Airbnb NASDAQ: ABNB reported second-quarter 2026 results that exceeded its outlook, with revenue rising 17% year over year to $3.6 billion and gross booking value increasing 16% to $27.2 billion. Nights and seats booked grew 10%, accelerating from the first quarter, while adjusted EBITDA reached $1.3 billion, representing a 35% margin.
Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky said the company’s momentum reflected a combination of product changes rather than a single initiative. He pointed to higher app usage, faster growth among first-time bookers, expansion-market gains and improving trends in several core markets.
“There was no single product, there’s no single partnership or initiative that explains our results,” Chesky said. “It’s a combination of stronger execution, a world-class team, and an innovation model that is accelerated by AI.”
Demand Growth and Product Improvements
Nights booked through Airbnb’s app increased 23% year over year and accounted for 64% of total nights booked, up from 59% a year earlier. Growth among first-time bookers accelerated to 11%, the highest rate the company has reported in four years, according to Chesky. Gen Z represented the fastest-growing cohort of first-time bookers.
Expansion markets grew about twice as quickly as core markets, while the U.S., France, the U.K. and Australia all saw accelerating growth during the quarter. Chief Financial Officer Ellie Mertz said North America and Europe produced high-single-digit growth in nights and seats booked, Latin America grew about 20%, and Asia-Pacific posted high-teens growth.
Average daily rate increased 5% year over year, or 4% excluding foreign exchange effects, with strength in North America and Europe. Mertz said the company’s growing mix of larger homes has supported ADR, as bedroom-night growth has exceeded growth in overall nights booked.
Airbnb attributed part of its growth to improvements across search, sign-up, checkout, payments and host tools. The company introduced AI-generated listing and review highlights, while expanding Reserve Now, Pay Later eligibility and visibility throughout the booking process. The flexible payment option accounted for more than 20% of total gross booking value in the second quarter, Mertz said.
The company also plans to introduce AI-powered home comparison later this year and began testing AI search during the current quarter. Chesky said the feature will initially be available to a small percentage of traffic through an optional toggle, with broader expansion dependent on test results.
AI Drives Development Speed and Support Savings
Chesky said Airbnb has rebuilt its operations to become an “AI-native” company, allowing it to reduce the time from product concept to launch by as much as 60% for some initiatives. During the first six months of the year, the company increased the number of features and improvements it released by nearly 80% compared with the same period in 2025.
Airbnb’s AI assistant is now available in more than 50 languages. Nearly 45% of customer issues that begin with the assistant are resolved without a human agent, Chesky said. Customer support costs per booking declined about 16% from a year earlier in the second quarter, partly due to the AI assistant.
The company expects to begin offering AI voice support later this year. Mertz said Airbnb’s updated guidance assumes increased AI spending, but the company is expanding margins while absorbing those costs. She also said AI-driven productivity means Airbnb does not need to increase headcount at the same pace as in prior periods.
Hotels, Services and Experiences Expand
Airbnb continued to broaden its offerings beyond homes, adding boutique and independent hotels, expanding travel-related services and increasing the supply of experiences. Hotels remain a single-digit percentage of nights booked but are growing about three times faster than the homes business, according to the company.
Chesky said the hotel initiative has received stronger-than-expected interest from hotel operators. The company has expanded hotel supply acquisition efforts to roughly 20 cities, Mertz said, while seeking inventory that complements rather than competes directly with home listings.
About 35% of first-time hotel guests subsequently return to Airbnb to book a home, Chesky said. He added that hotel inventory has improved conversion in both supply-constrained markets and markets where Airbnb already has substantial accommodation supply.
Airbnb also added services including grocery delivery, car rentals, airport pickup, luggage storage and resort passes. Chesky said car rentals are expected to be the largest service category because of the size of the market and because reservation lengths have exceeded the company’s expectations. The company plans to expand car rentals internationally.
Experiences supply rose nearly 80% year over year in the second quarter following the addition of 1,000 experiences in high-demand categories. Bookings accelerated both year over year and sequentially, although Chesky said the business remains small and will be a longer-term contributor relative to homes and hotels.
Profitability, Capital Returns and Outlook
Second-quarter net income was $816 million, aided by higher operating income and a $77 million tax benefit related to recently published tax guidance affecting prior-year taxes. Airbnb generated $1.3 billion in free cash flow during the quarter and $4.8 billion over the trailing 12 months, equal to a 37% free-cash-flow margin.
During the quarter, the company repurchased $1.1 billion of common stock. Mertz said returning capital to shareholders remains a core part of Airbnb’s capital-allocation strategy.
- Third-quarter revenue is expected to be between $4.69 billion and $4.77 billion, representing 15% to 17% year-over-year growth.
- The third-quarter outlook includes an estimated three-percentage-point foreign exchange tailwind after hedging.
- Third-quarter gross booking value is expected to grow in the mid-teens, supported by low-double-digit growth in nights and seats booked and a moderate ADR increase.
- Adjusted EBITDA is expected to increase year over year in the third quarter, though the margin is expected to decline slightly from the third quarter of 2025 because of investment timing.
- For full-year 2026, Airbnb raised its revenue-growth outlook to at least the mid-teens and increased its adjusted EBITDA margin outlook to at least 35.5%, from a prior forecast of 35%.
Mertz said the company expects its full-year implied take rate to remain relatively flat compared with 2025, reflecting the timing effects of Reserve Now, Pay Later and higher customer incentives tied to newer businesses. Excluding those incentives, Airbnb would have expected a slightly higher implied take rate, she said.
About Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB)
Airbnb, Inc NASDAQ: ABNB operates a global online marketplace that connects travelers with hosts offering short-term lodging, unique accommodations and related travel experiences. The company's core platform enables individuals and professional property managers to list private homes, apartments, single rooms and entire properties, while providing search, booking and payment processing for guests. Airbnb earns revenue primarily through service fees charged to guests and hosts and offers tools to facilitate reservations, communications, and logistics between parties.
Beyond accommodations, Airbnb has expanded its product portfolio to include curated experiences led by local hosts, higher-end offerings such as Airbnb Luxe, and programs aimed at enhancing quality and safety like Airbnb Plus.
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