Airbnb price target raised to $179 from $166 at Bernstein

Bernstein raised the firm’s price target on Airbnb to $179 from $166 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. With Q4 reports for the online travel agencies for all names in line or ahead of consensus, the “recurring speed bump across all names” was Q1 guidance – largely a result of difficult compares and calendar effects, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says the companies are “entering an undoubted paradigm of more normalized growth,” with overall leisure expected to grow mid-single-growth from here. For Airbnb, Bernstein believes normalized demand growth should be less to fear, given it is accompanied by an even greater slowdown in hotel supply growth.