Airbnb on Tuesday reported strong revenue growth and a new record for bookings during the first three months of the year, in a sign that demand for travel remains strong despite lingering recession fears.
The company reported revenue for the quarter grew 20% to $1.8 billion, just beating Wall Street’s estimates. The company said nights and experiences booked on the platform hit a record high of over 120 million last quarter.
“More guests are traveling on Airbnb than ever before,” CEO Brian Chesky said on a call with analysts Tuesday. “We’ve seen our highest number of active bookers ever, despite continued macroeconomic uncertainties.”
“During the quarter, we also saw guests booking trips further in advance, supporting a strong backlog for q2,” he added. “We were especially encouraged by the continued recovery of Asia Pacific as nights booked in q1 increased more than 40% year over year.”
Airbnb also reported net income of some $117 million, compared to a net loss in the same period last year.
“We are now twice the size as we were before the pandemic on both a GBV [gross booking value] and revenue basis,” the company said in its letter to shareholders Tuesday.
Despite the rosy earnings report, shares for Airbnb slid as much as 10% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company reported a weaker outlook for the current quarter than some analysts had expected.
In its letter to shareholders, Airbnb also said it has pulled forward the timing of its marketing spend to the first half of the year to help support the peak summer travel season. The company is also increasing its brand marketing investment in more countries around the world.
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