Airbnb and DoorDash went public at the same time, but see very different paths after the pandemic

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In a letter to investors, Airbnb said it is “preparing for travel recovery” in 2021, after it dropped bookings through its platform 41% in 2020 as people largely stayed at home due to the pandemic.

“With the vaccine being rolled out and restrictions lifted, we expect there will be significant travel recovery,” the company wrote in the letter.

DoorDash, on the other hand, has benefited immensely from people ordering food and essentials while staying at home, with sales of $ 2.89 billion last year, more than tripling from the year before. “While the Covid-19 pandemic was a tailwind for all online trading in 2020, we are proud of the inordinate profits we’ve made compared to peers,” the company said in its letter to investors.
Airbnb just debuted on Wall Street. Now it is worth more than Marriott and Hilton combined

But there is some cause for concern. While the company said it hopes “markets will open soon,” it also pointed to a resulting negative impact on its business. DoorDash said this return to normal could lead to “decreases in consumer engagement and average order value, although the exact amount remains unclear”.

While Airbnb’s stock was essentially flat after its earnings report Thursday after hours, DoorDash stock fell more than 11%. Both companies remain well above their IPO prices.

For the time being, both companies continue to face challenges.

Despite the strong revenue growth in the fourth quarter, DoorDash’s losses also grew. It lost $ 312 million in the quarter, compared to $ 134 million in the same period a year earlier. The company had made its first profit – $ 23 million – in the second quarter of 2020, before reporting losses again in the third quarter.

Airbnb, meanwhile, posted a staggering loss of $ 3.9 billion in the fourth quarter, of which $ 2.8 billion was related to stock-based compensation. The company said it lost $ 4.6 billion in 2020.

In its earnings report, Airbnb focused on the fact that fourth-quarter revenues were “only 22% lower than annual, demonstrating Airbnb’s resilience.” It brought in revenue of $ 859 million in the fourth quarter, despite spikes in coronavirus cases.

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