Reservations are growing, income is growing, and demand remains strong after the pandemic. The tourist rental giant Airbnb earned 4,800 million dollars, about 4,481 million euros, in 2023, 152% more. Billing grew to 9.9 billion, 18% higher. With this base it intends a “reinvention” beyond its main business, in which it adds more services and artificial intelligence.
The company has exceeded analyst expectations despite facing tougher regulations in key cities such as New York last year. Gross reserves rose 16%, to 73.3 billion dollars, about 68.5 billion euros. Airbnb has more listings than ever, with 7.7 million accommodations offered, 18% more year-on-year.
The year, in accounting terms, did not end so well. In the last quarter of the year the company lost 349 million dollars, about 326 million euros, due to the impact of 1,000 million of a dispute in Italy over the payment of taxes between 2017 and 2021. Without this, it says that the profit would be of 489 million.
In November, the company warned that economic and geopolitical uncertainty was leading to “greater volatility,” but reserves finally accelerated in the remainder of the year. Tourists are still eager to travel after the nightmare of the pandemic. And despite the higher prices for both flights and accommodations. In the fourth quarter it entered 2,220 million, 17% more and above analysts’ forecasts. Reserves rose 12%, with a gross volume of 15.5 billion, again better than expected.
Its forecast range for the start of the year is in line with what Wall Street analysts expect, and even somewhat above. It plans to earn about 2,000 million dollars, about 1,870 million euros. The first quarter will have the boost of Easter, which falls in March this year and reservations will weigh in the first three months. But it will be more moderate than the fourth quarter… This mixed sign led the stock to soar as much as 11% after the market closed, only to turn around and fall 4%.
CEO Brian Chesky said the company has been “perfecting” the business for years, with more price transparency, curbing excessive cleaning fees charged to hosts and reducing cancellations.
The company said it is at an “inflection point,” an idea it has shared before. Chesky sees it ready to “expand beyond our core business and reinvent Airbnb.” A “gradual multi-year journey” about which it will give more clues later this year, although it dropped that they would incorporate artificial intelligence and third-party services to allow more personalized trips and a better interface for hosts.
Now it focuses on Germany, Brazil, South Korea, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands. It operates in 220 countries, but it does not have the same penetration in all of them. Knowing this, the company has been working to adapt its application to local markets, something that is beginning to bear fruit beyond the US. In Brazil, for example, reserved nights are doubling over pre-pandemic levels. In the Asia-Pacific region they grew by 22% in the fourth quarter, a level similar to that of Latin America. In the latter, reserves double the pre-covid figures.
One of the highlights of the year will be the Olympic Games in Paris. The platform already sees “growth in both supply and demand,” with figures doubling last year’s for the summer.
