Investing.com -- Airbnb swung to a profit in the first quarter of the year, driven by strong travel demand, though cautioned that growth in the second quarter will be kept in check by tough comparisons following the pandemic-fueled demand seen last year.
Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) shares trade almost 14% lower in pre-open Wednesday trading.
The company reported EPS of 18 cents on revenue of $1.8 billion, compared with Wall Street estimates for EPS of 20 cents on revenue of $1.79B. The company reported a loss of $0.03 in the same period a year earlier.
The return to profit in Q1 was driven by strength in its bookings for nights and experiences, which was up 19% in Q1 compared to the same period last year, supporting a 19% jump in gross booking value, a key performance metric, to $20.4B.
"Nights and Experiences booked hit a record high with over 120 million," the company said.
Looking ahead to Q2, the company guided revenue in a range of $2.35B to $2.45B, in line with Wall Street estimates for $2.42B, but also struck a cautious tone.
Nights and experiences booked year-over-year growth in Q2 2023 is expected to be "lower than our revenue growth during the quarter," the company said.
"Nights and Experiences Booked will have unfavorable year-over-year comparisons in Q2 2023 as we overlap pent-up 2022 demand following the COVID Omicron variant," it added.
The company also announced a new share buyback program of up to $2.5B.
Morgan Stanley analysts cut the price target to $95 per share and reiterated an Underweight rating on ABNB stock.
"Slower-than-expected forward room night growth (US facing pricing and supply constraints) speak to how forward growth (more reliant on Europe, APAC, LATAM and new business opportunities) could face higher execution risk. Competitive risk (share loss to BKNG) also continues," they said.
Oppenheimer analysts believe that the velocity of 2Q23 nights deceleration will heighten concerns about slowing growth.
"We maintain Perform on uncertain back-half outlook and premium valuation, 21x '23E EBITDA vs. BKNG's 15x, limiting NT upside to shares."
(Additional reporting by Senad Karaahmetovic)