Airbnb Tops Revenue Estimates at $4.9 Billion as Nights and Seats Booked Rise 16%

Airbnb (Nasdaq: ABNB) reported third-quarter revenue of $4.9 billion, above the $4.75 billion analysts expected, and up 19% from a year earlier, in an 8-K filed Thursday. The release did not report earnings per share. It reported net income of $1.9 billion, a 39% margin, compared with a 34% margin a year earlier.

Bookings and margins

Nights and Seats Booked rose 16% year over year to 155.0 million, and gross booking value reached $27.7 billion, up 21%. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.5 billion, up 22%, with a 52% margin compared with 50% a year earlier. The implied take rate fell to 17.6% from the prior year, which the company attributed mainly to the expansion of Reserve Now, Pay Later and, to a lesser extent, higher contra revenue.

Outlook raised

Airbnb said it now expects full-year 2026 revenue growth in the high teens and an Adjusted EBITDA Margin of approximately 36%. For the fourth quarter, it expects revenue of $3.22 billion to $3.28 billion, or 16% to 18% growth, including an approximate two-point currency tailwind. Analysts expected fourth-quarter revenue of $3.16 billion and full-year revenue of $14.18 billion.

Capital return

Airbnb repurchased $0.7 billion of Class A common stock in the quarter. It also announced a new share repurchase program authorizing up to an additional $12 billion. As of Sept. 30, the company had $2.7 billion remaining under its prior authorization. The company also entered into a new five-year $1.0 billion revolving credit facility on Oct. 30.

The company said it held $12.6 billion of cash, short-term investments and restricted cash as of Sept. 30. Free cash flow was $1.4 billion, or a 29% margin, for the quarter.