What Management Said
Read the full Q2 2026 transcript ↗This is the highest growth that we have seen in four years. What's especially encouraging is that we're not only seeing growth accelerate in our emerging markets, we are seeing growth accelerate in many of our core markets. In fact, the U.S., France, U.K., and Australia all accelerated in growth in Q2. By reducing friction across the guest journey, we are converting more traffic into bookings, and that's become one of the biggest drivers of our growth.
We also gave hosts more actionable insights to help them improve their listings and increase their earning potential. We added 1,000 new experiences across our most in-demand categories, increasing supply by nearly 80% year-over-year during Q2. Roughly 35% of first-time hotel guests return to Airbnb to book a home. Many events, major events help strengthen the Airbnb brand, while driving both supply and demand.
It's given us so much confidence in the second half of this year, that that's why we're raising our guidance. I'll start with Q2 financial results, then cover our outlook for Q3 and the full year 2026. Despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, we continue to see strong underlying demand globally, the impact to our business from the conflict was less than we had anticipated. Gross booking value grew 16% year-over-year to $27.2 billion, driven by strong growth in both nights and seats booked and ADR.
What went well
- Revenue grew 17% year-over-year to $3.6 billion, exceeding the high end of the outlook, while GBV grew 16% to $27.2 billion and nights and seats booked grew 10%, accelerating from Q1.
- First-time booker growth accelerated to 11%, the highest in four years, with the Gen Z cohort growing fastest and acceleration seen across nearly all core markets including the U.S., France, U.K., and Australia.
- The hotels initiative outperformed expectations, with hotel nights growing roughly three times faster than homes and about 35% of first-time hotel guests returning to book a home, so hotels are bringing in and cross-selling new guests.
- AI drove efficiency and speed: customer support cost per booking fell about 16% year-over-year, the AI assistant now resolves nearly 45% of issues without a human across 50+ languages, and concept-to-launch time dropped as much as 60% with nearly 80% more features shipped.
- Profitability and cash generation were strong: adjusted EBITDA of $1.3 billion at a 35% margin (up over 100 bps YoY), net income of $816 million, $1.3 billion of Q2 free cash flow, and $1.1 billion of stock repurchased.
- Reserve Now, Pay Later accounted for over 20% of total GBV, driving more bookings, longer lead times, and higher ADR, and was expanded to more booking types in July.
What went wrong
- The ongoing conflict in the Middle East weighed on demand, causing headwinds in Europe during Q1 (with only a steady recovery in Q2), though management said the Q2 impact was less than anticipated.
- Q3 adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be down slightly versus Q3 2025 due to the timing of investments, including a material increase in AI spend over the year.
- Full-year implied take rate is expected to be only relatively flat versus 2025 because of higher customer incentives tied to new businesses; absent those incentives it would have been slightly higher.
- The business faces tougher comparisons in the back half of the year, which management flagged as a headwind to overcome.
- Hotels remain supply-constrained, and experiences/services are still small, on a multi-year horizon and not a meaningful contributor to nights and seats booked this year.
Guidance Changes
| Metric | Period | Current guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Q3 2026 | $4.69B-$4.77B, +15%-17% YoY (incl. ~3pp FX tailwind) |
| GBV growth | Q3 2026 | mid-teens YoY |
| Nights and seats booked growth | Q3 2026 | low double-digit YoY |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | Q3 2026 | down slightly vs Q3 2025 due to timing of investments |
| Revenue growth | Full year 2026 | at least mid-teens |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin | Full year 2026 | at least 35.5% |
| Implied take rate | Full year 2026 | relatively flat vs 2025 |
Performance Breakdown
| Metric | YoY | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue ($3.6B) | +17% | Broad-based execution across the product roadmap; exceeded the high end of outlook. |
| Gross booking value ($27.2B) | +16% | Strong growth in both nights and seats booked and ADR. |
| Nights and seats booked | +10% | Strong growth across every region, accelerating from Q1; high single-digit in North America and Europe, ~20% in Latin America, high teens in Asia-Pacific. |
| Nights booked on app | +23% | Now 64% of total nights booked, up from 59% a year ago. |
| ADR | +5% | Up 4% excluding FX, with noticeable strength in North America and Europe; driven by mix shift toward larger multi-bedroom homes and RNPL. |
| First-time bookers | +11% | Highest growth in four years; compounding product improvements plus strength in expansion markets like India and Brazil and RNPL confidence. |
| Adjusted EBITDA ($1.3B, 35% margin) | — | Margin expanded over 100 bps on strong revenue growth and cost efficiencies in operations, support, and product development, partly offset by S&M investment. |
| Net income ($816M) | — | Higher operating income plus a $77 million tax benefit related to recently published tax guidance on prior-year taxes. |
| Customer support cost per booking | -16% | Driven in part by improvements from the AI assistant resolving more issues without a human agent. |
| Free cash flow ($1.3B in Q2) | — | Efficient, capital-light model; trailing-12-month FCF of $4.8B at a 37% margin. |
| Experiences supply | +80% | Added 1,000 new experiences across in-demand categories; bookings accelerated year-over-year and sequentially, though still a small base. |
Earnings Call Themes & Trends
| Topic | Previous mention | Current period | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-native transformation | Middle-of-the-pack for AI a year ago; AI framed as an existential risk | Now among the most AI-native companies in Silicon Valley after hiring CTO Ahmed Abdalla (ex-Meta Llama lead); AI accelerates product velocity and lowers support costs at de minimis inference cost | — |
| Hotels expansion | Started in regulatory-constrained cities where demand outstripped home supply | Expanded supply acquisition to a top-20 set of cities with strong inbound hotel interest; hotel nights growing ~3x faster than homes and accretive to home bookings | — |
| Ancillary services (car rental, luggage storage, groceries, airport pickup, Resort Passes) | Newer category expansion launched in May | Car rentals expected to be the largest by asset size (with longer-than-expected reservation lengths); mostly partner-based so low incremental cost; building toward a one-stop travel shop | — |
| Reserve Now, Pay Later | A payment option discussed in prior quarters | Over 20% of total GBV; expanded to more booking types in July; drives bookings, longer lead times, higher ADR, and first-time-booker confidence | — |
| Single service fee | Launched September last year for API-connected hosts (mostly property managers) | Now covers ~half of active listings after winter/spring testing; broader rollout to remaining hosts expected complete by year-end, improving price competitiveness | — |
| AI search | In development / testing | Entering a small-traffic test this month via an opt-in toggle over core search, expanding through the year; expected to lift conversion via natural-language search, responses, titles, and personalized PDPs | — |
| Host pricing tools | Existing pricing tips and affordability push | Building a new AI-powered dynamic pricing model as one of the single biggest growth levers, described as many multiples larger than RNPL | — |
| Major-events strategy | Housing for events is in Airbnb's DNA | World Cup as official partner added 150,000+ first-time-listed homes; playbook extended to Olympics, Tour de France, Art Basel, Lollapalooza, LaLiga, and NASCAR for lasting brand and supply benefit | — |
Q&A Summary
How is the hotels initiative going, and is it improving conversion in cities where you already have a lot of inventory, not just regulatory-restricted ones?
It is going significantly better than expected; Airbnb believes it has built the best hotel booking product and is seeing strong inbound hotel interest. Strength shows in both supply-constrained and non-constrained markets, and ~35% of first-time hotel guests return to book a home, so hotels and homes reinforce each other.
What is the ultimate ambition for ancillary products, could Airbnb become a full-service travel OTA, and does the car-rental partner's acquisition by a competitor make M&A more urgent?
Three phases: today most guests still start with a home in mind; next is becoming a one-stop travel shop; then travel-to-living and beyond. Broad natural-language trip planning is coming within about 18 months. On CarTrawler being bought by Expedia, they expect the partnership to continue and M&A stays opportunistic with an organic-first bias, backed by ample cash.
Any anecdotes on hotel conversion by market, and how are the AI search tests going and is that gating an ad product?
Hotels began in regulatory-constrained cities and expanded to a top-20 set, added selectively so inventory is accretive rather than competing with homes; still single-digit % of nights but growing ~3x faster than homes. AI search enters a small-traffic opt-in test this month, rolling out via a toggle over core search through the year, and is expected to convert very well.
Are you rolling the single service fee out to every host or mainly professional property managers?
It launched for API-connected hosts (mostly property managers) last September; after broad testing this winter and spring, it is now migrating to the remaining hosts, with the entire supply base expected on it by year-end. It enables simpler pricing recommendations and puts downward pressure on prices for competitiveness.
How are core hosts reacting to hotel supply, and do you build the personalized trip-planning experience geo-by-geo or globally?
Core hosts have given little feedback and mostly care that their bookings are rising, which they are; hotels are seen as accretive, lifting all categories like Amazon adding categories. Supply (hotels, services, experiences) is tested city by city, but software like trip planning is built and tested broadly and globally.
What is the interplay between incremental margins and reinvestment over the long term, and how much drops to the bottom line?
No specific 2027 guide, but the business has very strong EBITDA and free-cash-flow economics; last year's investment cycle spawned this year's accelerated growth while still expanding margin. Airbnb will keep leaning into growth opportunities, and its steady EBITDA margins imply a relative floor for continued investment.
How is Airbnb helping hosts set optimal pricing, and are experiences at a scale to contribute to nights and seats booked?
AI-powered dynamic pricing is one of the single biggest growth levers, many multiples larger than RNPL, ingesting hotel prices, events, and lead times to coach hosts with one-tap updates. Experiences are growing fast on a small base on a multi-year horizon; scaling from tens of markets to thousands is not this year.
How does the AI-native transition affect product costs, and what operational adjustments minimize the impact?
Not much impact: Airbnb needs no major capex or GPU buildout, and inference costs are de minimis versus the ROI on high-dollar transactions where small conversion gains far outweigh token costs. They are disciplined and not 'token maxing,' focusing on throughput and shipping quality rather than token volume.
What is driving the 11% first-time-booker growth, and are you seeing metrics like NPS improve from the product changes?
It is the compounding of the whole product roadmap, with outsized growth in expansion markets like India and Brazil and acceleration in nearly all core markets including the U.S. RNPL gives hesitant new users confidence to book, and sign-up, login, merchandising, and search improvements help first-timers over the hump.
Which newer service categories show the strongest early traction and unit economics, and how are you pacing investment?
Car rentals will be the biggest by asset size with longer-than-expected reservation lengths, and luggage storage was a surprise hit. Most big services are low-cost partnerships (Airbnb acts as lead generation), while hosted first-party services roll out city by city, and every service makes guests more likely to book a home or hotel.
More on Airbnb, Inc.
Reported 2026-08-06 · figures from the Airbnb, Inc. Q2 2026 earnings call.
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