VACATION home rental company Airbnb narrowly beat estimates for third-quarter revenue on Thursday (Nov 7), helped by strong growth in its Asia-Pacific and Latin American markets, sending its shares soaring as much as 15 per cent in volatile after-hours trading.
The travel company, which has been investing heavily to bolster its presence globally, said the average growth rate of nights booked on an origin basis in expansion markets was double that of its core markets in the third quarter.
Nights and experiences booked increased 8 per cent to 122.8 million from a year earlier, led by growth of 19 per cent in Asia-Pacific and 15 per cent in Latin America.
The company posted a third-quarter gross booking value of US$20.1 billion and revenue of US$3.73 billion, both up 10 per cent, compared with a year earlier. Analysts expected quarterly revenue to come in at US$3.72 billion.
In the fourth quarter, the company expects revenue of between US$2.39 billion and US$2.44 billion, or a rise of 8 to 10 per cent from a year earlier.
Airbnb said it is expecting fourth-quarter nights booked to be higher on a year over year basis.
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However, the San Francisco-based company said the core profit margin in the quarter was expected to decline due to higher marketing and product development expenses.
It also expects the average daily rate (ADR), or average cost per night, in the current quarter to increase modestly, compared with a year earlier. Global third-quarter rates came in at US$164, up 1 per cent from the prior year.
It reported a profit of US$2.13 per share for the quarter that ended Sep 30. Its year-earlier profit of US$6.63 included one-time income tax-related benefits.
The company’s implied take rate was flat at 18.6 per cent, as the revenue generated by the additional service fee amount for cross-currency bookings was offset by investments in customer service. REUTERS
