The short-term rental company reported second-quarter results on Thursday, and the numbers were strong. Revenue rose 17% to $3.6bn. Net income was $816m, or $1.37 a share, up from $1.03 a year earlier.
Gross booking value reached $27.2bn, and guests booked 148.3 million nights and seats, up 10%. All of it came in ahead of Wall Street.
The stock jumped about 10% in after-hours trading. Airbnb also raised its full-year outlook for a second time in 2026. It now expects revenue growth of “at least mid teens”, up from “low to mid teens”. Growth sped up not only in newer markets but in core ones, the US, France, the UK and Australia.
The AI pitch
What set the letter apart was its framing. It said Airbnb had rebuilt itself “from the ground up to be an AI-native company”. On the earnings call, chief executive Brian Chesky went further. He told analysts that “AI is the best thing to ever happen to Airbnb”.
