BofA Securities believes that the market is overreacting to concerns about tech giant Google’s (GOOGL) use of AI in the travel industry. Because of this, the firm upgraded travel firm Booking Holdings (BKNG) from Hold to Buy and set a price target of $6,000, suggesting a potential upside of more than 23% from current levels. Five-star analyst Justin Post said that Booking is in a strong position because of its deep relationships with travel suppliers, its valuable user data, and its ability to build advanced AI tools that are hard for general AI to replicate.
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Even though Booking’s plan to develop its own AI systems will require a significant amount of investment, Post expects that the company will become more efficient and expand its profit margins in 2026. In fact, Booking recently raised its annual cost-saving goal to between $500 million and $550 million. These savings, along with the chance of increased stock buybacks after the recent dip, could help boost earnings by 16% in 2026.
In addition, overall demand in the travel sector is still strong, as October already saw strong growth in revenue per available room. More specifically, this metric increased by 10% in Europe and 9% in the U.S. While growth may slow down in November and December due to tougher comparisons, bookings are expected to rise again in early 2026 due to easier comparisons to the previous year.
Is BKNG Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on BKNG stock based on 18 Buys, seven Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average BKNG price target of $6,169.08 per share implies 26.9% upside potential.
