Airbnb lifts annual revenue growth forecast on resilient global travel demand

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Airbnb ABNB.O raised its full-year 2026 revenue growth forecast on Thursday, as the vacation rental platform bets on resilient global leisure travel demand.

The company also authorized a new repurchase program of up to an additional $12 billion of Airbnb's Class A common stock.

Travel firms are banking on steady demand for international travel, buoyed by corporate travel and spending by affluent customers despite inflation and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

Airbnb said underlying global travel demand remains healthy, even as it closely monitors ongoing developments in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

The San Francisco-based company now expects 2026 revenue growth in the "high teens," compared with its "at least mid-teens" forecast earlier.

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About 35% of guests whose first Airbnb booking is a hotel return to book a home, it said.

Globally, nights and seats booked, a metric that includes both room stays and service bookings, rose 16% to 155 million in the third quarter.

Quarterly bookings in North America grew by "low-double digit" year over year, and in the "mid-teens" in EMEA.

Hotel operators such as Hilton and Marriott and online agencies like Expedia and Booking Holdings have been cautious about their fourth-quarter forecasts due to elevated airfares linked to the Iran war, as well as unrest in certain parts of Europe.

Airbnb said its customer support cost per booking fell more than 17% year over year in the reported quarter, as about 40% of all customer support issues were resolved without a human agent, up from one-third in the second quarter.

The company reported diluted earnings per share of $3.16 for the quarter ended September 30, compared with $2.21 a year ago.

Third-quarter revenue rose about 19% to $4.87 billion.