Airbnb vs SpaceX: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
Airbnb reported $12.2B of revenue in FY2025 and $2.5B of net income. SpaceX reported $18.7B of revenue in FY2025 and a net loss of $4.9B.
Latest financial snapshot
Financial summary
Airbnb
Airbnb revenue increased from $1.656 billion in 2016 to $12.241 billion in 2025. The company recorded losses from 2016 through 2021 and profits from 2022 through 2025. FY2025 gross booking value of $91.273 billion represented booking value processed on the platform and was not revenue.
SpaceX
SpaceX revenue grew from $10.387 billion in 2023 to $14.015 billion in 2024 and $18.674 billion in 2025, but heavy Starship, Starlink, and AI spending produced a $4.937 billion FY2025 net loss. In Q2 2026, its first quarter reported as a public company, revenue was $7.8 billion (up 92%), adjusted EBITDA was $3.5 billion, net loss was $541 million, and backlog was $47.5 billion. The IPO raised $85.7 billion and a $25 billion bond sale added more liquidity. In late September 2026 the stock traded near $145, for a market capitalization around $1.9 trillion.
Revenue and profit by year
Airbnb
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $12.2B | $2.5B | 20.5% | +10.3% | Source |
| FY2024 | $11.1B | $2.6B | 23.9% | +11.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $9.9B | $4.8B | 48.3% | +18.1% | Source |
| FY2022 | $8.4B | $1.9B | 22.5% | +40.2% | Source |
| FY2021 | $6B | -$352M | -5.9% | +77.4% | Source |
| FY2020 | $3.4B | -$4.6B | -135.7% | -29.7% | Source |
| FY2019 | $4.8B | -$674.3M | -14.0% | +31.6% | Source |
| FY2018 | $3.7B | -$16.9M | -0.5% | +42.6% | Source |
| FY2017 | $2.6B | -$70M | -2.7% | +54.7% | Source |
| FY2016 | $1.7B | -$147.3M | -8.9% | — | Source |
SpaceX
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $18.7B | -$4.9B | -26.4% | +33.2% | Source |
| FY2024 | $14B | $18M | 0.1% | +34.9% | Source |
| FY2023 | $10.4B | -$4.6B | -44.6% | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Airbnb
- Reservation service fees
Not formally reported
Airbnb earns service fees from reservations for stays, experiences, and services. Revenue is recognized when the reservation occurs; gross booking value is not reported as revenue.
SpaceX
- Launch services
Not formally reported
Commercial, civil, and national-security launches priced by rocket, payload, orbit, and service type.
- Starlink consumer broadband
Not formally reported
Monthly subscriptions and terminals for residential and mobile broadband.
- Enterprise and government connectivity
Not formally reported
Starlink enterprise, aviation, maritime, backup connectivity, Starshield, and government services.
- AI infrastructure
Not formally reported
Compute and cloud services from SpaceX's AI segment, formed through the xAI combination; $2.6B revenue in Q2 2026.
Business model and strategy
Airbnb
How it makes money
Airbnb provides a marketplace on which hosts offer stays, experiences, and services and guests make reservations. The company recognizes service-fee revenue after a reservation occurs. Hosts provide the accommodations and other offerings, so gross booking value is the value of bookings on the platform, not Airbnb revenue.
Growth strategy
Airbnb's stated growth priorities are improving its core marketplace, expanding outside its largest markets, adding offerings beyond homes, and integrating AI into the app. The May 2025 release added services, rebuilt experiences, and an updated app; the May 2026 release added more trip services and boutique hotels in selected markets.
Competitive advantage
Airbnb's marketplace had more than 9 million active listings and 5.5 million hosts as of May 2026. Its scale, reviews, payments, host tools, and brand help connect supply and demand, while Booking Holdings, Expedia Group, and hotel companies remain significant competitors.
SpaceX
How it makes money
SpaceX earns money in three segments. Space sells launches on Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, plus Dragon cargo and crew missions for NASA, the U.S. government, and commercial customers ($962 million in Q2 2026).
Growth strategy
SpaceX's growth plan has four parts: add Starlink subscribers and raise enterprise, aviation, and mobile revenue; launch higher-capacity Starlink V3 satellites on Starship; expand national-security work through Starshield and launch contracts (over $6 billion in U.S. government awards in Q2 2026); and scale AI compute capacity, which grew from 400 megawatts a year earlier to 1.4 gigawatts at the end of Q2 2026.
Competitive advantage
SpaceX's advantage is reusability combined with vertical integration. It builds its own engines, avionics, rockets, and satellites, and reflies Falcon 9 boosters many times, which lowers its marginal launch cost below rivals that still expend most hardware. Being its own largest launch customer lets it deploy Starlink at a cadence no other operator has matched, and Starlink revenue then funds Starship.
Questions about Airbnb vs SpaceX
Which company has higher revenue — Airbnb, Inc. or SpaceX?
Airbnb, Inc. reported $12.2B (FY2025), while SpaceX reported $18.7B (FY2025). By last reported revenue, SpaceX is the larger business, with Airbnb, Inc. reporting a smaller revenue base.
What is the market cap of Airbnb, Inc. vs SpaceX?
Airbnb, Inc.'s market capitalisation stands at $94.9B, while SpaceX's is $1.92T. SpaceX carries the higher market valuation, reflecting investors' expectations of its future earnings power relative to Airbnb, Inc..
Which is more financially efficient — Airbnb, Inc. or SpaceX?
Airbnb, Inc. generates $1.49M / employee in revenue per employee, while SpaceX generates $826k / employee. Airbnb, Inc. shows higher revenue efficiency per headcount, though this reflects business model differences — capital-light software companies routinely outperform labour-intensive manufacturers on this metric.
How do Airbnb, Inc. and SpaceX make money?
Airbnb, Inc. and SpaceX generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Airbnb, Inc.: Airbnb provides a marketplace on which hosts offer stays, experiences, and services and guests make reservations. SpaceX: SpaceX earns money in three segments.
Which company is valued higher relative to revenue — Airbnb, Inc. or SpaceX?
On a price-to-sales (P/S) basis, Airbnb, Inc. trades at 7.8x P/S and SpaceX at 102.8x P/S. SpaceX commands a higher revenue multiple, typically indicating that investors expect faster growth or higher future margins compared to Airbnb, Inc.. A higher multiple is not inherently better — it may also signal that the stock is priced for perfection.
Is Airbnb, Inc. bigger than SpaceX?
By last reported revenue, SpaceX ($18.7B (FY2025)) is the larger company compared to Airbnb, Inc. ($12.2B (FY2025)). Revenue scale is one dimension of size — market capitalisation, employee count, and geographic reach are also relevant depending on the context.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Airbnb vs SpaceX overview