Airbnb Inc. (ABNB) Communacopia + Technology 2026 — Key Takeaways

Equity Research 8 September 2026 | 7:25PM EDT

Airbnb Inc. (ABNB): Communacopia + Technology 2026 — Key Takeaways

Eric Sheridan | Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

Aarshiya Sachdeva | Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC Presenters: We hosted CEO Brian Chesky at the Communacopia + Technology Conference.

Bottom Line: We highlight a few key takeaways from our conversation: 1) Management continues to see substantial runway within the core business, which is approaching ~$100bn of GBV and could ultimately be significantly larger while scaling new verticals; 2) Category expansion across hotels, experiences, services, car rentals and longer-term stays remains a central strategic priority, with each new category expanding TAM while strengthening the broader platform flywheel; & 3) Airbnb is positioning itself to be an AI-native company, leveraging AI internally to accelerate product development while ultimately envisioning more personalized, visual and collaborative consumer experiences. Additional details inside the report.

n Revenue/Topline Trends: The core business is approaching ~$100bn of GBV, with ~70% of business concentrated in five countries (and 4 of 5 largest markets are accelerating), while markets such as India, Japan, Korea, and broader Asia remain underpenetrated. Key areas of category expansion include hotels (~1/3 of users who book a hotel return to book a home on Airbnb), experiences, services, car rentals (one of the fastest growing new category on platform), longer-term stays, and other travel adjacent offerings, which expands TAM while simultaneously strengthening the core marketplace. n AI/Product Strategy: Airbnb aims to become an AI-native consumer platform while remaining highly constructive on the long-term consumer AI opportunity. Mgmt believes consumer AI remains in its early stages and that the majority of long-term value creation has yet to occur (expecting a larger shift toward consumer applications over the next ~18-24 months). In terms of internal productivity, the company is shipping significantly more product features than a year ago as engineering teams increasingly incorporate AI into development

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Goldman Sachs Airbnb Inc. (ABNB)

workflows, in addition to meaningful progress across customer service, search, personalization, and decision-making processes.

n Travel Demand & Loyalty: Over 90% of Airbnb traffic is direct/organic, reflecting strong brand awareness and limiting reliance on traditional search and performance marketing channels. Mr. Chesky characterized Airbnb not simply as a booking platform but increasingly as a travel companion throughout the trip lifecycle through messaging, reservations, itineraries, and discovery. Future platform growth will rely heavily on personalization as the company expands into more categories and broadens use cases across different traveler segments. n Supply & Platform Expansion: As Airbnb broadens into new verticals, product components and technology infrastructure can increasingly be reused, reducing development time and accelerating launches of future categories. Events remain an important supply acquisition tool, with many event-driven hosts ultimately remaining on the platform after the event concludes, creating a durable supply acquisition channel. In terms of their current hotel expansion efforts, Airbnb is prioritizing unique inventory and boutique properties, which mgmt believes align naturally with the company’s brand, customer demographics, and broader platform positioning. n Expenses & Margins: Management emphasized that Airbnb remains a highly capital-light business, with growth primarily requiring investment in product development, demand…