Airbnb gave a disappointing outlook for bookings in the fourth quarter, suggesting that consumer preferences are shifting away from higher-cost rentals that thrived during the pandemic and back to urban and cross-border destinations. The shares fell more than 9% in extended trading.

The San Francisco-based home-sharing platform said it expects the pace of nights and experiences booked will “moderate slightly” in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter’s gain of 25%. Airbnb reported 99.7 million nights and experiences booked in the three months that ended in September, falling short of analysts’ estimates of 99.9 million.

Airbnb also said it expects average daily rates to moderate this quarter due to a strong dollar and a shift in people heading back to cities, which tend to have lower rates based on smaller-sized accommodations. The company forecasted fourth-quarter revenue of $1.80 billion to $1.88 billion, with the low end of that range below Wall Street’s estimate of $1.86 billion.

Source: Bloomberg

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