Airbnb EXPLODES After Earnings Masterclass, Chesky Declares Airbnb The Next Amazon–WTF?

Sooo Airbnb is coming off its best day ever, and Brian Chesky is out here LARPing as Jeff Bezos. Shares popped over 15% on Friday after the company put on an absolute earnings clinic, forcing Wall Street to eat their own low-ball estimates. Revenue came in at $2.48 billion, profit reported at $461 million, and nights booked? An astounding 111 million. Translation: Everything on the top line was up, and all beat estimates. And now Chesky thinks he’s building the Amazon of travel—because apparently, an earnings win of this magnitude is enough to develop some kind of god complex.

(Source: Giphy) 

Now with that said, let’s get one thing clear here: Airbnb is not Amazon. Amazon prints money off AWS and has a monopoly on doorstep addictions. Airbnb has a glorified couch-surfing app that pisses off entire cities and convinces broke millennials to pay hotel prices for “vibes.” But Chesky doesn’t care. He’s basically saying that Airbnb is going to launch new businesses every year for the next five years, and each one could hit $1B in revenue. That’s cute. You know what else is cute? Soft-a$$ Q1 guidance that missed expectations LOL.

What a plot twist huh? After obliterating every top line estimate imaginable, Airbnb told investors to lower their expectations for next quarter because last year had an extra day in February. Yes, that’s the excuse. They’re projecting $2.23B-$2.27B in revenue, which misses the $2.3B analysts were hoping for. Meanwhile, they’re dropping $200M-$250M on these “new business opportunities” that they swear will change the game. 

(Source: CNBC) 

Of course, these mystery projects are still unknown, and will be revealed in May. But if this turns into some metaverse-adjacent nightmare or an AI-powered “superhost” guru fiasco, we riot.

But, but, but… while that’s cool and all, let’s not forget that regulators absolutely hate Airbnb’s existence. Cities everywhere are cracking down on short-term rentals, and local governments are salivating at the chance to milk Airbnb for more taxes and restrictions. So while the stock is flying now, and Chesky has ambitious goals (for good reason—and I don’t blame him), some may sense that Airbnb is operating on borrowed time before regulations throw down the hammer. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Plus, keep in mind that competitors aren’t asleep at the wheel during this Airbnb momentum shift either. Hotels are fighting back, while Expedia and Booking.com seem to be putting the pedal to the metal in their infrastructure as well. 

In the end though, while investors are on a bit of a high, Airbnb’s “Amazon of travel” dream is still just that—a dream. Execution is everything, and Wall Street will want to see results before buying into Chesky’s master plan. So yeah, enjoy the stock pump while it lasts. But if those new Chesky plans don’t deliver, or if cities start nuking short-term rentals harder than San Francisco’s war on fun, this whole “Amazon of travel” fantasy isn’t going to age well… at all. 

In the meantime, place your bets accordingly and keep your eyes on Airbnb. And as always, stay safe and stay frosty, friends! Until next time…

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Stocks.News holds positions in Amazon as mentioned in the article.