AirBnB

[weijian]

As the disruption playbook says - a startup shouldn't try to compete head-to-head with the incumbent (market leaders) but target a specific under-served/less attractive portion of the market. Airbnb has dominated the lower end of the short term housing market and is now targeting the premium section.

Airbnb Readies a Premium Tier to Compete More With Hotels, Sources Say

• Service will rely on inspectors to check homes for quality
  
  
• Pilot program is designed to lure wealthier travelers
  

Airbnb Inc. is close to launching a new service that will match guests with quality-inspected home and apartment rentals. The product is intended to attract higher-paying travelers who have yet to use Airbnb because they prefer the amenities guaranteed by fancy hotels, said three people familiar with the project.

The service, expected to launch as a pilot with a select group of hosts as soon as this week, will send Airbnb inspectors into hosts’ homes to ensure they meet a checklist of quality standards designated by the company, said two of the people. If the homes pass the inspection they will be eligible for a featured section of Airbnb’s website and mobile apps, they added.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...ith-hotels

[weijian]

"AirBnB Luxe", in addition to "AirBnB Select"

Airbnb said to be planning new tier for luxury vacation rentals

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/technolo...on-rentals

[cyclone]

Airbnb plans stock market splash in 2020

Anirban Sen
SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 / 9:23 PM

(Reuters) - Home rental giant Airbnb said it plans to list its shares in 2020, making it one of the most high-profile names to tap the stock market next year.

In a short statement posted on its website on Thursday, Airbnb did not give any details on how it plans to list its shares, although it is widely expected to take a direct-listing route.

A direct listing to go public is a process in which no new shares are created and helps companies save millions of dollars in underwriting fees.

This year has marked the stock market debuts of several high-profile companies, including Uber and Lyft Inc, but their shares have fared poorly after the launch, amid investor skepticism over their path to profitability.

WeWork owner The We Company has also delayed its initial public offering, walking away from preparations to launch it this month after a lackluster response from investors.

Market experts though have said Airbnb might receive a warmer reception from investors when it debuts, considering that its financials looked more stable than recent internet unicorns that have gone public.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbn...SKBN1W41Z7

[weijian]

The virus pandemic has probably burst the sharing economy's halo effect.

It has been a good 5-7 year run for all these New (sharing) Economies' companies and as the old saying goes that it will take a full bear market to fully baptise you (as an individual investor or a "New Economy" company). Personally, I feel whatever great moats/low marginal costs that is mooted on paper to justify high valuations, will probably be tempered by this "new risk" moving forward.

Airbnb lowers internal valuation to US$26b as coronavirus hits bookings: source

[SAN FRANCISCO] Airbnb lowered its internal valuation by 16 per cent to US$26 billion, as the US home rental firm grapples with a slowdown in bookings due to the global spread of the coronavirus pandemic, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/...ngs-source

[weijian]

Airbnb's new US$1b investment comes at lower valuation: sources

[BENGALURU] Airbnb Inc's new US$1 billion investment from private equity firms Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners has terms that imply a reduced valuation of the home rental company, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

Silver Lake and Sixth Street received warrants that can be exercised at an US$18 billion valuation, below the US$26 billion Airbnb was valued in early March in its internal valuation, one source said.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/...on-sources

[specuvestor]

Personally I think AirBnB, together with ride sharing, is one of the few sharing economy that makes sense, because there is ownership of the asset. Their timing for IPO was just off... if they did it end of 2019 or beginning 2020 would have been perfect

Maybe too greedy

Airbnb plans stock market splash in 2020

Anirban Sen
SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 / 9:23 PM

(Reuters) - Home rental giant Airbnb said it plans to list its shares in 2020, making it one of the most high-profile names to tap the stock market next year.

In a short statement posted on its website on Thursday, Airbnb did not give any details on how it plans to list its shares, although it is widely expected to take a direct-listing route.

A direct listing to go public is a process in which no new shares are created and helps companies save millions of dollars in underwriting fees.

This year has marked the stock market debuts of several high-profile companies, including Uber and Lyft Inc, but their shares have fared poorly after the launch, amid investor skepticism over their path to profitability.

WeWork owner The We Company has also delayed its initial public offering, walking away from preparations to launch it this month after a lackluster response from investors.

Market experts though have said Airbnb might receive a warmer reception from investors when it debuts, considering that its financials looked more stable than recent internet unicorns that have gone public.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/us-airbn...SKBN1W41Z7

[Wildreamz]

https://www.cmcmarkets.com/en-nz/news-an...20%242.6bn.

Airbnb IPO finally set to take flight

It’s been a long time coming, but after months of speculation Airbnb looks set to pull the trigger on an IPO on 9 December, with trading to start on 10 December. The valuation initially came in at $35bn, pricing the shares between $44 and $50 a share, as it looks to raise as much as $2.6bn. This has since been raised to $56-$60 a share lifting the valuation to over $40bn.

[cyclone]

Airbnb valuation surges past $100 billion in biggest U.S. IPO of 2020

By Noor Zainab Hussain, Joshua Franklin
DECEMBER 10, 202010:21 PM

(Reuters) -Shares of Airbnb Inc more than doubled in their stock market debut on Thursday, valuing the home rental firm at just over $100 billion in the biggest U.S. initial public offering (IPO) of 2020 and capping a bumper year in which investors flocked to tech stocks.

Airbnb opened at $146 on the Nasdaq, far above the IPO price of $68 per share that raised $3.5 billion for the company. The stock hit a high of $165 and closed at $144.71.

The IPO is the culmination of a stunning recovery in Airbnb’s fortunes after the firm’s business was heavily damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.

But as lockdowns eased, more travelers opted to book homes instead of hotels, helping Airbnb post a surprise profit for the third quarter. The San Francisco-based firm also gained from increased interest in renting homes away from major cities.

“I don’t think this summer too many people expected to see an Airbnb IPO this year,” Airbnb Chief Executive Brian Chesky told Reuters in an interview.

“We were planning on going public, we put our IPO on hold and this has been the most unbelievable journey. It’s been quite a comeback for our hosts and for what I hope will be travel,” added Chesky, whose Airbnb stake is now worth around $11 billion.

Founded in 2008 as a website to take bookings for rooms during conferences, Airbnb’s listing was one of the most anticipated U.S. IPOs of 2020, which has already been a record year for stock market listings.

Record label Warner Music Group, data analytics firm Palantir Technologies and data warehouse company Snowflake Inc have all gone public in the past few months.

At the start of trading on the Nasdaq, Airbnb had a market capitalization of $86.5 billion, eclipsing that of online travel agency Booking Holdings Inc and hotel chain Marriott International Inc.

Including securities such as options and restricted stock units, Airbnb’s fully diluted valuation came to $100.7 billion, more than five times the $18 billion Airbnb was valued at in a private fundraising round in April at the outset of the pandemic. Airbnb’s worth was pegged at $31 billion in its last pre-COVID-19 private fundraising in 2017.

The eye-popping rise in Airbnb’s stock on its debut comes just a day after the share price of food delivery company DoorDash Inc doubled in their first day of trading.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/article/airbnb-i...SKBN28K261

[cyclone]

Airbnb revenue surges as countries open up for vaccinated travelers

November 5, 2021 8:25 AM +07

Nov 4 (Reuters) - Airbnb Inc's (ABNB.O) quarterly revenue topped Wall Street expectations and the short-term home rental company said on Thursday a rebound in global travel amid rising vaccination rates in the last three months of the year would drive growth in 2022.

International travel search volumes have been rising as countries, including the United States, start to ease pandemic-related restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors.

Easing lockdowns have helped Airbnb recover from a steep drop in business early last year as leisure-seeking domestic travelers booked homes away from major cities. It now expects cross-border travel to further boost its revenue.

"We are seeing recovery in both longer-distance and cross-border travel this year, while domestic and short-distance travel continue to be more popular than 2019 levels," the company said in a statement.

The vacation rental said the recovery was dominated by North America and Europe - regions with higher average daily rates. It rose 15% to about $149 in the third quarter from a year earlier.

For the Thanksgiving week in the United States, Airbnb said as of Sept. 30, nights booked are 40% higher than same period in 2019.

The vacation rental said the recovery was dominated by North America and Europe - regions with higher average daily rates. It rose 15% to about $149 in the third quarter from a year earlier.

For the Thanksgiving week in the United States, Airbnb said as of Sept. 30, nights booked are 40% higher than same period in 2019.

More details in https://www.reuters.com/business/airbnb-...021-11-04/

[Wildreamz]

Airbnb's earnings has consistently shown resilience throughout the pandemic, as compared to similar online travel companies such as Booking and Expedia. Their revenues in particular had been higher than 2019 since a few quarters ago, while their competitors revenues are still way lower than 2019 (even in the most recent quarter where their share prices popped). 

Notably, the most recent quarter, their revenue ($2.24bil) has exceeded 2019 quarter by 35%, while Booking ($2.16bil) (their closest compare) is still way below 2019 quarter.

Sources:
https://hypercharts.co/abnb
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/chart...gs/revenue
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/chart...ia/revenue

Few things I like about Airbnb:
* I believe the addressable market (TAM) for Airbnb is much higher than both Expedia and Booking; the amount of private estate available for airbnb in the world is probably much larger than hotels combined.
* Airbnb serves motivated community of small entrepreneurs (hosts); ie democratizing
* Improves economy of country they operate in
* Unlock otherwise idle assets
* Provide unique and differentiated experiences (as compared to traditional hotels and hostels)
* Serves an industry that is evergreen (travel)
* Innovating quickly (launching new products every year, such as "experiences", "flexible dates")
* Great unit economics (recent quarter showed 38% net operating margin)
* Insiders hold lots of shares (3 co-founders each own about 13% of company): https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/...7cd315dba6
* Great Glassdoor score (99% approval of Brian Chesky, 4.3/5 stars)
* Global network effect (platform that gives global hosts access to global travellers and vice-versa)
* Google trends in every country that Airbnb operates in shows them overtaking, or on the track of overtaking Booking/Expedia etc.
* Brian Chesky has shown flexibility and tenacity navigating this Covid crisis
* Overall, seems to be a very stakeholder friendly business

Risks:
* Regulatory (per country basis)
* Adverse events that threatens reputation of company (e.g. rape and murder cases)
* Not all communities suitable for Airbnb (social disturbances etc.)

Valuation:
* Applying reasonable growth projections for 2022 and beyond, based on 2019 number, it seems relatively cheap a few months ago.
* Not sure about today

(vested)