Airbnb $ABNB posted mixed first-quarter results on Thursday, beating revenue and gross booking value expectations while falling short on profit, and raised its full-year revenue outlook.
The company reported $2.7 billion in revenue, an 18% increase versus the same quarter a year ago. On the bottom line, net income reached $160 million, equivalent to 26 cents per share, compared with $154 million, or 24 cents per share, twelve months prior. Adjusted EBITDA was $519 million, up 24% year-over-year.
Wall Street had penciled in 29 cents per share and $2.62 billion in revenue, per CNBC. The $519 million adjusted EBITDA result also cleared the $485 million consensus estimate.
Gross booking value, which includes host payouts, service charges, cleaning fees, and taxes, rose to $29.2 billion. This was a 19% increase from last year and beat the $27.82 billion analyst estimate. Airbnb booked 156.2 million nights and experiences, up 9% and above the 155.77 million estimate. The company also saw its fastest growth in first-time bookers since 2022, driven by gains in markets like Brazil, Japan, and India.
Looking to the second quarter, Airbnb guided for revenue of $3.54 billion to $3.60 billion, a range that implies 14% to 16% growth and clears the $3.46 billion consensus, per CNBC. The company also upgraded its full-year revenue outlook, replacing a 12% growth target with a broader "low to mid teens" range.
The conflict in the Middle East affected Airbnb’s results, leading to slightly higher cancellation rates among customers in EMEA and Asia Pacific. The company expects this to reduce second-quarter bookings by about 100 basis points. Executives compared this to the travel disruptions caused by tariffs in 2025, when weaker demand in some North American areas was balanced by stronger demand elsewhere, showing that Airbnb can handle regional challenges thanks to its global reach.
The upcoming FIFA World Cup, set across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., represents what Airbnb believes will be its single largest event in terms of guest volume. Since the company began recruiting hosts last October, more than 100,000 properties in those markets have been added to the platform.
AI is becoming more important in Airbnb’s operations. Around 60% of code written by Airbnb engineers now involves AI tools. More than 40% of customer support issues are resolved by the AI assistant without human help, up from about a third in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the company. The cost per booking dropped about 10% year-over-year in the first quarter.