Demand for international drove an upbeat current-quarter forecast
Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) stock is brushing off a fourth-quarter top-and bottom-line beat and better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter forecast, down 4.4% to trade at $144.25 at last check. The company noted strong demand for international travel, as well as longer bookings.
No fewer than nine brokerages raised their price targets, including Susquehanna to $180 from $160. Meanwhile, D.A. Davidson downgraded the security to "neutral" from "buy," as Deutsche Bank and UBS cut their price objectives to $135 and $143, respectively. Coming into today, 22 of 33 firms in coverage rated ABNB a "hold" or worse.
Options traders are also chiming in, with 39,000 calls and 38,000 calls exchanged, or six times the volume that is typically seen at this point. Most popular is the February 150 call, where new positions are being bought to open.
Over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), ABNB's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.24 sits higher than 79% of readings from the last year. This means calls have been more popular than usual.
Airbnb stock just hit a Feb. 12, 52-week high of $157.34, with the 50-day moving average set to contain today's pullback, after sweeping in to stop losses in November and January. In the past 12 months, the security added 19.6%, and already sports a 6% lead for 2024.