Airbnb reports better-than-expected revenue and beats on guidance

Airbnb reported better-than-expected revenue for the fourth quarter on Tuesday and issued an optimistic forecast for the current period. The stock fell more than 4% in extended trading.

Here’s how the company did:

• Loss per share: 55 cents. It’s not immediately clear if that’s comparable to the profit estimate of 62 cents, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv
• Revenue: $2.22 billion vs. $2.17 billion expected by analysts, according to LSEG

Revenue climbed 17% from $1.9 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Airbnb posted adjusted earnings of $738 million in the fourth quarter. Analysts were expecting $645 million, according to StreetAccount.

Airbnb reported a net loss of $349 million, or 55 cents a share, compared to net income of $319 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier. Airbnb said its loss included lodging tax reserves and nonrecurring tax withholding expenses of around $1 billion.

The company also announced approval to buy back up to $6 billion of its Class A common stock, according to a release.

In its shareholder letter, Airbnb said the company is at an “inflection point” after spending the past three years upgrading and adding features to its main room-sharing service. Airbnb said it’s investing in more under-penetrated markets abroad in 2024, and that it will share plans to expand beyond its core business later this year.

Airbnb said revenue in the first quarter will be between $2.03 billion and $2.07 billion, while Wall Street was expecting $2.03 billion, according to LSEG. The company said the quarter started out strong, with more than six million guests celebrating the new year in an Airbnb.

Gross booking value, which Airbnb uses to track host earnings, service fees, cleaning fees and taxes, came in at $15.5 billion in the fourth quarter. The company reported 98.8 million…