Airbnb Inc Q3 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Richard Clarke - Bernstein - Analyst : Just a question on supply. It looks like you've stopped sort of giving us the year-on-year supply growth, I guess, because of the removal. So just any color on what's happening to maybe grow supply growth, and whether the removals you're doing and the additions you're doing is seeing any meaningful shift towards professional hosts as you go through that process or co-listed supply? And then maybe any color on whether this co-hosting is unlocking supply here. You talked about adding co-host, but are you getting additional supply due to the co-hosting initiative?

Question: Mark Mahaney - Evercore ISI - Analyst : Two questions, please. You talked about this acceleration or improvement in room nights as you kind of went through the quarter. Did that come from any particular geographic areas? We'd heard that Europe was on a market that was recovering maybe faster than others. Was that your experience as well? And then just back on the co-hosting experience, you've had this out in a series of markets for a while. How long do we see materiality come through it? Like have you seen these in relatively small markets where you've rolled it out? Has it become material to the growth rate in those markets already in the 6 to 12-month period? Or does this take -- is this more of like a 12 to 24-month process?

Question: Brian Nowak - Morgan Stanley - Analyst : I have two excuse me. The first one, I think the 4Q EBITDA guide sort of implies a margin somewhere in the 20s, around 27%, 28%. Is there any sort of timing factors you call out that are sort of driving the margin down at that level? And then how do we sort of think about philosophically the levels of investment and sort of the philosophy around investment and margins into next year to sort of go off this 27% number in the fourth quarter?

Question: Justin Patterson - KeyBanc Capital Markets - Analyst : Great. Brian, you recently surpassed the 2 billion guest milestone. You did that next 1 billion much faster than your first 1 billion. As you look at the business today, what are you -- what investments are you ready to make to attract that next 1 billion-plus guest to Airbnb? When you look at just the types of people taking trips today what demographics do you under-index on? And how do you think some of these service releases can really bring that next wave of customers in?

Question: Justin Post - Bank of America Securities - Analyst : I just wanted to ask about the new markets. If you could give us the expansion markets, maybe some of the biggest ones there. I know Japan is one of them. And then how big they are, so we can think about the growth contribution next year?

Question: Lee Horowitz - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : A couple if I could. Maybe your online travel peers have given color as to what they think their long-term bookings growth out to looks like I mean I guess given your leverage to alternative accommodations, the presumptions that you get should be able to grow faster. But can you give any color maybe on sort of what you see as the long-term growth algorithm for your core business? And then what new verticals may add to that on top of that? And one follow-up, if I could.

Question: Lee Horowitz - Deutsche Bank - Analyst : Great. And then to the extent that sort of your improving 4Q outlook, the acceleration is really nice is an output of some of the investments that you guys are putting into place driving the kind of gains that you want. Does this give you confidence to throw fuel on the fire and invest more aggressively behind those initiatives? And maybe how we should think about the way that interplay should play through in terms of margin over the longer term?

Question: James Lee - Mizuho Securities - Analyst : Questions on core initiatives here. Can you guys talk about the progress you've made in affordability and quality that's driving maybe some of the increased bookings that we've seen during the quarter? And also, can you give us an update on your customer service transformation, maybe what's working, what's not, what's yet to be improved? And when do you expect to complete the process?

Question: Kevin Kopelman - TD Cowen - Analyst : A question on the new services that are expected to come out next year. So we think of those new services is driving some revenue growth right off the bat for the second half next year? -- are you anticipating more gradual rollout to more 2026 revenue drivers?

Question: Charles Patrick Scholes - Truist Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Great. I want to go back to the first question that was asked and ask it maybe a little more direct. Can you provide us in percentage terms what

Question: Charles Patrick Scholes - Truist Securities, Inc. - Analyst : Yes, supply. Correct.

Question: John Colantuoni - Jefferies - Analyst : I wanted to ask about the experiences offering. As you get closer to the relaunch next year, how are you thinking about the sort of the pace of expansion and scalability? I know you'd like to keep experiences unique like your accommodations offering. But I'm curious if that means it will take longer to build supply behind it. And maybe you could also sort of give us a sense for any investments in tech or marketing that you plan to make around the relaunch of experiences.

Question: Jed Kelly - Oppenheimer & Co. - Analyst : Great. Just two, if I may. Can you talk about in areas such as New York City, where the regulations are becoming increasingly difficult. Can you talk about how we should view those and potentially leaning more into hotels? And then as you grow outside some of these noncore markets, is it going to be more brand driven? Or will you lean more into performance marketing?

Question: Stephen Ju - UBS - Analyst : Brian, I guess, on the experiences again. I'm wondering if there is going to be an angle where this could be something that increases the overall engagement or even raise the overall frequency of usage for you because maybe I don't stay in an Airbnb every weekend, but maybe I try an Airbnb experience every weekend. So I'm just wondering like how the product development path and how utilization will shift at your selection growth.