Airbnb second quarter 2021 financial results

We are issuing Airbnb’s second quarter 2021 financial results. You can read the details here. Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky said:

“We’re proud of our strong results this quarter, which again surpassed 2019 revenue levels. Travel is different than before, and because of our adaptable business model and continued product innovation to meet the changing needs of our guests, Airbnb is leading the travel rebound.”

Q2 2021 financial results

When travel came to a standstill last year, our business was significantly impacted. Given the unprecedented impact on our operating results in Q2 2020, we’ve included comparisons to Q2 2019 in this letter to provide a more useful picture of our recovery in Q2 2021. With more people vaccinated and certain travel restrictions lifted, global demand and supply increased in Q2, driving up revenue even higher than comparable 2019 levels. Here is a snapshot of our Q2 2021 results:   

• Q2 2021 revenue increased nearly 300% year-over-year and exceeded Q2 2019 by 10%. Revenue of $1.3 billion in Q2 2021 significantly exceeded Q2 2020 revenue of $335 million (when the business was impacted by the initial spread of COVID). More significantly, year-over-two-year revenue growth accelerated from 5% in Q1 2021 to 10% in Q2 2021. The sequential improvement reflects continued strength in North America, improvement in EMEA and higher Average Daily Rates (“ADR”).

• Net loss was significantly lower year-over-year and compared to Q2 2019. Net loss in Q2 2021 was $68 million, an improvement of $507 million compared to Q2 2020 and $229 million compared to Q2 2019. 

• Profitable on an Adjusted EBITDA Basis in Q2 2021. Adjusted EBITDA in Q2 2021 was $217 million, which had substantially improved from $(397) million in Q2 2020 and $(43) million in Q2 2019. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 16%, an increase of 20% (or 2000 bps) compared to Q2 2019. This substantial improvement in Adjusted EBITDA demonstrates the strength of our revenue recovery, as well as a significantly improved cost structure*.  

Business highlights

• The travel rebound is upon us. As vaccinations rise and restrictions ease, more people are traveling. We saw strong demand for bookings in Q2, achieving the highest gross nights booked (defined as nights booked prior to cancellations and alterations) of any quarter in our history. Guests from countries with high vaccination rates, including the U.S. and parts of Europe, are driving the travel recovery. 

• Travelers are once again crossing borders and visiting cities. We’re beginning to see a rebound in the types of travel that were most impacted by the pandemic. For example, gross nights booked for cross-border travel within Europe were higher in June 2021 than in June 2019. And travel is returning to some major cities, with gross nights booked to cities such as Istanbul, Las Vegas and Sao Paulo recovering to pre-pandemic levels by the end of June. Travel to high-density urban areas increased in Q2 from Q1 2021, and in the US, searches for stays in high-density urban areas almost doubled in June 2021 compared to January 2021. High-density urban areas represented over 40% of our gross nights booked in Q2 2021.

• The way people travel and live continues to change. Even as pre-pandemic types of travel rebound, we believe many new booking trends are here to stay, including stays outside of top destinations and long-term stays. Both types of bookings grew significantly faster than total gross nights booked in Q2 2021. Our top 10 cities represented 7% of revenue before adjustments for incentives and refunds in Q2 2021, down from 14% in Q2 2019. And long-term stays (defined as stays of at least 28 nights) remained our fastest-growing category by trip length. Airbnb survey data indicates that people plan to continue to travel and live this way, with 81% of our long-term stay guests in Q2 2021 saying they plan to book another long-term stay in the coming year**. 

• Our product innovation supports the new ways people travel. Many people now have greater freedom around where and when they travel, and we’ve improved our product to better meet their needs. In February, we launched a Flexible Dates feature to support guests who have more flexibility around when they travel. We’ve already seen more than 500 million searches with dates that are flexible. In Q2, we announced our Flexible Matching and Flexible Destinations tools to inspire guests to explore more diverse listings and new destinations. We’re seeing strong demand for these tools, with over 40% of searchers showing flexibility in either their dates or locations in June.

• We have more listings than ever. After remaining stable throughout the pandemic, the number of active listings grew in Q2. We’re seeing the strongest supply increases in the areas with the greatest guest demand. Active listings in non-urban destinations in Europe and North America increased 8% from Q1 2021 to Q2 2021. We helped drive this growth through a simplified sign-up process for new Hosts and a marketing campaign to highlight the benefits of hosting. While it’s still early, the supply growth we’re seeing shows these initiatives are having a positive impact. 

*A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measures is provided at the end of this letter.

**Data collected July 12–14, 2021 from 542 English-speaking guests staying 1-6 months on Airbnb during Q2 2021 and weighted to represent the broader population.