By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Airbnb stock (NASDAQ:ABNB) traded 3.5% higher in premarket Wednesday as the home rental company’s fourth quarter results reinforced the trend it has been observing the last few months; that guests are staying longer and willing to spend more on average.
The shift to longer stays was fueled by the pandemic as guests looked to travel but not too far from home. That change is getting entrenched as more companies permit remote work.
“. . .people are spreading out to thousands of towns and cities, staying for weeks, months, or even entire seasons at a time,” Airbnb said in a letter to shareholders, while also pointing out that guests are now returning to cities.
Revenue in the fourth quarter grew 78% to $1.5 billion, easily beating 2019 levels. Annual revenue hit $6 billion, making Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky call it “the best year in our company’s history.”
Almost half of the number of nights booked in the fourth quarter were for stays of a week or longer, and one in five nights were for stays of a month or more, the company said.
Nights and experiences booked jumped 59% to exceed 73 million. A higher number of bookings along with better pricing led to gross booking value crossing $11 billion, up 91%.
The company swung back to a net profit of $55 million in the fourth quarter from a loss of $352 million a year ago.
Airbnb now expects the number of nights and experiences booked in the first quarter to “significantly exceed” the first-quarter levels of 2019. Current-quarter revenue is expected to be around $1.45 billion.