Airbnb shares surge 12% on summer travel outlook

The home-sharing company expects sales of $1.75bn (€1.64bn) to $1.82bn in the three months to the end of March.

Airbnb shares surged by over 12%, the most since 2021, after the company’s sales outlook beat analysts’ estimates, signalling robust travel demand following a record year in 2022.

The home-sharing company expects sales of $1.75bn (€1.64bn) to $1.82bn in the three months to the end of March, easily clearing analysts’ average projections.

Airbnb expects the number of nights booked to grow at close to the same 20% pace of the fourth quarter. 

The company said in its announcement that comparisons of the current quarter with the same period in 2022 are easier due to the impact of the Omicron variant and war in Ukraine that weighed on business at this time last year. 

Shares of Airbnb have rallied more than 57% this year, outpacing fellow online travel giant Expedia and Booking Holdings, the owner of Booking.com, Agoda, and Kayak. TripAdvisor shares also rallied on Wednesday, following a favourable earnings report the day before. 

Bookings boost

European airlines Ryanair and EasyJet have also reported a large increase in summer bookings for this year, helping boost their hard-hit shares in recent weeks. 

Demand is remaining resilient so far this year, with travellers broadly booking trips further in advance, Airbnb chief financial officer Dave Stephenson said on a US call with analysts.

“Those travel-crazy Europeans are booking summer travel earlier this year,” Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney wrote in a research note to clients.

The optimistic outlook followed what was already a robust performance in 2022. Airbnb said it had net income of $1.9bn, marking its first profitable full year. In the fourth quarter, Airbnb reported revenue increased 24% to $1.9bn,  beating the average analyst estimate of $1.86bn. 

Bloomberg. Additional reporting Irish Examiner