Episode summary
Portfolio Review: Thoughts on Airbnb, Reddit, Adobe, and co.
The Intrinsic Value Podcast
· · Hosts: Daniel Mahncke, Shawn O'Malley, Kyle Grieve
Summary
The hosts review the Intrinsic Value portfolio and explain how they think about position sizing, conviction, and when a holding should be trimmed, upgraded, or sold. They say the portfolio is intended to hold about 15 to 20 names, with biggest positions concentrated in high-conviction ideas like Alphabet, Airbnb, Uber, and Adobe. They also frame the episode as a chance to revisit watchlist names that have been hit hard in 2026, including Trade Desk and FICO, while introducing Kyle Grieve as a new co-host going forward.
A major part of the discussion centers on Exor, which they describe as an Italian holding company that gives investors discounted exposure to Ferrari plus other assets. They argue that Exor trades at a large discount to net asset value, that buybacks could help close that gap, and that the main risk is poor capital allocation with the cash balance. They also discuss TransDigm as a powerful aerospace aftermarket business with extreme pricing power, but say its premium valuation and complexity make it less attractive as a small holding than a larger bet on a higher-conviction idea like Amazon.
The hosts are similarly constructive on Reddit and Airbnb. Reddit is presented as a business with strong community-driven usage, valuable human-generated data for AI training, and a dramatic margin inflection, while Airbnb is treated as a durable two-sided marketplace whose valuation and post-pandemic normalization have made the stock more interesting. By the end, they indicate they are willing to sell Copart and TransDigm, keep them on a watch list, and redeploy capital toward higher-conviction positions.
Key takeaways
- The hosts want a concentrated 15 to 20 stock portfolio, with position size tied to conviction rather than equal weighting.
- Exor is framed as a Ferrari proxy trading at about a 60% discount to net asset value, with buybacks and mean reversion as the main upside drivers.
- TransDigm is praised for aerospace pricing power and aftermarket economics, but its premium valuation keeps it from becoming a larger core position.
- Reddit is viewed as a rare social platform with authentic human content, monetization runway, and a sharp margin inflection from negative 37% in 2024 to positive 24% in 2025.
- Airbnb is seen as a high-quality marketplace whose stock became more attractive only after valuation reset from an IPO level above 100 times operating cash flow.
- The hosts are leaning toward selling Copart and TransDigm to simplify the portfolio and increase exposure to names like Amazon.
Notable quotes
“we will decide today that we make some changes to our portfolio”
“it's like an Italian Birkshire Hathaway”
“you're buying Ferrari exposure just through a holding company rapper”
“a conglomerate of a 100 small monopolies”
“Reddit has around 100,000 different communities or subreddits which are these individual forums”
How the episode opens
Today we will look at our portfolio. We will discuss our biggest positions, sell two companies, and add to one where we feel like the opportunity has become even better. We're also going to look at some of the watch list companies that listeners have asked us the most for updates on, including Tradeesk and FICO, which have dropped enormously despite being some of the best businesses out there.
So, let's see what changed with them. Before we get started, a quick heads up for our listeners. The Intrinsic Battery podcast is now being jointly published on the investors podcast feed, formerly known as We Study Billionaires.
If you are hearing this on the Intrinsic Value podcast feed, nothing changes for you. You will keep getting every episode right here. But if you want early access to our episodes and company coverage alongside the full lineup of content from the Investors Podcast Network, you can find us on the new feed as well.
So, we've included a direct link in the episode description or you can simply search the investors podcast in your podcast app and hit subscribe. Same deep dives, same stock breakdowns, just a bigger home. Thank you for listening and let's get into today's episode.
Today's episode will be another portfolio review. After covering more than 60 companies so far, we try to look back at our portfolio about once a quarter and discuss in real time whether we want to make some adjustments or changes to the portfolio. And currently, we only own 17 companies, which means that we've passed on more than 40 companies who have not made it into the portfolio.
Many of them are still highquality businesses. And since 2026 has been this year of historic draw downs for some very highquality businesses out there, we will be covering three of our watch list companies that many folks in the audience wanted us to revisit and update our thoughts on.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- portfolio review
- investment theses
- reddit valuation
- airbnb thesis
- growth stock watchlist
Companies and tickers mentioned
- TDG
- CPRT
- RDDT
- ABNB
- TTD
- FICO
- NTDOY
- ADBE
- Exor
- TransDigm
- Copart
- Airbnb
- Universal Music Group
- The Trade Desk
- FICO
- Nintendo
- Adobe
Watch the episode
Watch “Portfolio Review: Thoughts on Airbnb, Reddit, Adobe, and co.” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from The Intrinsic Value Podcast
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Reddit (RDDT): Record Cash Flow, Collapsing Share Price -
McDonald's ($MCD): Generational Compounder in Historical Drawdown -
Mercado Libre ($MELI): We Doubled Down on Meli! -
Airbnb (ABNB) The Business Outgrew Its Peak, the Stock Hasn't -
GE Aerospace: The Ultimate Compounder?
The Intrinsic Value Podcast, this episode and its artwork belong to The Investor's Podcast Network. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
