Airbnb’s (ABNB) stock surged over 14% on Friday after the company reported a strong earnings beat. The surprise move was led by CEO Brian Chesky, who expressed his vision for transforming the vacation home marketplace app into a one-stop-shop for all travel and living needs.
Chesky outlined plans to launch new businesses adjacent to travel every year for the next four or five years, although no specific details were provided. He drew parallels with Amazon’s successful expansion strategy, which started with book sales and later expanded into DVDs and CDs.
The CEO stated that Airbnb is used by 1.6 billion devices annually, but he aims to increase usage to once or twice a week. To achieve this goal, the company plans to invest $200 million to $250 million in new ventures.
Despite the positive earnings report, analysts were cautious due to concerns about margins and execution risks. JPMorgan analyst John Colantuoni recommended holding onto the stock, citing a $165 price target, while Jefferies analyst John Colantuoni kept his neutral stance with a $165 target.
Airbnb’s Q4 revenue jumped 12% year-over-year to $2.48 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.42 billion. Gross bookings also rose 14% to $17.6 billion, surpassing Wall Street estimates of $17.19 billion.
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbnb-stock-surges-as-ceo-aims-to-make-app-the-amazon-of-travel-and-living-154553097.html