Airbnb Stock Surge as CEO aims to turn the app into “Amazon” for travel and life


airbnb (abnb) CEO Brian Chesky said he wanted to create more vacation home marketplace apps than destinations for those seeking a place to stay, which caused stocks to skyrocket over 14% on Friday. did.

“I want the Airbnb app. It’s similar to Amazon (amzn), to be a place to suit all your travel and living needs,” Chesky said during a conference call after the company’s revenues on Thursday. “

Among them Shareholder letter On Thursday, the company announced plans to launch “one or two companies” adjacent to travel each year for the next four to five years.

Chesky didn’t provide details on which specific businesses will be launched, but Amazon’s (amzn) First we started selling books, then we started selling DVDs and CDs.

Chesky noted that Airbnb is used on 1.6 billion devices a year. People usually use the app once or twice a year. He wants to raise that rate once or twice a week.

China, China - February 10: The illustration in this photo shows Airbnb's financial performance, travel industry trends, growth in the short-term rental market, and global business activities on February 10th Airbnb before the stock chart The logo is on display. , in 2025 in Chungin, China. (Photo illustrations by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
The Airbnb logo will appear on the smartphone screen in front of the stock chart showing Airbnb’s financial performance, travel industry trends, short-term rental market growth and global business activities in Cheong-Gin, China on February 10th. (Cheng Xin/Getty Images) Cheng Xin via Getty Images

Airbnb said launching and scaling new businesses around the app would require an investment of between $200 million and $250 million, which would affect short-term margins.

“While ABNB is encouraged to have a strong start through 2025, the margin is expected to have 200bps and new business and experience, with execution risk,” JP Morgan analysts on Friday said. I am writing. The company has reaffirmed its equity neutral rating and its price target of $160.

Meanwhile, Jeffreys analyst John Colantuni recommended holding the stock with a price target of $165.

“We prefer to stay on the sidelines until we gain great visibility into the timing of contributions from new products and sponsored lists,” he said.

Airbnb’s revenues for the fourth quarter increased 12% year-over-year to $2.48 billion, beating the expectations of analysts of $2.42 billion.

Total bookings also rose 14% to $17.6 billion, more than Wall Street’s expectations.

Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her with X @ines_ferre.

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