Late last year, as many technology startups were struggling to stay afloat, Airbnb Inc. quietly reached a milestone few of its peers had achieved: profitability.
Airbnb became profitable for the first time during the second half of 2016, according to people close to the company. The home and apartment-rental company anticipates it will maintain profitability in 2017 before interest, taxes and amortization, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the private company’s earnings.
Reaching profitability puts Airbnb on a very different footing than its fellow upstart, Uber Technologies Inc. The ride-hailing company lost an estimated $3 billion last year, according to a person familiar with the matter. Uber was consumed with keeping fares low to compete with rivals like Lyft Inc. at home and with garnering market share in China, a country it finally abandoned over the summer by selling its local business there to homegrown rival Didi Chuxing.