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Airbnb rode higher prices, bookings boom to record second quarter

Rental giant posts $2.1 billion in revenue, notches bookings peak

Airbnb's Brian Chesky (Illustration by Kevin Cifuentes for The Real Deal with Getty Images, DesignStudio/Public domain/via Wikimedia Commons)
Airbnb's Brian Chesky (Illustration by Kevin Cifuentes for The Real Deal with Getty Images, DesignStudio/Public domain/via Wikimedia Commons)

A rise in bookings despite heightened prices paved Airbnb’s way to a profit last quarter.

Airbnb posted $2.1 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up 58 percent from the same period last year, according to the Wall Street Journal. The quarter marked the first time Airbnb made money in the second quarter since it went public in 2020.

In total, Airbnb reported a profit of $379 million in the period, topping analysts’ projections for a profit of $295 million.

Revenue was aided by customers booking a record number of nights during the quarter. Average daily rates were up 1 percent from the same quarter a year ago, but climbed 40 percent from the same time in 2019.

Airbnb’s gross bookings, which is the total value of nights and experience bookings made on the platform, grew more than 25 percent in the quarter.

Despite the strong results, the company’s stock was down 9 percent in after-hours trading.

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The rental behemoth indicated that there is more revenue growth to come through the summer, in part driven by price increases. The company said that trends have begun to return to pre-pandemic seasonality, exemplified by July 4 generating the most single day revenue.

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The company expects revenue in the next three months through September to range from $2.78 billion to $2.88 billion. That’s higher than Wall Street’s average estimate of $2.77 billion.

The pandemic strengthened Airbnb’s business model, as travelers opted for local stays rather than flights. Remote work also was also beneficial as travelers could work from wherever they chose.

In fact, longer stays — stays of 28 days or more — made up 19 percent of bookings in the second quarter, the same as the same period a year earlier, but above prepandemic levels. Those stays accounted for 21 percent of bookings in the prior quarter.

— Sasha Jones