By Aishwarya Jain and Doyinsola Oladipo
(Reuters) -Airbnb forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday and announced a new share repurchase program worth $6 billion, sending the vacation rentals company’s shares up 3.4% after the bell.
Growth of nights booked in the U.S. accelerated each month throughout the quarter ended June, driven by a rise in domestic travel, San Francisco-based Airbnb said, adding that it was encouraged by the trend for the current quarter.
Several travel firms, like United Airlines and Wyndham Hotels, saw a recovery in U.S. travel demand after a slowdown in April, when consumers initially pulled back spending due to President Donald Trump’s shifting trade policy.
Airbnb’s average daily rates, or the average cost per night, in North America rose 3% in the quarter, driven by strong demand for higher-priced listings.
This trend is consistent with other travel companies, including hotel operator Marriott, where bookings for upscale properties and premium offerings helped offset weak demand in the budget segment.
Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, ADR in the second quarter increased 1% and was up across all regions, largely due to price appreciation, the company said.
Nights and seats booked, an updated metric which includes the number of services booked on Airbnb’s platform rose 7% in the second quarter, while gross booking value increased 11% to $23.5 billion.
“We had a strong Q2, exceeding expectations across our key metrics,” CEO Brian Chesky said in a statement. The company reported quarterly revenue of $3.10 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $3.04 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Airbnb expects third quarter revenue between $4.02 billion to $4.10 billion, the midpoint of which was higher than analysts’ average estimate of $4.05 billion.
However, the company cautioned that despite stronger night bookings in North America, growth could moderate given tougher year-over-year comparisons in the third and fourth quarters.
It expects the implied take rate, or the ratio of revenue to gross bookings, to remain flat in the third quarter.
The travel company posted a per-share profit of $1.03, compared with Wall Street estimates of 93 cents.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Leroy Leo)
