Airbnb (ABNB) The Business Outgrew Its Peak, the Stock Hasn't

During the pandemic, Airbnb shut off the vast majority of its advertising spend to save cash. Most businesses would have watched their customers vanish into thin air. Instead, Airbnb barely even noticed with about nine out of 10 visitors continuing to use their service anyways.

That's the kind of advantage that helped turn this company, which specializes in helping people find a place to sleep each night while not owning a single bed, into our second largest position in our intrinsic value portfolio. But lately, growth has cooled off and cash flow had barely budged and a new threat had seemed to be released into the market with AI agents that want to be the default for helping you plan your next vacation. So, is Airbnb slow down the first crack in the thesis or is it just a business preparing itself for the next phase of growth?

That's what we'll find out today. Today, we're going to be revisiting a business, Airbnb. So, Airbnb interests me a lot because aside from the odd hotels that I do stay in, mostly for work, it's probably my most used alternative accommodation service.

So, I know many people have had kind of a mixture of good and bad experiences, but mine thus far have basically always been quite good. So, I'm pretty excited here to finally get my hands onto this business and just better understand its inner workings. So, the last time that I stayed at an Airbnb was in May of this year.

I ended up going with my wife and son to celebrate my 40th birthday in Otter Rock, Oregon, which means I've officially reached the age where a well stocked kitchen and good water pressure are the highlights of my vacation. And even though my best explanation of the Oregon coast is kind of British Columbia mixed with Hawaii, which is an incredible mix, the house that we actually got to stay in was no slouch either.