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Travel companies blew earnings out of the water this quarter. Booking Holdings took it a step further.

Booking is the only major travel platform outperforming the S&P 500 since Airbnb’s December 2020 IPO.

2/21/25 3:14PM

This month Wall Street was blown away by the results of online travel platforms, bolstered by what appears to have been a busy holiday travel season.

Booking Holdings, Expedia, Airbnb, and Tripadvisor all reported earnings that surpassed what analysts polled by FactSet were expecting. With the exception of TripAdvisor, each of their stock prices have outperformed the S&P 500 in the past month.

Here are some takeaways from this earnings season.

Booking Holdings keeps its throne

Booking Holdings — which owns Booking.com, OpenTable, and Kayak — has far outpaced its peers.

The company was an early entrant and pioneered the “agency model,” where it connects customers with merchants and then collects commission from the hotel or airline that ultimately got the customer’s money. It is now increasingly moving to a “merchant model,” long used by competitor Expedia, which involves buying accommodations at wholesale and flipping it to the traveler.

Booking’s sales dwarf its competitors: it brought in $23.7 billion in revenue in 2024, compared to $13.6 billion from Expedia and $11.1 billion from Airbnb. Booking is the only major travel platform to outperform the S&P 500 since Airbnb’s December 2020 IPO.

Money to be made in experiences

While Booking and Expedia may focus more on finding flights, hotels, and rental cars, there’s growing demand from travelers for excursions. And there’s money to be made by connecting a family in Ohio with a scuba instructor in the Bahamas.

TripAdvisor has generally performed worse than its peers, but its biggest growth has come from The Viator, its platform for tours and activities. “The experiences category is increasingly becoming the strategic and financial center of gravity of the Group, as we continue to position our unique assets to extend our leadership in this large and fast-growing market,” Matt Goldberg, CEO of Tripadvisor, told analysts on February 20.

Airbnb is relaunching its “Experiences” services in May 2025. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky admitted that the company’s first attempt at Experiences was not successful, in part because it did not promote it as aggressively at it should have.

“For the first time around, I don’t think we integrated Experiences really well into the product,” Chesky told analysts on February 13.

Everybody is talking about AI

At this point it’s hard to find a company that doesn’t mention AI in their earnings calls. But if you’re interested in how CEOs see generative AI integrating into their platforms, here you go:

“Generative AI is pushing the pace of technology innovation faster than ever. We are well positioned to deploy this technology to further benefit our travelers and partners... We believe that compelling AI-powered offerings like a travel vertical-specific agent will play a central role in delivering even more seamless and personalized Connected Trip experiences.” — Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings

“We are exploring the many ways AI will unlock even more value in our products, particularly across the discovery, shopping, and post-booking journey.” — Ariane Gorin, CEO of Expedia Group

“Over the coming years, we’re going to take that AI-powered customer service agent and bring it into Airbnb search to eventually graduate to be a travel and living concierge.” — Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb

Max Knoblauch6/15/26

Electronic Arts launches a platform to put more ads in its games

Video game publishing giant EA launched a new platform on Monday designed to make the process of selling immersive ad space in its popular games easier.

The company says the platform, called EA Advertising, allows brands to “integrate directly into gameplay through dynamic, real-time placements, from stadium signage to custom in-game content.”

More so than other studios, EA has incorporated advertising into its most popular titles. As Kotaku points out, the company’s ad efforts stretch as far back as 2006. Several of its sports franchises already feature partnerships with brands like Visa, Lowe’s, Red Bull, and PepsiCo.

In-game advertising hasn’t exactly been embraced by fans, but industry experts expect it to ramp up as companies seek more revenue to offset higher games budgets and surging memory costs. EA rival Take-Two has taken a different approach, with CEO Strauss Zelnick recently saying the company was “not at risk of doing brand partnerships” in the forthcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI,” and that ads in full-price games seems “unfair.”

The $55 billion deal to take EA private, led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, is set to close at the end of this month. Being the largest leveraged buyout in history, EA will likely look for more ways to boost revenue to cover interest payments.

Electronic Arts Makes Push for Ad Dollars Tied to Sports

Millie Giles6/11/26

JM Smucker says it sold $1 billion worth of Uncrustables in FY2026

After years of booming sandwich sales, JM Smucker has finally earned a billion-dollar crust.

On Tuesday, the company reported results for fiscal year 2026, highlighting better-than-expected profits driven by higher prices for coffee and sweet baked goods. However, at another point on the earnings call, CEO Mark Smucker pointed to one particularly jammy figure: in line with previous forecasts, the company sold $1 billion worth of its (almost always) crustless sandwiches, Uncrustables, in the last year alone.

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

Paramount reportedly offers concessions to resolve multistate antitrust investigation

Paramount has reportedly offered up some concessions in an effort to prevent an antitrust lawsuit by California and about 10 other states, according to Bloomberg reporting on Monday.

Reuters first reported on the potential suit from a group of unnamed states last week, which could throw a wrench in Paramount’s plans to buy rival Warner Bros. Discovery in a Hollywood megamerger.

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

Paramount Offers Concessions to Head Off State Antitrust Lawsuit

The list of concessions is unknown, though Bloomberg previously reported that Paramount is open to divesting some of its kids TV assets to appease EU regulators.

Late last month, reports said US regulators appeared likely to approve the $110 billion merger, following a meeting between Paramount CEO David Ellison and DOJ antitrust staffers.

$98B ⛽

Max Knoblauch6/8/26

The IATA released its latest financial outlook for the airline industry over the weekend, forecasting a $98 billion jump in the sector’s collective fuel bill. The world’s largest trade group representing airlines expects the oil spike to halve profits by 49% from last year to $23 billion.

The group also expects profit margins to halve year over year, falling from 2025’s 4.2% to 2%. Still, revenue is expected to climb to $1.17 trillion from $1.07 trillion.

A surge in the cost of jet fuel has rocked US and global airlines this year, leading Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue, and others to raise fares and ancillary charges like bag fees. Low-cost carriers, which operate on smaller margins, have been squeezed the hardest, resulting in Spirit’s shutdown.

“It’s a tough year for all airlines, especially those whose balance sheets had not yet recovered from COVID. And, of course, for those operating in the Gulf,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, who added that demand is holding up and about half of passengers expect to spend more on travel this year. “That bodes well for a strong northern summer peak season. The big unknown is how long travelers and shippers can tolerate the higher costs of connectivity.”