Aug 6 (Reuters) - Airbnb ABNB.O on Wednesday forecast weaker growth for the rest of the year, with the company blaming the trend on tough comparisons with the year-ago period when strong bookings in Asia and Latin America had boosted earnings.
Shares of the vacation rentals company fell more than 6% after the bell.
The vacation rental company saw recovery in U.S. travel demand during the second quarter after an initial slowdown in April similar to several travel firms such as United Airlines UAL.O and Wyndham Hotels WH.N.
The industry remains cautiously optimistic, hoping consumer confidence continues to improve despite President Donald Trump's shifting trade policy and inflation.
Growth of nights booked accelerated each month during the quarter ended in June, most notably due to a rise in U.S. domestic travel, the company said.
"While the quarter started with some global economic uncertainty, travel demand picked up," CEO Brian Chesky on a post-earnings call.
However, the company expects night bookings growth to moderate year-over-year going into the fourth-quarter. It expects the implied take rate, or the ratio of revenue to gross bookings, to remain flat in the third quarter.
In the fourth-quarter of 2024, bookings in Latin America and Asia Pacific increased a "low" 20% year-over-year after the regions also boosted results in the third-quarter.
The company expects third-quarter revenue between $4.02 billion to $4.10 billion. Analysts, on average, estimated Airbnb's quarterly revenue at $4.05 billion.
Nights and seats booked, an updated metric which includes the number of services booked on Airbnb's platform, rose 7% in the second quarter, while gross booking value increased 11% to $23.5 billion helped by the timing of Easter and fees for cross-currency bookings.
The company reported quarterly revenue of $3.10 billion, compared with analysts' estimates of $3.04 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Airbnb posted a per-share profit of $1.03, compared with Wall Street estimates of 93 cents.
The home-rental company also announced a new share repurchase program worth $6 billion.