Booking (BKNG) Q2 2026: Net Income Doubles on $1.1B FX Swing
Booking Holdings reported net income of $1.95 billion for the second quarter of 2026, up 117.9% from $895 million a year earlier — but only 17.2% of that pre-tax improvement came from running the business. Of the $1,456 million increase in pre-tax income, $1,121 million was a swing in "other income (expense), net," driven almost entirely by currency remeasurement on the company's Euro-denominated debt, while operating income contributed just $250 million. The more interesting finding runs the other way, though it only shows up in the six-month figures: the first half of 2025 was flattered by a $167 million pension credit booked in Q1 2025 (the June quarter itself is clean on this count). Normalize the half-year for that credit and for the $89 million litigation gain recorded in Q1 2026, and Booking is a business compounding operating profit in the mid-to-high teens.
1. Consolidated Balance Sheet
A note on method before the numbers. A 10-Q balance sheet compares June 30 to December 31, and for a business whose customers pay months before they travel, that is a comparison between the peak and the trough of the seasonal cycle. Movements below should be read with that in mind rather than as clean year-over-year trends.
1-1. Principal asset movements
| Item | Dec 31, 2025 ($M) | Jun 30, 2026 ($M) | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 17,203 | 17,214 | +0.1 |
| Accounts receivable, net | 3,820 | 4,341 | +13.6 |
| Prepaid expenses, net | 611 | 601 | -1.6 |
| Other current assets | 630 | 901 | +43.0 |
| Property and equipment, net | 807 | 767 | -5.0 |
| Operating lease assets | 632 | 594 | -6.0 |
| Intangible assets, net | 918 | 852 | -7.2 |
| Goodwill | 2,669 | 2,672 | +0.1 |
| Long-term investments | 582 | 448 | -23.0 |
| Total assets | 29,264 | 29,682 | +1.4 |
Total assets barely moved, which is itself the story: Booking generated $6.93 billion of operating cash in six months and ended the period with $11 million more cash than it started with. The money did not accumulate — it was returned.
