Airbnb reports $3.89 billion loss in first quarterly report since IPO, but beats revenue expectations
Brian Chesky, chief executive officer and co-founder of Airbnb Inc., speaks during an Economic Club of New York luncheon at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, March 13, 2017.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Short-term rental booking company Airbnb’s stock rose more than 4% in after-hours trading on Thursday despite growing losses and a decline in revenue and bookings after the company reported its fourth-quarter earnings.
Here’s what they reported:
- Revenue: $859 million vs. $748 million forecast by Refinitiv
- Loss per share: $11.24
CNBC does not compare reported earnings to Wall Street estimates for a company’s first report as a public company, as uncertain share counts can skew expectations.
The company posted a net loss of $3.89 billion in the fourth quarter. That was down 1,005% from a loss of $352 million a year prior. Airbnb attributed much of the loss to charges related to the company’s initial public offering in December.
Revenue fell to $859 million, down 22% year-over-year from $1.11 billion. Fourth quarter revenue was also down nearly 36% from $1.34 billion in the third quarter.
The company also announced that it is expecting the year-over-year decline in first-quarter revenue will be less than that of the decline the company saw in the fourth quarter. Airbnb said it anticipates that year-over-year comparisons for gross booking value and nights and experiences booked in the first quarter will be higher than those a year prior but lower than the first quarter of 2019.
The company said it continues “to have limited visibility for growth trends in 2021 given the difficulty in determining the pace of vaccine roll-outs and the related impact on willingness to travel.”
Airbnb counted 46.3 million nights and experiences booked in the fourth quarter, down 39% year-over-year. That figure was down 25% from the 61.8 million nights and experiences booked in the third quarter.
Gross booking value was $5.9 billion, down 31% year-over-year. Gross booking value was also down more than 26% from $8 billion in the third quarter.
Thursday’s earnings report is Airbnb’s first since the company went public in December.
