Free cash flow
Booking Holdings Inc. Free cash flow increased by 119.3% to $3.11B in Q1 2026 compared to the prior quarter. Year-over-year, this metric declined by 1.7%, from $3.16B to $3.11B. Over 4 years (FY 2021 to FY 2025), Free cash flow shows an upward trend with a 37.9% CAGR. This is a positive signal — higher values indicate stronger performance for this metric.
Analysis
How to read this metric
An increase suggests strong operational efficiency and the ability to self-fund future innovation or return capital to shareholders, while a decrease may indicate heavy capital expenditure cycles or declining operational profitability.
Detailed definition
Free cash flow represents the cash generated by a company after accounting for cash outflows to support operations and m...
Peer comparison
High-growth semiconductor and AI infrastructure peers typically prioritize reinvestment, so free cash flow margins are often compared against R&D intensity and capital expenditure requirements of industry rivals.
cf_free_cash_flowHistorical Data
| Q2 '21 | Q3 '21 | Q4 '21 | Q1 '22 | Q2 '22 | Q3 '22 | Q4 '22 | Q1 '23 | Q2 '23 | Q3 '23 | Q4 '23 | Q1 '24 | Q2 '24 | Q3 '24 | Q4 '24 | Q1 '25 | Q2 '25 | Q3 '25 | Q4 '25 | Q1 '26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $1.09B | $1.52B | $178.00M | $1.59B | $2.60B | -$96.00M | $2.10B | $2.80B | $1.65B | $1.30B | $1.25B | $2.57B | $2.38B | $2.30B | $645.00M | $3.16B | $3.14B | $1.37B | $1.42B | $3.11B |
| QoQ Change | — | +38.8% | -88.3% | +791.0% | +63.8% | -103.7% | >999% | +33.5% | -41.3% | -20.9% | -3.8% | +105.6% | -7.6% | -3.5% | -71.9% | +390.2% | -0.8% | -56.3% | +3.4% | +119.3% |
| YoY Change | — | — | — | — | +137.7% | -106.3% | >999% | +76.6% | -36.7% | >999% | -40.3% | -8.1% | +44.6% | +76.5% | -48.5% | +22.8% | +31.9% | -40.3% | +119.7% | -1.7% |
Free cash flow at Other Companies
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Booking Holdings Inc.'s free cash flow?
- Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) reported free cash flow of $3.11B in Q1 2026.
- How has Booking Holdings Inc.'s free cash flow changed year-over-year?
- Booking Holdings Inc.'s free cash flow decreased by 1.7% year-over-year, from $3.16B to $3.11B.
- What is the long-term trend for Booking Holdings Inc.'s free cash flow?
- Over 4 years (2021 to 2025), Booking Holdings Inc.'s free cash flow has grown at a 37.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from $2.52B to $9.09B.
- What does free cash flow mean?
- The cash a company has left over after paying for its operating expenses and capital investments.