Airbnb could be due for sizable gains over the next several months despite its recent underperformance, according to Baird. The firm upgraded the stock to outperform from neutral and increased its price target by $35 to $175. That updated target now implies 24% upside potential, as of Thursday’s close. Shares jumped more than 13% in premarket trading on Friday after the company’s latest quarterly results beat on the top and bottom lines. Airbnb earned 73 cents per share on $2.48 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter, while analysts surveyed by LSEG were expecting 58 cents per share and $2.42 billion in revenue. That said, the company issued a lighter-than-expected revenue guidance for the first quarter. “Upgrading Airbnb to Outperform, following a strong finish to 2024, with Q1 likely the low-water mark for growth and margins in 2025, and significant platform expansion planned for later this year,” analyst Colin Sebastian wrote in a note. ABNB 1D mountain ABNB, 1-day The stock’s move higher following earnings comes as the stock has significantly underperformed the broader market over the past 12 months. Shares have fallen nearly 5% within that period, while the S & P 500 has risen more than 22%. “LTM shares meaningfully underperformed … and sentiment is mixed, however, with a fortified core business, Airbnb is now positioned for broader marketplace monetization, and accelerating growth in 2H25 and 2026,” Sebastian said. “Within our SPEED investment framework, Airbnb ranks well with scale, product and engineering, and we expect rapid improvement in efficiency and data/AI with new platform extensions,” the analyst added. Looking ahead, Sebastian pointed to the company’s expected relaunch of experiences this year. That could come with “deeper” apartment and hotel offerings and new potential services such as travel packages, event planning, food delivery and car sharing. “Leveraging a revamped tech platform, strong core business, and focus on innovation, we believe Airbnb is well-positioned to expand into adjacent markets and, eventually, new verticals as a ‘travel and lifestyle’ marketplace,” the analyst wrote. Most analysts aren’t as bullish as Sebastian, however. According to LSEG, 28 out of the 44 total analysts with coverage on the stock have taken a neutral stance with a hold rating. Nine, by contrast, have a strong buy or buy rating. The consensus price target of roughly $138 also reflects about 2% downside potential from here.
