Airbnb (ABNB, Financials) shares surged 15.08% to $162.31 as of 12:35 p.m. GMT-5 on Friday after the company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results, driven by higher bookings and share buybacks.

With net income of $461 million, a 19% margin, revenue for the quarter climbed 12% year-over-year to $2.5 billion. Reflecting a 24% margin, net income came at $2.6 billion while full-year income was $11.1 billion. With a 31% margin, adjusted profits before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization came in at $765 million for the quarter; full-year adjusted EBITDA arrived at $4.0 billion, or 36% of sales. Reflecting a 40% margin, free cash flow for the quarter was $458 million, helping to reach $4.5 billion overall.

In the fourth quarter, Airbnb said 111 million nights and experiences booked—a 12% rise from the previous year. Bookings for a whole year jumped 10% to 491.5 million. While full-year GBV topped $81.8 billion, up 12%, gross booking value—which includes all bookings before fees and taxes—increased 13% to $17.6 billion in the quarter.

The business saw consistent regional growth. While Europe, the Middle East, and Africa saw low double-digit increase, North America expanded at a mid-single-digit pace. With about 20% increase in nights booked, especially in Brazil, Latin America dominated. Outbound travel from China increased 25%; cross-border travel in the Asia-Pacific area surged 27% year over year.

With participating hosts double their income, Airbnb's co-host network now has 100,000 listings. Along with these changes to search capability, flexible payment choices in important regions, and a better message system, the business also introduced.

Returns from shareholders stayed first. In the fourth quarter, Airbnb bought Class A shares for $838 million, thereby generating total buybacks in 2024 of $3.4 billion. The totally diluted share count of the corporation dropped from 676 million to 658 million. Airbnb said the repurchase authorization still amounts to $3.3 billion.

Reflecting 4% to 6% growth, the business estimates income for the first quarter of 2025 between $2.23 billion and $2.27 billion. Comparisons year over year are projected to be affected by foreign currency headwinds and Easter scheduling. With an adjusted EBITDA margin objective of at least 34.5%, estimated full-year investment in new company launches is between $200 million and $250 million.

With 19,000 Los Angeles wildfire victims in 2024 accommodated on Airbnb.org, the company collected $27 million for relief efforts—including $18 million from Airbnb and its founders. To stop hosts from raising charges by more than 10%, the business has instituted pricing limits.

In 2024 stock-based pay increased 26%. For 2025, Airbnb projects a somewhat low effective tax rate—that of slightly less than 20%. As part of its summer 2025 product rollout, the corporation intends to launch fresh offers in May.