Airbnb beats Q1 earnings expectations amid early signs of post-pandemic travel boom

• Airbnb on Thursday reported $886.93 million in Q1 revenue, beating Wall Street expectations.
• Airbnb reported $10.28 billion in gross bookings, signaling travel is starting to make a comeback.
• AIrbnb had a rollercoaster year in 2020, between the pandemic and a tumultuous IPO.

Airbnb announced its first-quarter earnings Thursday, beating Wall Street's expectations for earnings but missing widely on losses as the company sees early signs of a post-pandemic travel boom.

Airbnb brought in $886.93 million in revenue for the quarter versus $719.8 million expected by analysts, up 5% from the same quarter in 2020.

The company reported gross bookings of $10.28 billion, up 52% from the same quarter last year - but still down 21% from the same quarter in 2019, showing how far travel is from returning to pre-pandemic levels.

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"The pace of recovery in Q1 and in Q2 to date has exceeded our internal expectations from when we entered 2021. However, it remains too early to predict if the recovery will continue at the same pace in the second half of 2021," Airbnb said in a statement.

Airbnb attributed its losses largely to repayments of debts incurred from significant loans it took on at the beginning of the pandemic, as well as $113 million in costs related to a lease for office space in San Francisco it "deemed no longer necessary."

Airbnb also reported a surge in average gross booking value per night to $160, up 35% year-over-year in a sign that hosts are charging higher rates.

Here's what Airbnb reported, compared to what analysts expected, according to Bloomberg.

• Total revenue: $886.93 million, up 5% year-over-year ($719.8 million expected)
• Net losses: $1.17 billion ($361.3 million expected)
  • Non-GAAP losses: $59 million
• Gross bookings: $10.28 billion, up 52% year-over-year
  • Booked nights: 64.4 million, up 13% year-over-year
• Losses per share: $1.95 per share, ($1.10 expected)

Airbnb endured a rollercoaster last year, with the pandemic halting nearly all travel and causing its private valuation to reportedly plummet nearly 50% to $18 billion in April 2020.

Yet when the company went public in December, its shares soared 113% above its opening price, sending its valuation north of $100 billion in a frenzy some analysts said signaled an unsustainable optimism in the markets.

Airbnb then surpassed analyst expectations in its first-ever quarterly earnings report, saying it brought in $859 million in Q4.

Airbnb has navigated the pandemic better than its rivals, and CEO Brian Chesky has earned praise for his bets on how travel could change as a result of the pandemic, but the company's future still depends on many forces beyond its control.