Airbnb Stock Plummets by 14 Percent in After-Hours Trading After Disappointing Second-Quarter Earnings Reveal Slowing US Demand

On Tuesday evening, Airbnb experienced a dramatic 14 percent drop in its stock value during after-hours trading.

This slump followed the release of the company’s second-quarter earnings report, which revealed some troubling signs for the vacation rental powerhouse.

Airbnb’s once-bustling growth appears to be stalling as the company reports “signs of slowing demand” from its US customer base.

It seems that many travelers are now opting for traditional hotels and motels instead of Airbnb’s offerings.

The company’s earnings per share came in at 86 cents, falling short of the anticipated 92 cents. Although revenue did see an 11 percent increase year-over-year, Airbnb’s net income took a hit, dropping to $555 million—a significant 15 percent decrease from the $650 million reported in the same quarter last year.

Airbnb has acknowledged a potential shift in travel preferences, with indications of decreasing demand from US customers.

The company pointed out that booking lead times are shortening globally and noted some signs of this changing trend.

However, it’s not all bad news; Airbnb reported a record 125.1 million “Nights and Experiences” booked in the second quarter, marking their highest result for that period. Growth was observed across all regions, with Asia Pacific and Latin America showing particularly strong performance.

To address quality concerns, Airbnb has removed over 200,000 “low-quality listings” since the introduction of its new quality system last year.

The company is facing increased competition as more Americans return to traditional hotels, driven by incidents of renters installing surveillance cameras and enforcing strict rules.

Reflections from Airbnb’s CEO

In 2020, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky made a bold statement, suggesting that “Travel as we knew it is over and it’s never coming back” due to the pandemic.

Chesky, who co-founded Airbnb in 2008, anticipated a shift in travel patterns towards more local communities rather than a few major cities. He also reflected on the impact of the pandemic, noting that Airbnb lost nearly all of its business within weeks but managed to recover, with the same volume of US bookings in May and early June as the previous year without any marketing efforts.

Cost Comparisons and Market Perception

Recent studies have cast doubt on the cost-effectiveness of private holiday rentals through platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo. The research suggests that these rentals can be up to 19 percent more expensive than hotels.

In fact, one-bed listings on Airbnb and Vrbo often surpass the average cost of a hotel room in 38 out of 50 destinations worldwide, excluding five-star hotels.