Booking Holdings (BKNG) surged 5.27% in post-market trading after the online travel giant reported second-quarter financial results that handily exceeded Wall Street expectations. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $2.54, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45, while revenue climbed 8% year-over-year to $7.4 billion, surpassing analyst projections of $7.19 billion.

The strong performance was fueled by resilient travel demand, with gross bookings rising 9% to $51 billion and room nights increasing 5% to 325 million. CEO Glenn Fogel highlighted that domestic and intraregional travel remained relatively healthy, particularly in the U.S. where room nights grew in the high single digits. The company also reported that AI initiatives are reducing customer friction and lowering contact rates, with customer service cost per booking continuing to decrease at a double-digit rate.

Despite the upbeat results, the company acknowledged ongoing headwinds from the Middle East conflict, which continues to pressure long-haul international travel through elevated airline prices and reduced capacity. Booking Holdings issued third-quarter revenue growth guidance of 4% to 6%, slightly below analyst expectations, as it assumes the indirect impacts of the conflict will persist through the end of Q3. Nevertheless, the strong earnings beat and resilient domestic demand drove shares sharply higher in extended trading.