Airbnb, that was hit by the COVID-19 Pandemi, and Uber released improved results in the third quarter.
Airbnb announced on the 4th (local time) that in the third quarter of this year, sales rose 67 percent from the same period last year to $2.24 billion and net profit rose 280 percent to $834 million, CNBC said.
Sales exceeded Wall Street’s consensus of $2.05 billion.
Airbnb explained that sales and net profit reached an all-time high even though city travel and overseas travel have not yet recovered to the level before the pandemic.
CNBC pointed out that as vaccinations expanded around the world, travel revived and the company recovered from the COVID-19 shock.
The number of accommodations and experiences was 79.7 million, down slightly from the second quarter, but increased 29% from the third quarter of last year.
Airbnb said it expects strong fourth-quarter earnings and expects the recovery of travel demand to continue until next year.
In a letter to shareholders, the company said, “As the new year enters, progress in vaccination and recovery of overseas travel in the fourth quarter will be key themes for growth.”
Uber also announced that it recorded $4.8 billion in sales and $2.4 billion in net loss in the third quarter.
Sales exceeded Wall Street’s consensus of $4.4 billion, but net loss per share was also much greater than expected of $0.33.
However, the company said the loss increased mainly due to the decline in the value of investment assets, especially the decline in Didi Chuxing, China’s largest car-sharing company.
The use of vehicle call services has also increased significantly. Total reservation sales in the vehicle call sector amounted to $9.9 billion, up 67 percent from the third quarter of last year. This is attributed to the increased use of vehicle calls as economic activities have been partially normalized due to the spread of vaccines.
Uber said the number of rides to and from the airport also increased by 35% from the second quarter and 203 percent from a year ago. The total number of rides increased by 39% in a year.
The food delivery sector, where the COVID-19 incident was rather a firewood for growth, continued to grow rapidly. Total reservation sales rose 50% from a year ago to 128 billion won, still surpassing the main business, vehicle calls.
