Airbnb gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that easily surpassed Wall Street’s estimates as the company sees “substantial demand” for travel heading into the busy northern hemisphere summer season after more than two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
“As we lap the beginning of the travel rebound that started last year, we are particularly encouraged by the compounding growth we are seeing in North America,” chief executive officer Brian Chesky wrote in a letter to shareholders. That vision was threatened earlier this year with the resurgent omicron COVID-19 variant and the break out of war in Ukraine, yet industry executives have remained unfailingly optimistic.
Despite reporting results that were in line with analysts’ estimates, Expedia shares fell 17 per cent, the most since March 2020 as concern about inflation, which is running at its hottest in nearly four decades, and the risk for recession begins to cloud the vision.Travel companies from hotels to airlines have been saying consumers are willing to pay the rising prices so far, but there appears to be a limit.
“So far from what I can tell, you’re still seeing improvements versus 2019 levels across European and US geographies,” Justin Patterson, an analyst with Keybanc Capital Markets, said in an interview before the results were released. “What I can tell today, the demand for travel has not weakened in the US or Europe.”San Francisco-based Airbnb said first-quarter revenue increased 70 per cent to $US1.51 billion, surpassing the average analyst estimate of $US1.45 billion.