Travel stocks are off to a strong 2022 start
Travel stocks are back — with Airbnb (NASDAQ:ABNB) up 4% after hours from reporting earnings that exceeded expectations yesterday.
What’s the big deal? In just two years, Airbnb went from weak — taking out $1B in debt to get through COVID — to strong:
- Reported its second consecutive profitable quarter — with a net income of $55M compared to a loss of $3.9B in the same quarter last year.
- Raised its sales expectations in the next quarter to $1.48 compared to $1.22B expected and sees bookings to “significantly exceed” 2019’s.
Airbnb is benefiting from the rise of remote work — with nearly half of their bookings for stays of a week or longer and 20% for a month or more.
Travel gets a green card: Travel stocks fell alongside the broader market over the past few months — with the emergence of Omicron — but recovered faster than most.
It’s rare to find an industry in the green in 2022 but we found it…
- Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) — owner of Airbnb competitor VRBO — is up 15%.
- Bookings (NASDAQ:BKNG) — the travel booking site — is up 7%.
- Trivago (NASDAQ:TRVG) — a German travel booking site — is up 19%.
They are finally profitable again with Trivago the only one still trading below its pre-COVID level.
Outlook: Travel is improving as many North American and European countries remove travel restrictions. Trivago’s CEO expects travel patterns to return to normal by Spring/Summer — as governments and travellers get used to the “new normal”.
