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“We’re all going on a summer holiday” (RIP Una Stubbs) sang Airbnb on Thursday, as it reported strong revenue growth in the second quarter and promising future bookings.
However, Dave Lee in San Francisco reports the short-term rental provider warned that the “global spread of Covid variants” and inconsistent local regulations could adversely affect the number of bookings later in the year.
“We do not yet know how willing people will be to travel in the fall as compared to summer,” Airbnb said.
Revenue in the second quarter of $1.34bn was almost four times higher than in the same period in 2020, and also up 10 per cent on 2019. Wall Street had expected revenues of $1.26bn.
Total nights and experiences booked — a strong indicator of future revenues — were up almost 200 per cent on 2020 to 83.1m This growth contributed to what Airbnb said it expected would be its “strongest quarterly revenue on record”, finishing “well above” the pre-pandemic third quarter of 2019. The company recently recorded its “biggest” single night of bookings.
However, with its shares falling on the news, Lex feels Airbnb is a victim of its own over-optimistic predictions of grabbing a bigger share of a market it sizes at $3.4tn. Even before the pandemic, its revenue growth had slowed for three consecutive years.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley are more bullish. They see a market worth only $810bn for global lodging, but with Airbnb having just 5 per cent of that, there is plenty of room to expand its share. They say booking trends suggest lasting long-term growth, increases in active listings show the number of hosts is growing and supply is expanding, while margins are improving as marketing costs are controlled. All in all, Airbnb is looking a long-stay location for investors.
**#techFT will be back next week, but then takes its own summer holiday, August 23-31.**
The Internet of (Five) Things
1. Disney narrows Netflix gap
Disney signed up 12m subscribers to its flagship streaming service in the most recent quarter, doubling its customer base from a year ago. Disney+ reached 116m subscribers, double the 58m it had 12 months previously. In comparison, Netflix added just 1.5m subscribers last quarter.
2. UK beats NZ to Amazon Rings series
Amazon Studios is moving production of its Lord of the Rings series from New Zealand, saying it fitted its strategy of expanding its footprint and investing in studio space in the UK. The decision is the latest coup for the British film and TV industry, which has become a favoured location for global producers who are rushing to meet surging global demand for streamed video content.
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3. Samsung boss freed
South Korean businesses have urged the government to allow Lee Jae-yong to return to management after he was freed from prison on parole. The 53-year-old vice-chair of Samsung Electronics publicly apologised on Friday after completing about 60 per cent of a two-and-a-half year sentence for bribing Park Geun-hye, the former president. Under South Korean law, people convicted of significant financial crimes are banned from returning to work for five years after their release.
4. Switzerland’s ‘Silicon Valley of smell’
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed how people want themselves, their clothes and their homes to smell. On the outskirts of Geneva is proof of how lucrative scent can be. The efforts of two companies that dominate the way the world smells are exacting, almost Willy Wonka-like, writes Sam Jones
5. What a $600m heist says about crypto’s future
In a traditional bank siege, an observer might need to rely on news helicopters circling overhead for updates. In a crypto heist, such as the Poly Network hack this week, you can see it all unfold directly from your smartphone. It is a fascinating tale that reveals a lot about the industry at the moment, writes Adam Samson.
Tech tools — Wellbeing apps
How To Spend It has been assessing the latest wellness aids. There are eight here, ranging from the Zenia app for better Yoga posture, Kaia Health’s smartphone camera-based AI app to help with injury rehab, and Humanity, which combines a range of available data (such as sleep, heart rate, walking speed, glucose fluctuations) to calculate your rate of ageing – and advise on the most effective interventions to slow it down.
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