Airbnb shares jump 12% after raising revenue forecast amid travel resilience
Airbnb shares rose nearly 12% in premarket trading on Friday after the company raised its full-year revenue growth forecast to high teens. The upbeat outlook contrasts with caution from rivals citing higher airfares due to the Iran war and European unrest.
Shares in Airbnb jumped nearly 12 per cent in premarket trading on Friday after the vacation-rental firm raised its full-year revenue growth forecast, betting on resilient global leisure travel demand, according to a Reuters report.
The upbeat outlook contrasted with recent commentary from other online travel agencies such as Booking Holdings, Expedia Group and TripAdvisor, which have pointed to challenges from higher airfares linked to the Iran war and unrest in parts of Europe.
Airbnb now expects annual revenue growth in the “high teens”, compared with “at least mid-teens” forecast earlier. “We’re back in growth mode,” chief executive Brian Chesky said on a post-earnings call on Thursday, pointing to accelerating demand across regions and continued momentum in newer markets.
Globally, nights and seats booked – a metric that includes both room stays and service bookings – rose 16 per cent to 155 million in the third quarter. “Growth was broad-based, with all major regions posting faster bookings growth and first-time bookers reaching their strongest pace in several years,” Jefferies equity analyst John Colantuoni said in a note.
Chesky noted hotel bookings accelerated during the quarter and that hotels were growing “markedly faster” than its core home-rental business. The company is also developing an AI-powered travel agent to help guests plan and book trips.
“We think AI agents will gravitate to Airbnb’s credible, cost-saving aggregation, booking, payment, and service attributes at favourable economics compared with traditional Google searches,” said Dan Wasiolek, senior equity analyst at Morningstar. “Airbnb’s platform will remain relevant as independent suppliers (100% of room nights) lack these benefits.”
Airbnb has a 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, compared with Booking’s 18.31 and Expedia’s 15.97, according to LSEG data.