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Source: Lifestyle Travel Photo, Shutterstock
Summary
- The pandemic has impacted the financial performance of the company with Airbnb recording a fall in the revenue and net income for Q4 and the whole of 2020.
- However, the company has fared better than its rival companies.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on the travel industry across the world amid the growing number of cases and further implementation of restrictions. US online vacation rental company Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) announced its results for Q4 2020 on 25 February, along with the full-year results for FY 2020.
The company has seen a decline in revenue as well as net income for Q4 2020. However, the decrease in the full year term was smaller than the Q4 numbers.
Highlights
- Revenue: The revenue of the company for the Q4 dived 22 per cent year-over-year to $859 million (Q4 2019: US $1.1 billion) despite the second wave of coronavirus and extended lockdowns around the world. It was mainly because of the resilience demonstrated by Airbnb.
On the other hand, there was a 30 per cent decline in total revenue of US $3.4 billion for full year 2020 in comparison with the previous year (FY 2019: US $4.8 billion).
- Net income: The company recorded GAAP net loss of $3.9 billion in the fourth quarter 2020 in comparison with the same period in the previous year (Q4 2019: $352 million), driven by the charges incurred in association with the company’s IPO.
For the FY2020, Airbnb reported GAAP net loss of $4.6 billion (FY 2019: US $674 million), impacted by the IPO related charges and subsequent increase in the stock price.
- Adjusted EBITDA: The company witnessed a significant improvement in the Adjusted EBITDA for the Q4 compared to the same period in the previous year, despite the company’s revenue being impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The adjusted EBITDA recorded in Q4 2020 was US $21 million (Q4 2019: US $276) million).
For the full year, the company reported the Adjusted EBITDA of US $251 million (FY 2019: US $253 million.
Despite the fact that the travel industry has been devastated by the pandemic, Airbnb has performed better than its competitors as travellers looked for longer than usual getaways, taking advantage of work-from-home opportunities.
Brian Chesky, the co-Founder and CEO of Airbnb, said that the company’s performance for the financial year 2020 has shown that Airbnb is resilient and inherently adaptable. He also added that the travel is returning, and Airbnb is laser-focused on preparing for this rebound.
Airbnb is investing in customer service and is planning to simplify the experiences of its customers by making the booking easier, Chesky added.
Analysts also remain optimistic that once the US and Europe will observe the wide distribution of a vaccine, revenue is likely to be roaring back, and monthly bookings tend to exceed previous peak levels by the end of 2021.
Copyright © 2021 Kalkine Media Pty Ltd.
NASDAQ debut
The company made an eye-popping debut on the NASDAQ stock market on 10 December 2020. Its public issue was shelved for almost one year due to the pandemic. The online rental business stabilised by the end of 2020, and Airbnb set a record by floating its IPO. The company was originally priced at $68 per share, and the stocks opened at $146 per share, rising by almost 112 per cent on the first day of the trading session.
The shares closed at $144.71 on the first day, valuing the company at more than $100 billion.
Stock performance
The shares of the ABNB last quoted at US $182.06 on 25 February. Though the global rollout of the Covid-19 vaccines has sparked a sense of optimism among businesses, the hurdle has not overcome yet, and the situation remains grim until the economies fully recover.
