Sometimes you can beat expectations and still get hammered. That's exactly what happened to Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) on Thursday, when the stock crashed to a 52-week low despite posting solid earnings numbers. The culprit? Wall Street is suddenly very nervous about artificial intelligence eating the online travel booking industry's lunch.

Multiple analyst firms, including Piper Sandler and Cantor Fitzgerald, slashed their price targets on the stock. The worry isn't about today's business, which looks pretty healthy. It's about whether AI developments might fundamentally disrupt how people book travel, potentially cutting out the middleman that Booking Holdings has built its empire on.

The Numbers Were Actually Good

Here's the ironic part: Booking Holdings actually delivered. The company reported quarterly earnings of $48.80 per share, topping analyst expectations of $48.27. Revenue came in at $6.349 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $6.130 billion. And the company's first-quarter sales guidance of $5.429 billion to $5.524 billion sits comfortably above market estimates of $5.359 billion.

So what gives? The market is looking past the quarterly beat and focusing on existential questions about the business model.

What the Analysts Are Saying

Seven analyst firms weighed in with updated views, and while most kept positive ratings, the price target cuts tell the real story:

• RBC Capital analyst Brad Erickson maintained an Outperform rating and held his $6,100 price target steady.
• DA Davidson analyst Tom White kept a Buy rating but trimmed his target from $6,600 to $6,000.
• Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos stuck with a Buy rating while slashing the forecast from $6,400 to $5,600.
• Oppenheimer analyst Jed Kelly maintained Outperform but lowered his target from $6,500 to $6,000.
• Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski held an Equal-Weight rating and cut the forecast from $5,954 to $5,456.
• Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Deepak Mathivanan kept a Neutral rating while making the biggest cut, from $5,830 down to $4,495.
• Piper Sandler analyst Thomas Champion maintained Neutral and lowered his target from $5,750 to $5,000.

The Case for Optimism

Not everyone is panicking. RBC's Erickson noted that the company delivered a strong result, with room nights, bookings, EBITDA, and earnings all beating expectations, though first-quarter room nights and full-year margin guidance came in slightly below Street estimates.

Importantly, Erickson pointed out that room night growth was led by U.S. acceleration, which actually eases AI disruption concerns. The company's loyalty programs and direct bookings remain robust, and here's a crucial detail: nearly 90% of Booking.com room nights come from non-chain properties, which limits aggregation risk from AI-powered competitors.

The analyst acknowledged that a $700 million reinvestment plan will weigh on leverage, but management's focus on search capabilities and merchant-of-record strengths is constructive, even if AI traffic risks continue to loom.

Regional Strength and Travel Demand

DA Davidson's White highlighted that room nights actually accelerated during the quarter, driven by broad strength across regions, particularly Asia and the U.S. The U.S. performance benefited from a tough comparison period and strength in paid channels and business-to-business bookings.

Management's commentary emphasized that underlying travel demand remains resilient, though U.S. average daily rates and length of stay ticked slightly lower.

Booking Holdings shares closed down 8.78% at $3,895 on Thursday, marking a new 52-week low. The disconnect between solid fundamentals and cratering stock price shows how much weight the market is putting on AI disruption fears, even when the current business is firing on all cylinders.