Airbnb (ABNB) reported its Q4 earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday, beating analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom lines as revenue climbed 78% year-over-year.
The positive report came despite the spread of the Omicron variant during the 2021 holiday season, which saw residents in some parts of the world retreating back into their homes.
Here are the most important numbers from the report compared to what Wall Street was expecting from Airbnb.
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Revenue: $1.53 billion versus $1.46 billion expected
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Adj. earnings per share: $0.08 versus $0.03 expected
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Gross bookings: $11.3 billion versus $11.09 billion expected
Shares of Airbnb rose 6% following the announcement.
Airbnb, which went public in December 2020, suffered a massive blow to its top and bottom lines at the peak of the pandemic, with bookings value dropping 31% from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020.
Still, the company’s initial projection at the start of the pandemic called for full year 2020 revenue to be less than half of what it was in 2019, and in the end only fell by 30%. That’s likely attributable to consumers looking for ways to get out of their own homes, while still being able to get away and socially distance at the same time.
As for Q4 2021, Airbnb’s bookings not only outpaced Q4 2020, but its pre-pandemic levels in Q4 2019, as well. According to the company’s numbers, bookings value for the quarter were up 91% year-over-year and 32% above Q4 2019 numbers.
Despite the spread of the Omicron variant, Airbnb’s Nights and Experiences bookings were down just 3% compared to Q4 2019. Exclude the Asia Pacific region, which had stricter lockdowns and requires more cross border travel, and those bookings were actually up 8%.
Moving forward into Q1 2022, Airbnb is calling for revenue between $1.41 billion and $1.48 billion. That’s a 69% increase on the low end and a 76% increase on the top end.
Still, over the last 12 months, Airbnb’s stock price was down some 16% to $172.92 as of noon Eastern Time on Tuesday. Booking Holdings (BKNG), parent company of Bookings.com, Priceline, and Kayak, meanwhile, was up 18% to $2,639 per share.
Editor’s note: Consensus estimates for adjusted earnings per share were revised down to $0.03. An earlier version of the article stated that the estimate was $0.07 per share.
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