Airbnb revenue increases

Airbnb said Tuesday that it earned $117 million in the first quarter as revenue rose during the ongoing recovery in travel, but the company's outlook for late spring and early summer disappointed investors.

The San Francisco-based company's weak outlook overshadowed Airbnb's first profit in the first three months of the year, a seasonally slow period for travel.

The company's profit compared with a loss of $19 million a year earlier and worked out to 18 cents per share. Revenue climbed 20% to $1.82 billion, beating Wall Street's forecast of $1.79 billion, according to a FactSet survey.

Nights and experiences booked, a closely watched measurement for Airbnb, increased 19% to 121 million, and the company valued the bookings made in the quarter at $20.4 billion, a 19% increase.

“We have seen our highest number of active bookers ever despite continued macroeconomic uncerainty,” CEO Brian Chesky said during a call with analysts.

However, Airbnb said second-quarter bookings growth won't look as robust as they did a year earlier, when consumers were busy booking travel after hunkering down at home during the outbreak of COVID-19's omicron variant. The company said bookings will grow more slowly than revenue in the Aprilthrough-June period, and the average daily rental rate will be “slightly lower” than a year earlier.

The company predicted that revenue in the second quarter, which includes the start of the peak summer travel season, would be around $2.40 billion. That was below analysts' average prediction of $2.42 billion.

In a letter to shareholders, Airbnb said its revenue and the gross value of bookings are both double what they were before the pandemic.

Airbnb is getting a lift from people who are traveling while they take advantage of the ability to work remotely and stay away from the office.

More of those people are booking international stays. The company said cross-border bookings grew 36% over last year's first quarter, helped by travel to and within the Asia-Pacific region and bookings into North America.