Airbnb’s Q4 Reacceleration Marks Strongest Growth in Two Years

Airbnb used the quarter to reinforce a shift toward continuous product shipping rather than large feature launches. CEO Brian Chesky in the earnings call described a multiyear rebuild of the platform’s technical foundation, positioning Airbnb to move faster across pricing, supply quality and artificial intelligence.

Rather than relying on a single initiative, Airbnb pointed to stacked improvements across checkout, payments and search designed to compound over time.

Pricing and Payment Changes

Airbnb attributed more than 200 basis points of nights growth and roughly 300 basis points of gross booking value growth in Q4 to three initiatives: reserve now pay later, simplified fees and updated cancellation policies.

Reserve now pay later continues to expand, allowing eligible guests to book without paying upfront. The feature extends booking lead times and shifts mix toward larger, higher-priced homes. Cancellation rates have increased modestly but remain within tested expectations.

“The response was immediate, especially for larger high-priced homes, driving booking acceleration in Q4,” Chesky said on the call. “…We are now expanding this to new markets, and it is a key part of the strength we are seeing in Q1, and will remain a strong tailwind for years to come.”

Airbnb is also migrating hosts toward a simplified single-fee model that displays total prices upfront while preserving host earnings flexibility. Chesky said pricing transparency reduces friction and improves conversion.

Updated cancellation policies form part of the same effort to make booking more competitive with traditional lodging.

International Focus Drives Supply

Airbnb continues to lean into major global events as supply accelerators. After adding tens of thousands of listings ahead of the Paris Olympics, the company is applying a similar approach to the 2026 World Cup across 16 North American cities. Large-scale events activate dormant supply and introduce new hosts to the platform.

Brazil has moved into Airbnb’s top markets following localized payments and targeted campaigns tied to cultural moments. India is emerging as another high-growth market as Airbnb deploys focused expansion teams.

Airbnb also removed more than half a million low-quality listings while expanding “Guest Favorites,” which now represent a growing share of bookings. Supply quality, not just supply quantity, is becoming central to platform differentiation.

AI Integration Expands

Artificial intelligence is being integrated across operations rather than introduced as a standalone consumer product.

Airbnb’s AI-powered customer service chatbot now resolves nearly one-third of English-language support tickets in North America without human intervention. The next phase includes expanding to additional languages and adding voice-based AI support.

Airbnb is also testing conversational AI search on a small percentage of traffic, to improve traveler intent recognition and booking efficiency. Chesky said the company intends to “nail AI search” before layering in additional monetization features.

On competitive risks from generative AI platforms, Chesky argued that Airbnb’s 200 million verified identities, proprietary review corpus and payments infrastructure create defensibility beyond surface-level search. External AI platforms may act as discovery channels rather than direct substitutes.

What Else Stood Out

• The AI chatbot is expanding beyond chat into voice, with broader global rollout planned.
• Services and experiences are scaling city by city, beginning with Paris and Los Angeles. Roughly half of experience bookings are currently unattached to home stays, suggesting incremental user acquisition potential.
• Major events, including the Winter Olympics and the 2026 World Cup, are expected to drive both supply activation and incremental demand.
• Loyalty benefits are under active testing, though no traditional points-based program has been announced.
• More than 80% of engineers now use AI tools internally as Airbnb shifts to continuous shipping instead of biannual releases.

Topline Results

Revenue rose 12% year over year to $2.8 billion. Gross booking value increased 16% to $20.4 billion, marking the strongest growth quarter in more than two years. Nights and experiences booked grew 10%.

For the full year, free cash flow totaled $4.6 billion, or 38% of revenue. Airbnb ended the quarter with $11 billion in corporate cash and investments and repurchased $3.8 billion of stock in 2025.

For Q1 2026, Airbnb expects revenue between $2.59 billion and $2.63 billion, representing 14% to 16% year-over-year growth. Full-year 2026 revenue growth is expected to accelerate into low double digits.

 

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