ABNB · Q2 2026 Earnings

Bullish

Airbnb

Reported August 6, 2026

30-second summary

Q2 revenue grew 17% YoY to $3.608B, clearing the top of the $3.54–3.60B guide, with Q2 adjusted EBITDA margin at 35% and FCF of $1.253B (35% margin). Management raised both FY2026 levers: revenue growth from "low-to-mid teens" to "at least mid teens" and EBITDA margin floor from ≥35% to ≥35.5%. Q3 is guided to $4.69–4.77B (+15–17% YoY, ~3pts FX), but Q3 EBITDA margin is guided "down slightly" vs Q3 2025's 50% — the one crack in an otherwise clean print, framed as investment timing.

Headline numbers

EPS

Q2 FY2026

$1.27

+1.6% vs est.

Revenue

Q2 FY2026

$3.61B

+17.0% YoY

+0.8% vs est.

Free cash flow

Q2 FY2026

$1.25B

Operating margin

Q2 FY2026

21.0%

Key financials

Q2 FY2026

Metric	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY	Q1 FY2026	QoQ
Revenue	$3.61B	$3.10B	+16.5%	$2.68B	+34.7%
EPS	$1.27	$1.03	+23.3%	$0.26	+388.5%
Operating margin	21.0%	19.8%	+125bps	3.2%	+1780bps
Free cash flow	$1.25B	$0.96B	+30.2%	$1.70B	-26.5%

Guidance

Airbnb raised full-year FY2026 guidance for both revenue growth (low-to-mid teens → at least mid teens) and Adjusted EBITDA Margin (+50 bps to at least 35.5%) on Q2 beat, with Q3 set to deliver 15–17% YoY revenue growth inclusive of FX tailwind.

Guidance is issued for both next quarter and the full year. Both may appear below.

Actuals vs prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	Actual	Δ	Result
Revenue	Q2 FY2026	$3.54B - $3.60B	$3.608B	+0.8% above guidance midpoint	Beat
Revenue YoY Growth	Q2 FY2026	14% to 16%	17%	+1-3 points above guide range	Beat
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	Q2 FY2026	up year-over-year	35%	in-line (qualitative guide met)	Met
Implied Take Rate	Q2 FY2026	up slightly year-over-year	13.2%	in-line (qualitative guide met)	Met

New guidance

Metric	Period	Guide	YoY
Revenue	Q3 FY2026	$4.69B - $4.77B	+14.7% to +16.4% YoY
Revenue YoY Growth	Q3 FY2026	15% to 17%	—
GBV YoY Growth	Q3 FY2026	mid teens	—
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	Q3 FY2026	down slightly compared to Q3 2025	—

Changes to prior guidance

Metric	Period	Prior guide	New guide	Δ	Result
Revenue YoY Growth	FY2026	low to mid teens	at least mid teens	upgraded from low-to-mid teens to at least mid teens	Raised
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	FY2026	at least 35%	at least 35.5%	+50 bps lift to at least 35.5%	Raised

Platform metrics

Q2 FY2026

Segment	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY
Nights and Seats Booked	148.3M	134.4M	—
Gross Booking Value	$27.2B	—	—
Average Daily Rate (ADR)	$184	$174	—
Implied Take Rate	13.2%	13.2%	—
First-Time Booker Growth	11% YoY	—	—

Profitability

Q2 FY2026

Segment	Q2 FY2026	Q2 FY2025	YoY
Adjusted EBITDA Margin	35%	34%	—
Free Cash Flow Margin	35%	31%	—
TTM Free Cash Flow	$4.8B	—	—

Management tone

No transcript was available for this print; the tone read below is inferred from press-release language shifts against four quarters of prior commentary. Narrative arc: Q3 2025 multi-business expansion thesis → Q4 2025 integrated "Airbnb trip" ecosystem → Q1 2026 AI-native platform at Amazon-scale ambition → Q2 2026 confidence hardened into a raised FY floor.

The press-release language on FY2026 shifted from Q1's "we now expect year-over-year revenue growth to improve to low to mid teens" to this quarter's "we now expect year-over-year revenue growth to improve to at least mid teens" — the second consecutive raise, and the first time the FY floor has been lifted in absolute margin terms (35% → 35.5%). Two quarters ago Chesky framed FY2026 as an "acceleration year"; now the acceleration is being priced into the guide itself rather than promised as a back-half event.

The Q3 EBITDA margin call-out — "down slightly compared to Q3 2025, due to timing of investments" — is the one language shift that runs against the confidence arc. Q3 is structurally the highest-margin quarter (50% last year), and "down slightly" against that base means H2 will absorb the Q1/Q2 beats rather than compound them. The framing ("timing of investments") is identical to the H2 2025 investment-window language Mertz used a year ago, but this time it is layered on top of a raised FY margin floor — implying management has enough Q1/Q2 cushion to fund the H2 investment without breaching the ≥35.5% commitment.

The forward demand language moved from Q1's "encouraged by healthy demand" to "continued strong travel demand" — a modest but directional firming. Combined with the FY revenue floor being lifted from ~13% to ~15%+, the underlying signal is that Q1's demand acceleration was durable through Q2 on a headline basis, though ex-FX organic growth softened 2pts.

Answers to last quarter's watch list

Q2 organic revenue growth (ex-FX) lands at or above 12% — Q2 revenue grew 17% YoY, or 13% ex-FX per the Quarterly Summary — above the 12% threshold, but a 2pt deceleration from Q1's 15% ex-FX rather than a match. The durability question is partially resolved: headline growth is durable on FX, but organic decelerated. Status: Resolved, with organic softness worth flagging.

First numeric hotel disclosure (room nights, GBV mix, or inventory) — the press release disclosed that hotel nights booked grew approximately three times as fast as the homes business and that hotels remain a single-digit percentage of nights booked, but did not provide a specific hotel room-night count or dollar GBV. Third consecutive quarter of qualitative-only framing on a category Chesky has scoped as "multi-billion dollar." With no transcript available this quarter, it is possible the call included fresh commentary; the shareholder letter itself did not quantify the base.

Continue monitoring

Q2 EBITDA margin progression supports the FY ≥35% floor — Q2 adjusted EBITDA margin printed 35% vs Q2 2025's 34% (+100bps YoY), and the FY floor was raised from ≥35% to ≥35.5% concurrently. The margin cushion is wide enough that FY does not require a Q4 surge — the raise itself is the answer.

Resolved positively

First-time booker growth holds at or above 10% — first-time booker growth accelerated to 11% YoY in Q2, up from 10% in Q1 and against tougher comps. The top-of-funnel signal for expansion-market and payments-roadmap conversion is intact and improving.

Resolved positively

Payments and pricing roadmap — first dollar-scoped attribution to revenue — the press release did not attribute specific dollar amounts to Reserve Now Pay Later or the broader payments suite. With no transcript available, this cannot be confirmed either way for this quarter.

Continue monitoring

AI engineering productivity translates to opex — no dollar-quantified engineering opex savings disclosed in the shareholder letter, though the press release noted customer-support cost per booking declined ~16% YoY driven in part by the AI assistant. Status: Partial disclosure, continue monitoring for direct engineering opex attribution.

What to watch into next quarter

Q3 organic revenue growth (ex-FX) lands at or above 12% — the 15–17% headline includes ~3pts FX; the underlying 12–14% organic range tests whether Q2's 13% ex-FX print stabilizes or slips further against Q3's tougher comp. Below 12% organic would open a clear deceleration question the "down slightly" margin guide already hints at.

Q3 EBITDA margin lands within 100bps of Q3 2025's 50% — "down slightly" is qualitative; anything wider than 100bps YoY decline against 50% (i.e. print below 49%) would suggest the H2 investment step-up is escalating beyond the FY ≥35.5% commitment's tolerance.

First numeric hotel disclosure (base level, not just growth multiple) — fourth consecutive quarter of "multi-billion dollar" framing without a base number, though this quarter did add "3x homes growth" and "single-digit % of nights" as partial quantification. Chesky committed in Q4 2025 to "exit 2026 as meaningfully larger" on hotels; Q3 is the natural moment for a full base disclosure.

Payments and pricing roadmap — first dollar-scoped attribution — Mertz put "hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year" on the record two quarters ago. Continued silence into Q3 makes it a credibility item.

First-time booker growth holds at or above 10% — 11% in Q2 was the second consecutive acceleration. A third quarter above 10% against Q3's Middle East / geopolitical comp would harden the expansion-market thesis into a structural argument rather than a promotional one.

FY2026 EBITDA margin floor — any further lift — the floor has now been raised twice (stable → ≥35% → ≥35.5%). A third lift on the Q3 print would be an unusually aggressive forward-margin escalation and would materially re-rate the FY2027 setup.

Sources

Airbnb Q2 FY2026 Shareholder Letter / Press Release (Exhibit 99.1), filed with the SEC on 2026-08-06 — https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1559720/000119312526337928/d70413dex991.htm
Tapebrief ABNB Q1 FY2026 brief (prior-quarter guide baselines and watch list).
Tapebrief ABNB Q4 FY2025, Q3 FY2025, and Q2 FY2025 briefs (multi-quarter guidance and tone trajectory).

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