Trip.com Group (TCOM) Q2 2026: RMB5.18 Billion Antitrust Penalty Causes Operating Loss

Trip.com Group reported second-quarter 2026 results for the three months ended June 30, 2026 on its September 15 earnings call and in a Form 6-K filed on September 16. Revenue came in where the company itself had guided, but the profit and regulatory lines both came in weaker than previously judged [1][2]. Three questions had been open going into the quarter: whether domestic regulatory rectification would permanently lower transportation ticketing monetization, whether international and inbound growth could offset slower domestic demand, and whether rising investment would still convert into profit and cash. The quarter answered them as follows. The regulatory cost has now landed and is larger than the figure previously available, and transportation ticketing revenue turned negative. International remains the fastest-growing line, but the company changed the measure it discloses, and the offset was not large enough to hold the group growth rate. Operating leverage ran backwards even with the penalty excluded. Cash generation could not be tested at all, because the quarterly release carries no statement of cash flows.

Trip.com Group operates a one-stop travel platform through Ctrip, Qunar, Trip.com and Skyscanner. It generally acts as an agent rather than owning inventory, and its revenue is mainly commission and service fees recognized once a reservation, ticket or service is completed. Accommodation and transportation supplied 42% and 36% of 2025 revenue respectively [5].

The antitrust penalty landed, and transportation ticketing revenue turned negative

The single largest change this quarter was the regulatory penalty becoming a booked cost, at an amount above what was previously known. The company accepted the administrative penalty decision from China's State Administration for Market Regulation and said rectification measures have been implemented. It charged RMB5.18 billion to general and administrative expenses, pushing that line up 477% year over year to RMB6.33 billion; excluding the penalty, the same line grew just 5% [1][2]. The charge turned the quarter into a RMB1.46 billion loss from operations and a RMB2.46 billion net loss attributable to shareholders. Without it, net income would have been RMB2.7 billion [1].

In the same period, transportation ticketing revenue was RMB5.35 billion, down 1% year over year, against 12% year-over-year growth in the prior quarter [1][3]. Both the results release and management attributed the decline to fuel costs, airfares and geopolitical factors, and neither disclosed how much of it came from rectification. Whether this line is experiencing a temporary dip or a lasting reduction in monetization therefore cannot be separated out from this disclosure.

Operating leverage reversed even with the penalty excluded

Adjusted EBITDA already adds the penalty back, and it still declined, which places the profit pressure in ordinary operations rather than in the one-off charge. Adjusted EBITDA was RMB4.57 billion, down 6% year over year, with the margin falling from 33% to 29%; the prior quarter had grown roughly 14% year over year [1][3]. Revenue grew 6%, while cost of revenue grew 12%, product development grew 8% and sales and marketing grew 15%. Only general and administrative expenses excluding the penalty grew more slowly than revenue, and sales and marketing rose from 23% to 25% of net revenue [1][3].

Cash conversion cannot be judged this period. The most recent data point remains full-year 2025, when net cash provided by operating activities fell from RMB19.6 billion to RMB14.4 billion [5].

International growth stayed strong, but the disclosure basis changed

International remains the fastest-growing part of the business, though it became harder to verify independently. The company disclosed that international OTA platform revenue grew more than 50% year over year and customized tours grew 600%, while inbound travel was described only qualitatively as growing at high double-digit rates [2]. In prior quarters the company had disclosed international and inbound gross booking growth — roughly 65% and 90% respectively in the first quarter — and it did not provide those figures this time, so no comparison against the earlier basis is possible [4].

At the group level, net revenue was RMB15.66 billion, up 6% year over year. That sits inside the 3% to 8% range the company guided in June, but it is 11 percentage points below the prior quarter's 17% growth rate [1][3]. Sales and marketing expense still grew at more than twice the rate of revenue, so the profitability of that international growth is not visible in the disclosure.

A new question: the rebuilt hotel distribution framework

The distribution and ranking rules governing the accommodation business were rebuilt this quarter, an issue that had not previously been tracked on its own. The company discontinued its Tier 1 and Tier 2 distribution programs in favor of a multi-tiered framework that removes tiered restrictions and gives partners more autonomy, and it re-weighted hotel ranking away from price competition toward service quality and conversion performance [2].

The same penalty decision also created a contra-revenue item inside accommodation revenue, which reduced that line's year-over-year growth from 8% to the reported 6%. The amount was not separately disclosed [1][2]. Accommodation revenue was RMB6.58 billion this quarter, roughly 42% of net revenue, so a change to its commission mechanics has broad reach [1]. Management expects short-term volatility in domestic performance while partners transition, but did not quantify it and did not disclose the fee rates or the scale of merchants covered by the discontinued programs [2].

Conclusion

This set of results pushes growth, profit and cash in different directions. The growth engine is intact but narrower: transportation ticketing turned negative and accommodation absorbed a regulatory charge, so the group rate now leans more heavily on an international business the company no longer quantifies. Profit conversion clearly weakened, and it did so independently of the penalty, with three of the four major cost lines growing faster than revenue. Cash generation produced no data this period, leaving the 2025 decline as the latest evidence.

On timing, the penalty is a one-time recognized charge, and management regards the fuel and airfare pressure as temporary. The rebuilt hotel distribution framework has the longest-running effect and will only be readable once the contra-revenue item leaves the comparison base. What to look for next: whether transportation ticketing returns to year-over-year growth, whether adjusted EBITDA growth catches up with revenue, and whether the company resumes quantified disclosure of its international business [1][2].

Sources

[1] TCOM Q2 2026 results released 2026-09-16 — Trip.com Group second quarter 2026 results announcement, Form 6-K, 2026-09-16, https://investors.trip.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tripcom-group-limited-reports-unaudited-second-quarter-2026/ [2] TCOM Q2 2026 earnings call 2026-09-15 — Trip.com Group second quarter 2026 earnings call, 2026-09-15, https://investors.trip.com/news-events/events [3] TCOM Q1 2026 results released 2026-06-24 — Trip.com Group first quarter 2026 results announcement, Form 6-K, 2026-06-24, https://investors.trip.com/news-releases/news-release-details/tripcom-group-limited-reports-unaudited-first-quarter-2026/ [4] TCOM Q1 2026 earnings call 2026-06-24 — Trip.com Group first quarter 2026 earnings call, 2026-06-24, https://investors.trip.com/static-files/ae42a208-da0d-4ca9-8ba5-f787c2306a1e [5] TCOM 20-F filed 2026-04-28 — Trip.com Group fiscal year 2025 annual report, Form 20-F, 2026-04-28, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1269238/000119312526183379/d27369d20f.htm