Skift Take
The moderation in Airbnb’s growth in the second quarter, which ended June 30, is obviously not because stock markets have nosedived in the past week. It’s tough to keep a company growing at a rapid clip at scale.
A year ago, in the second quarter of 2023, Airbnb could boast 18% revenue growth. Its gross booking value climbed 13%, and room nights and experiences jumped 11%.
Results for this year’s second quarter, announced Tuesday, showed slowing in several key areas — and its outlook for the third quarter represents more of the same.
Consider that:
- Airbnb said that in the third quarter, it expects a “sequential moderation” in year-over-year nights and experiences booked compared with the 9% growth in the second quarter.
- While Latin America and Asia Pacific are Airbnb’s “fastest growing regions,” the company forecasts that guests are making bookings with shorter lead times, and it is seeing “some signs of slowing demand from U.S. guests.” Booking Holdings also reported seeing shorter booking windows. Booking’s second quarter room night growth was 7%.
- While the growth of long-term stays was a standout for Airbnb during and after the pandemic, the company reported Tuesday that “growth in short-term stays and entire homes outpaced long-term stays and Airbnb rooms, respectively.”
- For its third quarter outlook, Airbnb expects its adjusted EBITDA to roughly equal the second quarter, but its adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to decline from a year ago. The company previously reported that its marketing expenses would climb in the second half of this year because it is investing in new markets where it sees growth potential.
- Adjusted EBITDA climbed 9% in the second quarter of 2024 compared with a heartier 15% growth clip a year earlier.
- In Q2 2023, Airbnb’s net income grew 71% to $650 million while in the second quarter of 2024 Airbnb’s net income fell 14% to $555 million. The company attributed the drop to a jump in income taxes.
Still, the company pointed to many positives during the second quarter. For example, its number of active listings jumped to 8 million — from more than 7 million a year earlier — despite erasing 200,000 listings since April because of quality issues.
Airbnb points to its rollout of Airbnb Icons as improving the positioning of the Airbnb brand, and helping in expansion beyond its core home-sharing business. Icons has attracted nearly 40 million views and more than 850 million social media impressions since its its introduction in May, the company said.
Airbnb said nights booked during the Paris Olympics in the second quarter were more than twice the nights booked a year earlier.
“While the impact of a single city for a limited duration is relatively small compared to the total nights booked in a region, we believe Airbnb is crucial for accommodating the increased influx of visitors in cities during special events, providing varied and affordable lodging options and supporting the overall economic growth of the city,” Airbnb’s second quarter shareholder letter said.
