The San Francisco-based company said it earned US$319 million in the fourth quarter, up from $55 million a year earlier, and $1.89 billion for the full year.
Spurred by an increase in bookings, fourth-quarter revenue rose 24 percent from a year earlier.
The company predicted that first-quarter revenue will be between $1.75 billion and $1.82 billion, which would beat Wall Street expectations. It said more people are considering international trips and going back to cities, which many travelers avoided at the peak of the pandemic.
“We are already seeing some really strong demand in Q1. No matter what happens in the world, people want to travel” because they are stuck at home more often, chief executive officer Brian Chesky said on a call with analysts. “The office is now Zoom, the mall is now Amazon, the theater is now Netflix.”
Airbnb outperformed hotels when travel began to recover from pandemic-era lows, as some people seemed to prefer the relative isolation of staying in a house rather than a hotel. Chesky said Airbnb can keep that advantage if it provides value to consumers.
To take advantage of the rising trend in travel, Airbnb has been expanding its listings by trying to lure more people to post their homes on the platform.
The company said that excluding China, it added 900,000 listings last year, pushing its total to 6.6 million. However, that strategy has alienated hosts, who complain about fewer rentals.(AP)