Shares in holiday rental and home-sharing giant, Airbnb, fell up to 10% in extended trading this week despite reporting first-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates.
The US company reported a 20% revenue increase year-over-year, bringing in a net profit of $177m, from a net loss of $19m for the same period the previous year.
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Despite a fall in share price, the financial results mark the first time Airbnb has been profitable during a first financial quarter.
Just over 121m nights and experiences were hosted by Airbnb in the first quarter, marking a 19% increase year-on-year, StreetAccount reported.
However, in its shareholder letter, Airbnb warned that the second-quarter will be a tougher period for rentals.
“Nights and Experiences Booked will have unfavourable year-over-year comparisons in Q2 2023 as we overlap pent-up 2022 demand following the COVID Omicron variant,” according to Airbnb.
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By GlobalDataAirbnb has forecast second-quarter revenue somewhere between $2.35bn and $2.45bn.
The company said it will be focusing on three “strategic priorities” going forward.
Airbnb wants to make hosting on the platform as attractive as travel, continue to provide affordable rental opportunities and increase its visibility in international markets.
The company added that more customers are returning to major cities for longer stays.
Speaking about future advancements on a quarterly investors call, Airbnb said that customers should expect to see “big changes” on the platform.
Over the next year, the company plans to incorporate artificial intelligence features into its service, including the popular GPT-4.
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