Airbnb revenue climbed 300% year-over-year for the second quarter of 2021 and surpassed Q2 2019 figures by 10%.
Reporting its Q2 2021 financial results, the home-share giant posted revenue of $1.3 billion for the quarter, significantly exceeding Q2 2020 revenue of $335 million.
Year-over-two-year revenue growth grew from 5% in Q1 2021 to 10% in Q2 2021. The company attributes the sequential improvement to continued strength in North America, improvement in EMEA and higher average daily rates.
On an adjusted EBITDA basis, Airbnb was profitable: Adjusted EBITDA in Q2 2021 was $217 million compared to a loss of $397 million in Q2 2020 and a loss of $43 million in Q2 2019.
Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16%, an increase of 20% compared to Q2 2019. Airbnb attributes the improvement to the strength of its revenue recovery as well as an improved cost structure.
“Our business dramatically improved with the rollout of vaccines and the easing of some travel restrictions. While conditions aren't yet normal, they are improving. People's desire to travel, combined with our tightly managed expenses, drove a return to a positive top-line growth with materially improved adjusted EBITDA,” Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said in a call with analysts.
“But here’s the most important fact: Our business improved without the recovery of two of our strongest historical segments, urban travel and cross-border travel. We expect the return of urban and cross-border travel to be significant tailwinds over the coming quarters.”
Net loss for the quarter was $68 million, an improvement of $507 million compared to Q2 2020 and $229 million compared to Q2 2019.
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Nights and Experiences booked for the quarter were 83.1 million, up 197% year-over-year and recovering to nearly the same period in 2019.
Gross booking value - defined as nights booked prior to cancellations and alterations – was more than $13 billion for Q2 2021, up 320% year-over-year and up 37% from Q2 2019.
Airbnb says its number of active listings on the platform grew in Q2, with the strongest supply increases in areas with the greatest guest demand. Active listings in non-urban destinations in Europe and North America increased by 8% from Q1 2021 to Q2 2021.
The company attributes the growth to its platform refresh in May of this year that simplified the sign-up process for hosts, as well as a marketing campaign touting the benefits of hosting.
Sales and marketing expense for Q2 2021 increased 175% year-over-year to $315 million. Excluding the impact of stock-based compensation and acquisition-related impacts, sales and marketing expense for the quarter increased by 164% year-over-year to $292 million.
Airbnb says long-term stays, defined as stays of 28 days or more, remained its fastest-growing category by trip length. Overall, nearly 50% of gross nights booked were from stays of at least seven nights in Q2 2021. Short-term stays for the quarter increased almost 40% compared to Q1 2021.
Chesky noted that Airbnb’s flexible date feature, which was introduced alongside more than 100 other platform updates, has had more than 90 million flexible date searches since February. He said guests using the feature converted at a higher rate than those who did not.
Outlook
Although the pandemic creates ongoing uncertainty, Airbnb says it expects Q3 2021 revenue to be its strongest quarterly revenue and record and to deliver the highest adjusted EBITDA dollars and margins ever.
“The world is never going back to the way it was. And that means that travel is never going back to the way it was either,” Chesky said.
“Our single priority in 2021 is to prepare for the coming travel rebound. To do this, we're perfecting the end-to-end experience of our core service. This includes educating the world about hosting, recruiting more hosts, simplifying the guest experience and delivering a world-class service."