Airbnb Just Delivered a Beat on Earnings and Revenue in Q4

Airbnb, an online marketplace for lodging and homestays for vacation rentals, reported fourth quarter results this week that beat on both earnings and revenue.

Rebounding from the Covid-19 pandemic, the company reported earnings per share of 8 cents compared to 3 cents that was expected, per a Refinitiv survey of analysts. Revenue at $1.53 billion was also higher than the $1.46 billion that was expected, per Refinitiv.

The stock’s shares were up about 4% in after-hours trading on Wednesday as Wall Street digested the numbers.

The company also reported 73.4 million nights and experiences booked in the fourth quarter, which was down nearly 8% from the prior quarter and missing estimates. Analysts were expecting 74.96 million nights and experiences for the quarter, according to StreetAccount. Still, the figure is up 59% year-over-year.

Airbnb is expecting its first-quarter 2022 nights and experiences booked to significantly exceed Q1 2019 levels. The company estimates revenue to fall between $1.41 billion and $1.48 billion in the first quarter of 2022, topping analyst estimates of $1.24 billion.

Airbnb said in its fourth-quarter letter to shareholders that it has rebounded quickly from the impacts of the pandemic. Gross nights booked in December were up more than 40% compared to 2020, the company said.

“Despite the continued near-term uncertainties, we see evidence of strong pent-up demand: as of the end of January 2022, we had over 25% more nights booked for the summer travel season than at this time in 2019,” the company stated.

Airbnb has spent much of its time focusing on a sort of “travel revolution,” as remote work becomes a more permanent option for many across the U.S. The company said average trip length during the past two years increased by about 15%, with stays of more than seven days now representing nearly half of all gross nights booked.

Long-term stays of 28 nights or more continued to be its fastest-growing category by trip length. Those extended stays accounted for 22% of gross nights booked in the fourth quarter, up 16% from Q4 2019.

“For the first time ever, millions of people can now live anywhere,” CEO Brian Chesky said on the company’s earnings call.

The company said it had its greatest number of listings yet, but no figure was disclosed.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.