Airbnb beats fourth quarter estimates as revenue jumps 78%

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Apr 27, 2022

Airbnb (ABNB) announced its fourth-quarter results after the closing bell on Tuesday, beating analysts’ expectations for top and bottom results as revenue rose 78% year-over-year.

The positive report came despite the spread of the Omicron variant during the 2021 holiday season, which saw residents in some parts of the world retreat to their homes.

Here are the most important numbers from the report compared to what Wall Street expected from Airbnb.

Revenue: $1.53 billion vs $1.46 billion expected
Adj. earnings per share: $0.08 vs $0.03 expected
Gross bookings: $11.3 billion vs $11.09 billion expected

Airbnb shares rose 6% after the announcement.

Airbnb, which went public in December 2020, suffered a major hit to revenue and earnings at the height of the pandemic, with the value of bookings falling 31% from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2020.

Yet the company’s initial projection at the start of the pandemic called for full-year 2020 revenues to be half what they were in 2019, and ultimately fell only 30%. This is likely attributable to consumers looking for ways to get out of their homes, while being able to distance themselves and socially distance at the same time.

Looking to Q4 2021, Airbnb’s bookings not only surpassed Q4 2020, but also exceeded its pre-pandemic levels in Q4 2019. According to company figures, the value of bookings for the quarter increased increased by 91% year-on-year and by 32% compared to the figures for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Despite the spread of the Omicron variant, Airbnb’s nights and experiences bookings were down only 3% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Excluding the Asia-Pacific region, which has stricter containment measures strict and require more cross-border travel, these bookings have actually increased by 8%.

For the first quarter of 2022, Airbnb expects revenue of between $1.41 billion and $1.48 billion. That’s a 69% increase on the low end and a 76% increase on the high end.

Yet over the past 12 months, Airbnb’s stock price is down about 16% to $172.92 as of noon EST Tuesday. Reservation credits (BKNG), the parent company of Bookings.com, Priceline and Kayak, meanwhile, rose 18% to $2,639 per share.

Editor’s note: Consensus estimates for adjusted earnings per share were revised down to $0.03. An earlier version of the article said the estimate was $0.07 per share.

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