Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials HomeNewsE-Commerce SolutionsAirbnb jumps after raising its 2026 revenue outlook againThe short-term rental company is projecting that momentum will continue into the third quarterAuthor of the article:Last updated 3 hours ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.A pioneer in letting hosts rent out their homes, Airbnb has been working to reimagine itself as an all-in-one platform. Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty ImagesAirbnb Inc. shares jumped by the most in 16 months after the company boosted its annual revenue forecast for a second time this year, citing robust demand in the United States and Europe.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThe short-term rental company said Thursday that it now sees annual revenue growth improving by a percentage of “at least mid teens” from the prior “low- to mid-teens” guidance it provided in May. Analysts, on average, expected a 14 per cent jump, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Airbnb also boosted its full-year margin forecast for adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to “at least 35.5 per cent” from at least 35 per cent.“The uplift in revenue growth and margin reflects the strong demand on our platform, benefits from investments we’ve made in talent, technology and marketing as well as strong execution across our product road map,” the company said in a letter to shareholders.Breaking business news, incisive views, must-reads and market signals. Weekdays by 9 a.m.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Posthaste will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe shares climbed as much as 14 per cent to US$173.34 on Friday after trading got underway in New York, their biggest intraday gain since April 9, 2025.Airbnb’s optimistic outlook suggests that travel demand remains healthy. The company, a pioneer in letting hosts rent out their homes, has been working to reimagine itself as an all-in-one platform that also offers hotels, tours, local activities and add-on services such as grocery stocking and in-home beauty appointments. Travel peers Expedia Group Inc. and Booking Holdings Inc. also signalled confidence in the travel market when they posted their latest earnings reports this week.In the second quarter, overall nights and seats booked jumped 10 per cent to 148.3 million, topping analyst estimates. North America saw the highest growth in nearly three years, Airbnb said, adding that other core markets like France, the United Kingdom and Australia also grew at a faster pace.The company is projecting that the momentum will continue in the third quarter. The key metric of nights and seats booked will grow in the low double digits, ahead of the 8.2 per cent gain that Wall Street was expecting.Airbnb has been offering rooms at boutique hotels in markets where short-term rentals are tightly regulated since late last year. Chief executive Brian Chesky told analysts on a call Thursday that the push has since expanded more broadly to cities that aren’t necessarily restricted, as it has proven popular and effective in converting some hotel bookers into returning customers who also rent homes.Airbnb now has thousands of these hotels in more than 20 destinations, including New York, Paris, London, Madrid, Rome and Singapore, it said in the statement. As part of its nascent services business, Airbnb has also begun selling resort passes to give guests access to amenities at hotels, it said.Hotels still represent a single-digit percentage of nights booked, it said, but growth has far outpaced its core homes business by about three times.Later this year, Airbnb will begin rolling out new in-app features involving artificial intelligence and personalization, Chesky said on the earnings call.Those include a home comparison tool available to guests before making a reservation, as well as AI voice customer support on phone calls, he said. The company’s text-based AI support agent, which is available in more than 50 languages, has already helped reduce support costs per booking by about 16 per cent from a year ago, he said.The company will also start testing a new AI search toggle on the homepage this month, Chesky added.The new search will allow natural-language input and respond conversationally, similar to a chatbot experience, while also including visual elements of home listings with personalized, AI-generated titles.Chesky said responses from the AI search are “hopefully less chatty” with “fewer words because we think travel is more visual, very, very personalized.” He added that he hopes the experience will result in “much higher conversion rates.”The traditional search box that customers are familiar with will still be the default user experience, according to Chesky. “We don’t want to impose that on everyone,” he said of AI search. “It’s going to take some time, months and months to retrain the customer.” Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. 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