Booking Stock, Expedia, DoorDash Jump. Here's What's Behind A 'Relief Rally.'

2026-03-05 17:51:34

Booking Holdings (BKNG) and other e-commerce stocks climbed Thursday on a report that OpenAI is “scaling back” plans to drive more shopping directly within ChatGPT.

OpenAI is shifting focus toward enabling shopping on apps that integrate within ChatGPT, according to The Information. OpenAI launched its Instant Checkouts feature last year with Etsy (ETSY) and Shopify (SHOP) announced as early partners.

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Mizuho analyst Lloyd Walmsley cast the report as positive for several e-commerce stocks in a note to clients Thursday.

“We believe ChatGPT’s pivot away from on-platform shopping checkout, if true, could spell the beginning of the end of major disruption fears for internet marketplace businesses, including OTAs (online travel agencies), DoorDash, etc.,” Walmsley wrote.

Fears that AI could route people away from e-commerce platforms have weighed on shares of companies like Booking Holdings, Expedia Group (EXPE), DoorDash (DASH) and Instacart parent Maplebear (CART) for several months.

“We believe the shift from checkout on ChatGPT into Apps on ChatGPT may be just the beginning of the end of this bear case,” Walmsley wrote. “Conversion rates are higher on dedicated e-commerce sites. As such, we believe the end state will eventually migrate to click-outs and cost-per-click auction models, similar to Google Search.”

Walmsley added that he believes the “relief rally here will have legs.”

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Expedia and Booking were both early partners in bringing apps to ChatGPT last year. DoorDash and Instacart also have dedicated apps within ChatGPT.

OpenAI did not respond to a request for comment on the report.

Booking Stock Jumps

Meanwhile, Booking stock is ahead more than 8% at 4,605.23 on the stock market today. DoorDash gained more than 3%. Instacart stock climbed nearly 2%. Expedia added nearly 11%.

Amazon (AMZN) stock wavered in morning trades but was ahead a fraction in recent trades. Etsy stock was also up a fraction while Shopify shares rose more than 2%.

Wedbush analyst Scott Devitt told clients Thursday that the reported pivot from OpenAI would be a “net positive” for retailers and marketplaces.

“We believe the report is favorable across our coverage for several key reasons: First, the back-end transactional and fulfillment processes will remain with retailers, proving agentic commerce has technical obstacles to overcome,” Devitt wrote. “Second, OpenAI will likely take a smaller cut from these transactions, limiting potential margin pressure.”

By moving to apps, Devitt added, retailers can keep the majority of the customer relationship and transactional data.

For Booking stock, the gains add to a recent rebound following a sharp sell-off to start the year. Shares climbed back over Booking’s 21-day moving average and are approaching the stock’s 50-day line.

Booking shares rallied nearly 200% from the start of 2023 to a record high of 5,839 reached in July. But shares have pulled back since then by more than 20%. Meanwhile, Booking Holdings last month announced plans for a 25 to 1 stock split. The split will take effect early next month.

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