How Markets Learned the Language of Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky

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How Markets Learned the Language of Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky

Airbnb Inc. gained a substantial 6% in extended trading and surpassed Wall Street’s average estimates as per the company’s current quarter report. This gain has become possible due to a surge in travel bookings that have faced enormous restrictions in the past two years. The revenue of Q2 is estimated at $2.03B to $2.13B, which exceeds an average prediction of $1.97B. As per reports, Airbnb’s revenue in the past quarter has been a great one that helped the brand recover the net loss resulting from the pandemic as people decided to stay indoors. 

According to the CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, this year will help rebound the losses incurred due to the pandemic. He is particularly hopeful about the ease of travel ensured in North America as it will help compound the growth as the brand envisions it to be. Brian informed his shareholders that in the domestic market in North America, travel bookings have surpassed the expectations of internal estimations and the same is now expected with International bookings. In fact, the fourth quarter notices a historical spike in Booking, which is telling of a further rise globally as summer hits in.

It is the sweet summer; it seems as Airbnb and its competitors, including Expedia and Booking, too cited similar expectations pointing at summer travel plans. The travel industry is going to have a great ride internationally, with not only countries easing International travel but top tourist destinations doing their best to recover their dim glory. It seems hopeful as businesses outgrow the threats of the Omicron variant and the new Russia-Ukraine war.

It is a very encouraging turn as people worldwide are all gearing up for their travel plans. This positive outlook has encouraged Airlines Holdings Inc to increase its transatlantic flight capacity. On that plain of positivity, Southwest Airlines Co. expects to remain profitable for the remaining three quarters of the year despite oil knocking the roof at $100 a barrel. According to the CEO of Expedia, Peter Kern, it is going to be a great summer recovery, as already evident in the Monday, May 2, 2022, earnings report showing a Q1 jump of 80% in revenue.

Although Expedia enjoyed a comparable spike as per predictions, Expedia share value dropped by 17%. This is starkly noticeable as the fall has been steep since March 2020. Analysts attribute this fall to inflation and the looming postulation of recession. The pandemic has triggered fear, and an awkward situation among hotels and airlines informs that despite travelers wanting to afoot the price rise, there’s an invisible withholding. The case of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. substantiates the withholding as its profit forecast disappointed market analysts. With the stock value of Hilton and Expedia going down, Booking reported a fall of 4%. In Airbnb’s turn, a dip of 5%, i.e., $145 in closing, recuperated in extended trading at a high of $157. 

For Airbnb, 2021 has been the best in its history despite the rough patches of the pandemic. This redefined outlook of Airbnb has encouraged Brian to give employee satisfaction a whole new shift. In his new rule for the employees, he gifts flexibility to remote work to all his employees by staying connected through superior technology and collectively working for business growth. Brian’s vision encapsulates the wellbeing of travelers and his employees in one breath. 

With a 70% growth in Q1, Airbnb travel renting company in San Francisco reported $1.51B, exceeding a conservative $1.45B. The net loss declared by the travel renting company is $19M compared to $1.2B a year ago, which is a loss of 3 cents against 29 cents per share.

On May 3, 2022, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky tweeted how Airbnb’s new feat has been achieved through 102M bookings at $1.5B revenue (70% Y/Y), a net loss of $19M net loss, an EBITDA of $229M, and $1.2B in cash flow. He says that the business dropped 80% two years ago, IPO was put on hold, and some didn’t think we’d make it. 

Brian Chesky further explained how Airbnb pivoted to success during the pandemic!

  1. prioritized the hosts
  2. cut many projects
  3. shuttered business units
  4. decreased merchant fees & server cost
  5. stopped performance marketing
  6. shifted focus to PR with 1M+ stories
  7. reduced marketing spend from 34% to 20% of revenue
  8. made 150+ upgrades & improvements,
  9. launched the “I’m Flexible” feature used 2B times, &
  10. laid off a considerable no. of employees.

With all the above executed to effect, in January 2022, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky announced starting to live on Airbnbs. As per a media note by Airbnb, “Starting his week in Atlanta, Brian will stay in people’s homes in new towns or cities every few weeks and return to San Francisco in the same way that many remote workers return regularly to the cities where they work to collaborate with colleagues.” 



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