On Thursday, Airbnb Inc. beats Wall Street’s expectations for first-quarter gross bookings and revenue, as rapid COVID-19 vaccinations and easy restrictions encouraged more people to check out its vacation rental. Gross bookings jumped by 52% with $ 10.29 billion for the quarter, easily beating analysts’ estimate of $ 6.93 billion.
Airbnb said, “For guests aged 60 and above in the U.S., who were amongst the first groups to benefit from vaccine rollouts, searches on our platform for summer travel increased by more than 60% between February and March 2021”.
The San Francisco-based company expects second-quarter revenue to be similar to 2019 levels, stating that the return of urban and cross-border travel is likely to grow during the coming quarters. Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky said on the earnings call that Airbnb is set to benefit from a longer stay demand and a change by business travelers to travel in the traveling groups.
The company has faced the epidemic better than rivals as people have tended to offer larger locations away from major cities in an era of social distance. In February, the UK registered an increase in bookings after the government completed plans to exit the lockdown while easing travel restrictions in France earlier this month also increased demand.
However, Airbnb said it was too early to predict whether the pace of recovery would continue at the same pace in the second half of 2021. Its revenue grew by 5.4% to $ 886.9 million in the first quarter ended March 31, up from $ 714.4 million, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Adjusted losses before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization were limited to $ 59 million, up from $ 334 million a year earlier, largely due to cost reductions.
Source: Reuters
