mechanical requirements, not forecasts. The separate sales-only and single-business factors are searched from 0.1× to 6×; an unsolved comparison means this business alone cannot get there within those bounds. Single-business revenue changes apply from FY2 onward; margin changes scale the full EBIT or EBITDA margin path. Mixed groups show revenue-weighted EBIT and EBITDA margins separately. Requirements above 100% are not feasible margins. Joint rows instead search non-negative uniform margin factors only up to the EBIT/EBITDA guardrails; the entire margin path scales, including post-FY2030 convergence. Sales and margins change together only in that table. The rate search runs from the largest terminal growth rate plus 0.5 percentage points to 30% WACC.
The discount rate
- Cost of equity
- 9.31%
- WACC
- 8.52%
- 10-year Treasury · model / spot
- 3.87% · 5.13%
r_f 3.87% (5-year average 10-year Treasury yield 3.87% (spot 5.13% on 2026-10-21)) + β 1.09 after Blume adjustment × 5%, rounded to 0.01% (1bp)
methodology §4.5: market-weighted WACC, not rounded
The model uses the recorded 5-year average Treasury yield. The spot yield is shown for context.
Every input, with its source
Show 13 inputs · reported, guidance and rule-based
| Input | Value | Basis | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue FY2026Global online travel | $29.1B | Guidance | target (methodology §4.2), growth 8.0% ir.bookingholdings.com ↗ |
| Revenue FY2030Global online travel | $39.5B | Guidance | target (methodology §4.2), growth 8.0% ir.bookingholdings.com ↗ |
| EBIT margin FY2030Global online travel | 36.8% | Rule | linear path to 36.8% by FY2030 (§4.3 E2: 4.0000 points = 4pp × clamp((CAGR − 1.5%) / 2%, 0, 1); revenue CAGR 8.0% to FY2030; no cited expansion evidence) sec.gov ↗ |
| Maintenance capexGlobal online travel | 2.3% | Rule | Reported cash capex$0.322B is below D&A$0.623B; methodology requires c>=d, so maintenance spending equals D&A2.31%. Conservative proxy; no perpetual release of capital. sec.gov ↗ |
| Terminal growthGlobal online travel | 3.0% | Rule | methodology §4.2 terminal growth for a growth line Valuation methodology §4.2 · Read methodology ↗ |
| WACCDiscount rates | 8.52% | Rule | methodology §4.5: market-weighted WACC, not rounded FRED DGS10 2021-10-20..2026-10-21 |
| Cost of equityDiscount rates | 9.31% | Rule | r_f 3.87% (5-year average 10-year Treasury yield 3.87% (spot 5.13% on 2026-10-21)) + β 1.09 after Blume adjustment × 5%, rounded to 0.01% (1bp) 60 monthly returns vs SPY, 2021-09..2026-09 (adjusted closes) |
| Tax rateDiscount rates | 30.8% | Reported | No effective-tax guidance verified. Mean FY2023-25 cash taxes / pretax income:1.789/5.481,1.932/7.292,2.279/6.832, per SEC companyfacts. Timing effects make cash rate higher than GAAP. sec.gov ↗ |
| Cash and short-term investmentsBalance sheet | $17.2B | Reported | cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue · 0001075531-26-000037 (filed 2026-08-04) |
| BorrowingsBalance sheet | $20.2B | Reported | borrowings due within a year plus long-term borrowings us-gaap:LongTermDebtCurrent · 0001075531-26-000037 + us-gaap:LongTermDebtNoncurrent · 0001075531-26-000037 |
| Finance leasesBalance sheet | $6M | Rule | Finance leases: carry forward the 2025-12-31 annual report amount of $0.006000B; not separately disclosed in the current period (2026-06-30). Separate from ordinary borrowings; 0.0050% of equity market cap ($121.047399B = price $161.1 × 0.7513805B economic shares), within the 2% limit. Latest reported amount held unchanged; no estimate from subsequent principal payments or additions. sec.gov ↗ |
| SharesBalance sheet | 0.751B | Reported | shares outstanding as of 2026-07-27 cover page of 10-Q 0001075531-26-000037 |
| Dividends per yearShareholders | $1.2B | Reported | Trailing four paid dividends, all on post-split basis: December 2025$9.60/25=$0.384; March 2026$10.50/25=$0.42; June andSeptember$0.42 each. Total$1.644, not pre-split dollars. × 0.751B shares sec.gov ↗ · sec.gov ↗ |
Research notes
- annual diluted share comparison adjusted by reported stock-split factor 25; original annual count retained; us-gaap:StockholdersEquityNoteStockSplitConversionRatio 1; 0001075531-26-000037
- Finance leases: carry forward the 2025-12-31 annual report amount of $0.006000B; not separately disclosed in the current period (2026-06-30). Separate from ordinary borrowings; 0.0050% of equity market cap ($121.047399B = price $161.1 × 0.7513805B economic shares), within the 2% limit. Latest reported amount held unchanged; no estimate from subsequent principal payments or additions. Original SEC source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1075531/000107553126000009/bkng-20251231.htm
- share-count comparison: 0.77B quarter 2026-04-01..2026-06-30 · 0001075531-26-000037; point-in-time denominator retained
- cost of equity 9.31% (β 1.09 after Blume adjustment), WACC 8.5%
Signal Ledger research under one stated scenario — management's targets are delivered — not a forecast that they will be and not investment advice. The research desk (GPT-6.1 (Codex)) gathers filings, guidance and targets; deterministic code applies the samepublished rules to every company and checks the result. Inputs may contain errors; follow the source links before relying on them. Read our valuation methodology →