Investors give Airbnb lukewarm reaction despite rental giant posting highest number of bookings ever

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Jan 21, 2023

Wednesday 03 August 2022 15:14

Airbnb will block hosts from seeing the names of American guests before reservations are accepted in an effort to combat racism on the booking site.

Airbnb reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter results as the rental company struggled to please investors.

While the US company posted its biggest ever quarterly numbers, with 103 million nights and booking experiences during the period, it fell below StreetAccount’s estimate of 106.4 million.

That sent shares tumbling 10% in aftermarket trading and clouding relatively upbeat tech results.

North America remained strong, with the number of room nights and experiences booked in the second quarter increasing by 37% compared to the level reached in the same quarter of 2019, mainly driven by the United States

In EMEA, room nights and experiences booked again exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter of 2019. Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, room nights and experiences booked saw sequential growth, up 11% compared to the first quarter of 2022 and 26% compared to the second quarter of 2019.

Revenue met revenue expectations at $2.1 billion for the period, growing 58% year-over-year.

From a profitability perspective, the US company also said it had its most profitable second quarter ever with net income of $379 million, an improvement of nearly $700 million from the second quarter. quarter 2019.

Looking ahead, the company said in its letter to shareholders that it expects a “good summer season,” posting its highest day of earnings on July 4.

“Seasonality in the first half of 2021 was abnormal due to the start of the travel rebound. We have seen trends begin to normalize in the second half of 2021. As a result, we believe that comparisons to 2019 are still relevant for Q2 2022, but we view Q3 2022 as an inflection point where comparisons to 2019 are still relevant. year after year will regain their relevance,” says Airbnb.

He added that he expected growth in the third quarter to be “stable”.

Shares continued to fall nearly 5% this afternoon for the tech company.