The analyst noted Olympics demand and the potential for sponsored listings
Mizuho upgraded Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ:ABNB) to "buy" from "neutral" and hiked its price target to $200 from $150. The analyst in coverage noted the potential launch of sponsored listings, as well as demand stemming from the summer Olympics. ABNB was last seen up 1.8% at $163.88.
The majority of analysts are skeptical of Airbnb stock. Coming into today, 26 of 36 firms in coverage called the security a tepid "hold" or worse, and the 12-month consensus target price of $151.40 is an 8.2% discount to current levels. This indicates there's plenty of room for additional upgrades and/or price-target hikes.
Short-term options traders lean bullish, per Airbnb stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.09, that sits in the low 17th percentile of readings from the last 12 months. Today, options volume is today running at double the intraday average mount, with 3,416 calls and 2,207 puts traded so far. The weekly 4/26 170-strike call is the most popular, with positions being opened there.
The shares hit a March 21, two-year high of $170.10 before pulling back to the $155 level. ABNB is now consolidating above the 20-day moving average and eyeing its third-straight daily win, while sporting a 46.9% year-over-year lead.