When the world locked down and flights were grounded, travel providers and Insta glam content creators took a hit. Now, it seems things are getting back to normal… somewhat.
Ride-hailing giant Uber (UBER) announced booming revenue numbers for Q1. Gross bookings rose 35% year-over-year to $26.4b, while Q1 2022 revenue grew 136% to $6.9b. However, despite the healthy growth in several categories, Uber has a Q1 2022 net loss of $5.9b. Most of that ($5.6b) was due to “aggregate unrealized losses” from Uber’s equity investments in delivery and rideshare companies Grab, Aurora, and Didi.
Fresh off announcing workers can work from home forever, Airbnb (ABNB) also announced positive revenues. The home booking platform saw its quarterly revenue surge by 70% to $1.51b, beating analyst estimates. Share prices also saw a rise of 6% in after-hours trading.
Why it matters
Travelers are also becoming increasingly confident in booking trips further in advance, as at the end of April the company had 30% more nights booked for the summer travel season than at the same time in 2019. As for on-ground transport, Uber-rival Lyft (LYFT) saw its share price plunge by 26% after reporting a weak Q2 outlook.
