By Emily Dattilo

Airbnb stock is a winner amidst durable growth and innovation plans, Jefferies argued on Monday.

Analysts led by John Colantuoni upgraded shares of the short-term rental company to Buy from Hold and increased their price target to $185 from $165.

Airbnb stock gained 1.1% to $135.82 in premarket trading Monday.

The company has delivered bookings growth of 10% or higher since the pandemic ended, analysts wrote, and recent results illustrate its potential to snap up market share in lodging, thanks to a slate of catalysts including the diversification into new marketing channels and the possibility of incorporating new listing types including hotels.

"We believe ABNB is uniquely well positioned to expand adoption of travel experiences (e.g. tours, day trips), given interactions between the guest and host prior to arrival provide various cross-sell opportunities," analysts wrote. "Our analysis shows $260B is spent on experiences globally and that only $70B is booked online (28% vs. 65% for lodging), a figure we expect to reach $150B in 2030."

Jefferies believes Airbnb's share of online experiences will leap from 3% to 6% in 2030.

Beyond that, the analyst team says the company has an opportunity to bring in more revenue dollars from a combination of sponsored listings, host and guest service and insurance. "Our analysis shows the core lodging business alone is worth ABNB's current value, implying zero is being ascribed to experiences or take rate," they wrote.

Write to Emily Dattilo at emily.dattilo@dowjones.com

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March 10, 2025 08:16 ET (12:16 GMT)

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