I've been watching the travel booking space pretty closely, and something caught my eye that most investors seem to be getting wrong right now. When Booking Holdings announced its 25-to-1 stock split back in mid-February, the market actually punished the stock instead of celebrating it. Down more than 5% since the announcement? That's the kind of short term weakness that sometimes creates real opportunities for those paying attention.

Here's what's happening: everyone's freaking out about AI disrupting Booking's core business. Fair question on the surface, but I think people are massively underestimating the company's structural advantages. Yeah, AI chatbots can help plan trips. But can they replicate a network of 4.4 million properties across 220 countries? That took decades to build. Independent hotel operators depend on Booking's platform for distribution and management. You can't just copy that overnight.

What's more interesting is how Booking's expanding beyond just accommodation. They've got flights, rental cars, tours, activities, and their OpenTable restaurant reservation platform. This Connected Trip strategy—where customers book multiple parts of a trip together—grew in the high 20% range last year. That's the kind of vertical integration that actually protects against disruption, not exposes to it.

But here's where it gets really compelling for short term stocks to buy now: the financial picture is actually getting stronger, not weaker. Revenue climbed 13% in 2025 despite all this AI anxiety. More importantly, their cost-cutting initiative from late 2024 is working—they delivered 20% bottom-line growth last year. Earnings per share grew 22% thanks to share buybacks. And management's guiding for another 15% EPS growth in 2026, even while investing heavily into AI development and international expansion.

The valuation is where this becomes almost ridiculous. Trading at roughly 14x forward earnings while expecting 15% growth puts the PEG ratio below 1. For context, that's genuinely cheap territory. You'd basically need to believe Booking's earnings completely collapse for this price to make sense. Given their data advantages—decades of customer information and ongoing data from millions of property operators—they're actually in a strong position to build better AI experiences than startups trying to disrupt them.

I know the consensus right now is worried about AI disruption, but I think that's exactly why short term stocks to buy now might include names like this. When everyone's focused on the same risk, that's often when valuations disconnect from reality. Booking's management is maintaining its long-term 15% EPS growth outlook. At these prices, that's the kind of opportunity that doesn't stick around forever. If you're looking at short term stocks to buy now with actual business moats and reasonable valuations, this is worth serious consideration.