Airbnb shares surged 4% in morning trading as Cowen upgraded Airbnb, said next year's growth would top expectations.
Airbnb is set to build on its gains in the travel industry made during the pandemic as the sector shifts back to growth mode, according to investment firm Cowen.
Analyst Kevin Kopelman upgraded Airbnb to outperform from market perform, saying Tuesday in a note to clients that the lodging marketplace site should remain strong as travel normalizes in 2022.
“Consensus has ABNB slowing to 17% growth next year, vs. 30% pre-pandemic and almost 100% this year. We believe this reflects over-conservatism on the COVID recovery and a view that Alternative increases are temporary,” the note said.
The growth of Airbnb and other alternative services has outperformed traditional lodging options this year. The market share gain for Airbnb came even as the growth of new hosts slowed during the pandemic, creating another potential tailwind in the years ahead.
“We expect growth in hosts and active listings to resume in [early 2022] to respond to growing demand,” the note said.
Shares of Airbnb, which went public in late 2020, have gained 13.5% year to date but are down more than 20% from their peak in February.
Cowen hiked its price target on Airbnb to $200 per share from $160 per share. The new target is 20% above where the stock closed Monday.
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