Airbnb released its financial results for the fourth quarter after the closing bell Thursday, its first as a publicly traded entity, according to a Yahoo Finance report on Friday.
Airbnb reported revenue of nearly $860 million for the quarter, beating estimates, but still representing a 22% year-over-year loss. It declined to offer a forecast for 2021 profit and revenue.
The home rental platform lost less money than analysts had projected, but still shed almost $4 billion in the fourth quarter, with gross booking value of nearly $6 billion.
"Our performance in 2020 showed that Airbnb is inherently adaptable," RTL News quoted Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky as saying in an earnings release. "Travel is coming back and we're laser-focused on preparing for the travel rebound," he said.
Airbnb, whose business was initially crippled by lockdowns, prevented further damage through an unexpected pickup in domestic travel. Yearly revenue was down, but not as much as Wall Street had anticipated, as scores of people turned to the platform to plan nearby excursions.
In a letter to shareholders Thursday, the hospitality startup said last year demonstrated the company's "resilience." The letter struck a positive tone that travel would normalize and Airbnb would be ready when it did.
Since the pandemic broke out, the San Francisco-based company has turned its attention on mountain destinations and beach towns, places where the risk of acquiring the virus is perceived to be lower. Airbnb expects rentals in major cities to come back last.
Despite years of losses, Airbnb generated big expectations from investors, which led to a successful debut on the stock market in December, when the startup's shares more than doubled its target price and gave it a market cap of just over $100 billion. At $3.7 billion, it was the largest U.S. IPO last year, Renaissance Capital said.
Meanwhile, majority of analysts who cover the Airbnb's stock (ABNB) have a Hold rating, while 13 recommend it as a Buy and three gave it a Sell.
