Airbnb's (ABNB) second-quarter results topped Wall Street's estimates amid strong demand fueled by the FIFA World Cup.
Earnings per share rose to $1.37 from $1.03 a year earlier, compared with the FactSet-polled consensus of $1.26. Revenue increased 17% year-over-year to $3.61 billion, above the Street's $3.58 billion view.
Airbnb was an official tournament supporter for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which began in June and ended last month.
"Airbnb hosted millions of guest arrivals during the tournament, including many first-time users," the vacation rental company said in a shareholder letter. "More than 150,000 homes across host cities were listed on Airbnb for the first time."
Gross booking value, which includes host earnings, service and cleaning fees and taxes, advanced 16% annually to $27.2 billion. Analysts expected $26.45 billion.
Nights and seats booked grew 10% to 148.3 million, compared with the Street's 145.8 million view. The metric represents the total number of nights booked for stays and seats booked for services and experiences, net of cancellations and alterations.
Shares soared 8.5% in after-hours trade. The stock is up about 12% this year through Thursday's close.
Wedbush Securities expected a "constructive" setup for Airbnb heading into the results. The company's diversification is directionally right despite slower-than-expected adoption of experiences, the brokerage said in a note late last month.
For the third quarter, Airbnb projects revenue of $4.69 billion to $4.77 billion, reflecting annual growth of 15% to 17%. The consensus is for $4.61 billion. The company expects gross booking value to rise in the mid-teens, compared with the Street's estimate of 11% growth.
Airbnb now expects its full-year revenue to rise at least by a mid-teen percentage, compared with its prior forecast of low-to-mid teens. Analysts polled by FactSet expect $13.96 billion, implying an annual rise of 14%.
"We're pleased with the results we've delivered in the first half of 2026, and are excited about the continued traction from our product innovation and strong demand on our platform across all regions that is driving momentum in the second half of 2026," Airbnb said.



