Sonder: Q1 Rates Up, Eyes 'Immense' Weekday RevPAR Chance

Short-term accommodation provider Sonder Holdings' first-quarter revenue per available room, average daily rate and occupancy each increased year over year during the company’s “seasonably weakest quarter of the year,” company executives said late Wednesday during an earnings call. 

Company RevPAR increased steadily month over month during February and March, helping account for a 15 percent year-over-year increase to $134 in Q1. Sonder’s ADR reached $167, up 4 percent year over year. 

In Q1, occupancy was 80 percent, up 700 basis points year over year, but down 300 basis points sequentially, newly appointed CFO Dominique Bourgault said. 

In the first quarter, Sonder continued to expand its corporate business, deepening its presence in “existing verticals,” such as entertainment, while expanding to new verticals in education, government and finance, Sonder co-founder and CEO Francis Davidson said during the call. Davidson also cited corporate business as a strong opportunity for the company’s continued growth, alongside the “immense opportunity” of weekday RevPAR. 

Sonder executives said the company remains focused on achieving its goal of becoming cash-flow positive, originally announced in June 2022, a process that has included cost reductions and layoffs of about 14 percent of Sonder’s workforce, announced in the fourth quarter and expected to be complete in Q1. 

Additional Q1 Results

Sonder reported $121 million in Q1, up 50 percent year over year but short of Q4’s $135 million. 

Live units grew by 35 percent year over year to more than 10,400—a milestone for the company, according to Bourgault—and added to the company’s portfolio in Q1. Sonder’s total portfolio is 18,200 live units, down 6 percent year over year. Live-unit growth drove bookable nights up by 30 percent year over year in Q1, Bourgault added.

“That said, we still have a notable backlog of contracted but not-live units, which we’re expecting will continue to be the primary driver of unit growth over the next few quarters,” Davidson said.

 Sonder Q4 results