UNDATED (AP) — In Airbnb’s first financial report as a public company, the home-sharing site has posted a loss of $3.9 billion for the fourth quarter of 2020. The home-sharing business was hurt by the pandemic downturn in travel and recorded costs for becoming a public company. It’s taking a charge of $2.8 billion for stock compensation related to the IPO.
A year earlier, Airbnb lost $352 million. Revenue is down 22% from a year ago, to $859 million. Nights booked fell 39% from a year earlier.
Airbnb declined to offer a forecast for 2021 profit and revenue. Company executives said they are upbeat about a recovery, but they said the unknown pace of vaccinations makes it difficult to know how quickly people will be willing to travel.