Airbnb earnings: third quarter 2026

The quarter in brief

Airbnb's summer quarter, the busiest of its year, was a strong one. Sales rose 19% from a year earlier to $4.9 billion, mostly because many more nights were booked rather than because prices went up, and every region grew.¹ Profit per share came in well above what analysts had expected, and the company raised its forecasts for the full year.¹

Three things held it back. Airbnb kept a slightly smaller share of each booking as revenue, its cash grew far more slowly than its profit, and its marketing spending is rising faster than its sales.¹

Against what analysts expected

Analysts on average expected earnings per share, which is net income divided by the number of shares, of $2.86.² Airbnb reported $3.16, about 10% higher, and up from $2.21 a year earlier.¹ The forecast is set against that reported figure, the profit after everything. Part of the rise from a year ago reflects a smaller tax bill, because last year's summer quarter carried a one-off tax charge of $213 million. Fewer shares in issue also helped.¹

What the company expects

Airbnb raised its forecast for sales growth in 2026 as a whole and now expects it in the high teens.¹ It also raised its forecast for its own measure of profit from running the business as a share of sales. That measure is taken before interest, tax, the wearing-out of equipment, pay in shares and some other items, and the company now expects it at about 36% for the year.¹ It puts this down to faster sales growth and costs rising more slowly than sales, while it keeps investing.¹ Both are higher than what it expected in August.³

For the last three months of the year, it expects sales of $3.22 billion to $3.28 billion, up 16% to 18% on a year earlier. About two percentage points of that would come from currency movements rather than from more travel.¹ It expects the total value of bookings to grow at a mid-teens rate. It expects nights and seats booked to grow at least at a low double-digit rate, and the average nightly price to rise modestly, mainly from a shift in what guests book and from price rises.¹ It also expects the share of each booking it keeps as revenue to edge up slightly.¹ Profit from running the business should rise in dollars, but the company expects it to be slightly lower as a share of sales than a year earlier, partly because of when marketing money is spent.¹

Getting there rests on demand staying as healthy as management says it is going into the end of the year.¹ It also says it is watching developments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa closely, without putting a size on any effect.¹

The strong points

Sales rose 19% from a year earlier to $4.9 billion, or 16% with currency effects removed.¹ That growth drove the rest of the quarter. Airbnb's own measure of profit from running the business rose 22% to $2.5 billion, a little faster than sales, and that measure leaves out the lower tax bill.¹

Most of the growth came from more stays, not higher prices. Nights and seats booked rose 16%, while the average nightly price rose 4%, or 5% without currency effects.¹ Growth from more guests is a sturdier footing than growth from charging the same guests more. New people are part of it too: growth in first-time bookers sped up to 13%, the fastest since early 2022.¹ Listings grew more slowly than nights booked, so existing homes are being filled more often.¹

Every region grew. Asia Pacific and Latin America each grew by more than 20%, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa at a mid-teens rate. North America grew at a low double-digit rate, its fastest in four years.¹ The North American figure is the telling one. It is Airbnb's core market, and a large, established market speeding up says more about demand than fast growth where the company is still small.

The weak points

Airbnb kept 17.6% of the value of its bookings as revenue, less than a year earlier, so bookings grew faster than sales.¹ The company gives two reasons. Guests are booking further ahead under its reserve-now-pay-later option, and that revenue is counted later. It also spent more on discounts and credits to promote new lines of business.¹ The first is a matter of timing. The second is money given away to win guests.

Free cash flow, the cash left after running the business and investing in it, rose only about 6%, to $1,426 million from $1,349 million. Net income rose 38%, to $1,890 million.¹ Part of the gap is that much of the profit gain came from a lower tax charge, which adds no cash by itself.¹ Airbnb also points to rising advance bookings and to a property purchase in New York, which lifted spending on property and equipment to $82 million from $7 million.¹ This matters because the company is spending heavily on buying back its own shares: $2,851 million over nine months, with permission for up to $12 billion more.¹ It is cash, not accounting profit, that pays for that.

Spending on sales and marketing rose 26% over the first nine months, against sales growth of 18%.¹ Marketing is Airbnb's biggest growth cost, and the company itself expects its timing to trim its fourth-quarter margin.¹ If this spending keeps outrunning sales, it would eat into the profit gains behind the raised forecast for the year.

What to watch

The first signal is Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which management says it is watching closely without saying why.¹ Travel figures from the region, such as hotel occupancy, airline passenger numbers and how far ahead people are booking trips, would show whether demand there is cooling before Airbnb's own numbers do. So would decisions by cities and governments on short-term rentals, which can take homes off the platform at a stroke. Steady travel figures and no new restrictions would support the raised forecasts. A slowdown in a region growing at a mid-teens rate would test them.

The second signal is the share of each booking Airbnb keeps. If its fall is about timing, revenue from bookings made earlier should arrive as guests travel, and the company expects that share to edge up in the fourth quarter.¹ If the fall is about discounts, it would show first in the offers and credits Airbnb puts in front of guests and in marketing spending that keeps outpacing sales. The difference matters because revenue that is only delayed comes back, and discounts do not. The next results are the check on which it is.

Our verdict on the quarter

In all, a very strong report. Airbnb grew sales 19% to $4.9 billion, mostly from more guests rather than higher prices, and every region grew, its core North American market fastest in four years.¹ Earnings per share came in about 10% above what analysts had expected, and the company raised its forecasts for both sales growth and its profit margin for the year.¹² Against that, it kept a slightly smaller share of each booking, its cash grew far more slowly than its profit, and marketing costs are outpacing sales. Each is real, but they hold back only a little a quarter in which demand was broad and growing.

Notes

1. Airbnb's results release, 5 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 5 November 2026. ↩
3. Airbnb's previous results release, 6 August 2026: sec.gov. ↩