Airbnb IPO filing shows third-quarter profit on costs cuts, travel recovery

Airbnb Inc’s initial public offering paperwork showed on Monday the home rental startup turned a profit in the third quarter due to aggressive cost cuts, as it prepares for one of the most anticipated stock market debuts in recent years.

Its quarterly numbers were helped by a pick up in local travel, even though the overall revenue growth for the first nine months of 2020 was hurt by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. The IPO plans mark a turnaround of sorts for a company that was crippled at the outset of the health crisis.

Airbnb’s revenue fell 18% to $1.34 billion from a year earlier, but it reported net profit of about $219 million in the quarter, helped mainly by a clamp-down on costs.