What happened
Investors apparently didn't expect much from Airbnb's (ABNB -3.18%) Q4 results on Thursday. During market hours, they pushed the stock's price lower by over 9%. But after those figures were released following market close, the shares were rising by nearly 3%.
So what
In its first earnings release as a publicly traded company, Airbnb revealed that it took in revenue of $859 million. That was a queasy 22% drop from the same period one year ago, but it was far higher than the average analyst estimate of just under $740 million.
Image source: Getty Images.
On the bottom line, the do-it-yourself (DIY) accommodations platform operator booked a net loss of $3.9 billion, which was narrower than the $4.6 billion shortfall from the year-ago quarter. It was, however, deeper than the roughly $3.1 billion expected by prognosticators following the stock.
Airbnb's top line was higher than the company expected. In its observation, "Travel is coming back and we are laser-focused on preparing for the travel rebound." It also pointed out that the net loss was deeply affected by $2.8 billion in a non-cash, stock-based compensation charge stemming from the company's IPO.
Now what
People are indeed hungry to get away and they're doing so propelled by two strong tailwinds -- the desire to escape stay-at-home situations engendered by the coronavirus pandemic, and a wealth of deals presented by desperate airlines, travel operators, tour operators... really, nearly any business involved in the travel business. Airbnb is effectively harnessing this trend.
