Wall Street has found a new way to trade the rise of AI agents: buy the hotels, sell the websites that book them.

The bet is that software agents will book rooms straight from Marriott's or Hilton's own websites, leaving online travel agencies with less to do and fewer commissions to collect.

The charts are already moving that way.

Marriott International Inc. (MAR) rose 1.7% to about $404 on Wednesday afternoon, a record high and on track for its 10th straight daily gain.

That is Marriott's longest winning streak since an 11-session run that ended on Dec. 26, 2019. In price data going back to 1998, the stock has never risen more than 11 days in a row.

The 13.4% climb over those 10 sessions has added about $12.4 billion to Marriott's market value.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT) has gained 9.7% over the past two months.

The middlemen are moving the other way. Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) has dropped 25.1% over the same two months, and Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) has lost 12.6%.

That leaves a gap of more than 38 percentage points between Marriott and Booking since late August.

Why AI Agents Threaten The Middlemen

Online travel agencies earn a commission because they save travelers time: one site, every hotel, prices side by side.

An AI agent does the same comparison on its own, in seconds, and can then go straight to the source.

Citrini Research turned that idea into a trade on Sept. 22.

In a report titled "Agentic Reality," the firm pointed to Muse, the consumer agent from Meta Platforms Inc. (META), whose free tier offers 100 million tokens a week.

Asked how it books flights, Muse told Citrini it uses a professional system that pulls inventory directly from airlines, not consumer sites such as Expedia or Kayak.

"The ultimate service provider – the hotel, airline, or rental car – still gets the customer," Citrini wrote.

The firm picked four hotel companies for the long side: Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt Hotels Corp. (H) and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Inc. (WH).

All four have gained at least 13% since the report. Booking has slipped, while Expedia is roughly flat.

Not Every Drop Is About AI

Most of Booking's two-month decline came before the Citrini report, and regulators did part of the damage.

In September, a European court upheld the EU's block of Booking's 1.63 billion euro purchase of travel firm eTraveli. In early October, Reuters reported that Priceline faces Federal Trade Commission action over an affiliate's hotel ads.

On Wednesday, the European Commission opened an investigation into Booking.com over phishing scams and fake listings. Booking shares fell 4.1% in afternoon trading.

Wall Street Is Not Convinced The Agencies Lose

BTIG kept a Buy rating and a $250 price target on Booking in late September, arguing that fears about AI agents may be overdone. "We argue agents will point travelers towards the OTAs," the firm said, citing their breadth of supply and real-time pricing.

Morgan Stanley rates Booking Overweight with a $230 target. Its case rests on supply: Booking lists 4.7 million independent hotels and alternative stays, inventory no hotel chain can match.

"We see AI as both a new acquisition channel and a product opportunity, but execution will determine how much of the economics and consumer relationship the OTAs ultimately retain," Morgan Stanley said in a Sept. 16 note.

Even Citrini's own test left room for that view. Muse told the firm it still checks Booking.com for hotels, because prices can differ from the brand's website.

There is also a new toll booth to watch. According to a Bank of America note published Oct. 16, Meta plans to charge a commission on purchases completed through Muse. Expedia is already among its partners.

The agent may not remove the middleman. It may become one.

Booking is building its own. On Oct. 14, it announced a planned $100 million investment in Vayo, an AI travel agent that tracks trips booked anywhere, including directly with hotels.

"A trip isn't a task, and travelers deserve more than a chatbot," said Mike Fridgen, Vayo's chief executive and co-founder.

The Numbers Have Not Caught Up Yet

Hotel stocks are pricing a shift in how people book. The booking data proving it has not arrived.

Expedia reports third-quarter results on Nov. 4. Direct-booking share, marketing spend and any sign of agent-driven traffic will show whether the split on the charts shows up in the numbers.