Airbnb shares surged more than 7%

Airbnb shares rose more than 7%, the largest increase in the market in five months.Airbnb is planning to start housing 20,000 Afghan refugees around the world free of charge, the company’s CEO, Brian Chesky, said Tuesday.

Shares of Airbnb are down 2.1% this year, but shareholders shouldn’t be concerned, according to investment firm Susquehanna.

In fact, the firm says now is the time to buy shares of the online travel website company.

“We still like it despite volatility from COVID variants,” analyst Shyam Patil said after the company’s recent earnings.

“ABNB again blew out expectations in 2Q, driven by a huge increase in travel demand,” he added.

While the company warned in it earnings call about the uncertainty surrounding the variants, Patil was undeterred.

“Although COVID-19 continues to provide substantial headwinds to both ABNB and the travel industry as a whole, ABNB is showing strong signs of recovery — gross bookings grew 37% over 2Q19 levels,” he wrote.

Patil also predicted that Airbnb could see its highest quarterly revenue ever for the third quarter.

“That being said, we view ABNB a must-own stock for the recovery given its strong positioning and promising long-term opportunity,” the firm said.