Airbnb Inc. on Tuesday reported its “biggest and most profitable quarter ever” and beat Wall Street’s profit and revenue expectations, but shares sank after hours.
Airbnb
ABNB,
shares fell more than 7% after hours, after rising 2% in the regular session to close at $109.05.
In a letter to shareholders, the lodging-booking company attributed its results — which it said would have been even better were it not for the strong dollar — to the continued travel recovery and strong demand.
The company saw an increase in nights and experiences booked across all regions as cross-border travel rose, along with a return to urban travel. In the Asia Pacific region, where the recovery had lagged that of other areas, that number surged 65% year over year as coronavirus pandemic restrictions eased.
Airbnb also cited growth in supply, or the number of Airbnb listings, as a strength. Active listings rose about 15% in the third quarter compared to a year ago, the company reported. That has led to some grumbling among hosts who saw occupancy decline earlier this year — but Airbnb’s performance hasn’t been affected.
The company said in its shareholder letter that “just like during the Great Recession in 2008 when Airbnb started, people are especially interested in earning extra income through hosting.”
Third-quarter gross bookings rose to $15.6 billion, up 31% year over year and beating analysts’ expectation of $15.37 billion. Nights and experiences booked climbed to 99.7 million, up 25% year over year, but shy of the 100.68 million expected by analysts. The average daily rate was $156, compared with the $153.20 that analysts expected.
Airbnb reported net income of $1.2 billion, or $1.79 a share, compared with $834 million, or $1.22 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose to $2.88 billion from $2.24 billion in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) was $1.5 billion, a record high for the company. Free cash flow was $960 million, up 80% year over year.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of $1.47 a share on revenue of $ 2.85 billion. They had also forecast $1.39 billion in Ebitda and $1.1 billion in free cash flow.
Airbnb expects fourth-quarter revenue of $1.8 billion to $1.88 billion, while analysts had forecast earnings of 20 cents a share on revenue of $1.87 billion.
Shares of Airbnb have fallen about 36% so far this year, while the S&P 500 index
SPX,
has declined about 19% year to date.
