Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB)

The financial ratios show the liquidity position over a five-year period from 2020 to 2024. The current ratio indicates the company's ability to cover its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets. The quick ratio and cash ratio offer more conservative measures of liquidity by excluding certain asset categories.

Current Ratio

The current ratio started at 1.73 in 2020, improving to a peak of 1.95 in 2021. Afterwards, it declined steadily to 1.86 in 2022, further down to 1.66 in 2023, and a slight increase to 1.69 in 2024. This suggests that the company's short-term asset coverage was strongest in 2021 but has since weakened, although it remains above 1, indicating the company maintains sufficient current assets to cover its current liabilities.

Quick Ratio

The quick ratio follows a similar trajectory to the current ratio, beginning at 1.69 in 2020 and reaching a high point of 1.91 in 2021. It then decreased to 1.83 in 2022, dropped further to 1.62 in 2023, and had a slight recovery to 1.64 in 2024. The pattern indicates that excluding inventory and other less liquid current assets, the company’s immediate liquidity also peaked in 2021 before declining somewhat in subsequent years.

Cash Ratio

The cash ratio, which reflects the most liquid assets (cash and cash equivalents) relative to current liabilities, was 1.24 in 2020 and increased slightly to 1.31 in 2021. It then declined to 1.21 in 2022, decreased more noticeably to 1.01 in 2023, and rose marginally to 1.04 in 2024. This ratio shows a less pronounced decline compared to the other ratios but still illustrates a reduction in the company’s immediate cash availability relative to obligations over the years following 2021.

In summary, all three liquidity ratios improved from 2020 to 2021, indicating improved short-term financial strength during that period. Subsequently, all ratios show a declining trend through 2022 and 2023, with a modest stabilization or slight recovery in 2024. The data suggests some erosion of liquidity buffers after 2021, although the company maintains ratios above 1, implying an overall adequate ability to meet short-term liabilities.

The current ratio exhibited fluctuations over the five-year period. Initially, the ratio increased before stabilizing and experiencing a slight decline. Current assets consistently increased year-over-year, while current liabilities also rose throughout the period, influencing the observed ratio movements.

Current Ratio Trend

The current ratio began at 1.73 in 2020 and increased to 1.95 in 2021, indicating an improved ability to cover short-term obligations with short-term assets. A slight decrease to 1.86 was noted in 2022. Subsequently, the ratio declined to 1.66 in 2023 and showed a modest recovery to 1.69 in 2024. This suggests a gradual weakening in the short-term liquidity position, followed by stabilization.

Asset and Liability Movements

Current assets increased from US$8,916 million in 2020 to US$17,180 million in 2024, demonstrating consistent growth in liquid assets. Current liabilities also increased, moving from US$5,140 million in 2020 to US$10,161 million in 2024. The growth in liabilities, while contributing to overall asset expansion, has outpaced the growth in assets in the latter years, contributing to the observed decline in the current ratio.

The observed trend suggests that while the company maintains a level of liquidity, the rate of increase in current liabilities is approaching that of current assets, potentially requiring monitoring to ensure continued short-term solvency.

Total Quick Assets

The total quick assets have shown a consistent upward trend over the five-year period. Starting at 8,672 million US dollars in 2020, there was a considerable increase each year, reaching 16,689 million US dollars by 2024. This represents nearly a doubling of quick assets, indicating strengthening liquidity and an improving capacity to cover short-term obligations with highly liquid assets.

Current Liabilities

Current liabilities also increased substantially, rising from 5,140 million US dollars in 2020 to 10,161 million US dollars in 2024. The growth in liabilities was particularly notable between 2021 and 2023, suggesting a rising short-term debt or obligations profile. The increase in liabilities, however, occurred alongside increases in quick assets, maintaining the company’s ability to manage these obligations.

Quick Ratio

The quick ratio peaked at 1.91 in 2021, indicating strong liquidity early in the period. After 2021, there was a gradual decline to 1.62 in 2023, with a slight recovery to 1.64 in 2024. Despite this downward trend, the quick ratio remained above 1.5 throughout the period, implying that the company consistently maintained a buffer of liquid assets exceeding current liabilities. This suggests a relatively stable short-term financial position, even as liabilities have grown.

Summary Insights

Overall, the data reflect a pattern of growth in both liquid assets and current liabilities. The company’s liquidity position, as measured by the quick ratio, remained robust though it exhibited some weakening after 2021. The consistent increase in quick assets relative to current liabilities suggests prudent liquidity management amidst rising obligations. The period under review points to an expanding operational scale, requiring increased short-term funding, but with sufficient liquid resources maintained to cover these demands.

Trend in Total Cash Assets

The total cash assets have shown a consistent upward trend over the five-year period. Starting at US$6,391 million at the end of 2020, these increased year-over-year to reach US$10,611 million by the end of 2024, indicating improved liquidity and stronger cash reserves.

Trend in Current Liabilities

Current liabilities have also increased steadily from US$5,140 million at the end of 2020 to US$10,161 million at the end of 2024. This represents nearly a doubling of short-term obligations over the same period, suggesting that the company’s short-term liabilities are growing in line with or slightly faster than its cash assets.

Cash Ratio Analysis

The cash ratio, which measures the ability to cover current liabilities with cash assets, started at 1.24 in 2020 and showed some fluctuation over the years. It peaked at 1.31 in 2021, then gradually declined to 1.01 by the end of 2023 before slightly recovering to 1.04 in 2024. This downward trend indicates a tightening liquidity position relative to current liabilities despite the absolute increase in cash, reflecting that current liabilities are rising at a somewhat faster rate than cash assets.

Overall Insights

While total cash assets have increased substantially, the rise in current liabilities is proportionally higher, leading to a decrease in the cash ratio from its peak in 2021. The cash ratio remaining slightly above 1 throughout the period suggests the company maintains a cautious liquidity buffer but faces increasing short-term financial obligations. This pattern may warrant attention to ensure that the growth in liabilities does not outpace the liquidity capacity in future periods.