November 5, 2024
Airbnb shares drop 14% on earnings miss as company warns of slowing U.S. demand

Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky speaks at The Fast Company Innovation Festival on September 21, 2022, in New York.

Eugene Gologursky | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

Airbnb shares dropped 14% in after-hours trading after the company reported second-quarter earnings that missed analyst expectations and warned that it’s seeing signs of slowing demand from U.S. customers.

Here’s how the company did compared to LSEG estimates for the quarter ended June 30:

  • Earnings per share: $0.86 versus $0.92 expected.
  • Revenue: $2.75 billion versus $2.74 billion expected.

Revenue increased 11% year-over-year. Airbnb reported a net income of $555 million, or $0.86 per share, down 15% from $650 million, or $0.98 per share, in the year-ago quarter.

The company guided to third-quarter revenue of $3.67 billion to $3.73 billion, but also warned that it expected moderation in year-over-year growth for Nights and Experiences, relative to the current quarter. It also cautioned that it was “seeing shorter booking lead times globally and some signs of slowing demand from U.S. guests.”

Airbnb said users booked 125.1 million Nights and Experiences, its highest second-quarter number ever. “We saw continued growth across all regions compared to Q2 2023, with Asia Pacific and Latin America again leading the way,” it said in its letter to shareholders.

The company also said it had removed more than 200,000 low-quality listings since it launched its “quality system” more than a year ago.

Investors are carefully watching for signs that the consumer is under pressure, as the Federal Reserve continues to hold off on rate cuts. There have been signs from other company’s earnings that the consumer is already feeling pain. McDonalds, for example, warned that consumers were feeling “the pinch” from the economy in its most recent earnings report, which saw same-store sales fall 1%.

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