Airbnb Inc at Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. There's a lot to mind there. We'll touch upon some of those. I think probably the biggest short-term debate, and I want to turn to the much more long-term stuff, coming out of earnings was just the state of travel overall. I think there's been a lot of confusion in the investment community as to how much of this is a slowing, how much of it is normalizing, how much of it is a recession. As someone who talks to investors, myself from time to time, nobody seems to want a super nuance to answer to this. It's yes, no, recession, not and the like. But what is your broad takeaway in terms of what we're seeing from the consumer now, bringing it back to the travel landscape?

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. So with that backdrop and maybe zooming out, so we do get into some of the bigger picture, longer-term stuff. When you look back over the last couple of years and you see how consumers continue to interact with your company as a platform, and obviously, there are a whole host of shifts, long duration stay, short duration stay, urban, non-urban. What have been some of the key learnings about how the platform has evolved and consumers' usage and adoption of the platform has evolved over those years. And then maybe we'll take that and go forward from there. But just curious about those key learnings looking backward first.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. So with that as the picture of the key learnings looking backwards and you talk about wanting to invest for the future and move beyond the core as a company, I think that was a key message that's been building and momentum from Brian over the last couple of earnings calls. How do you think about what you've learned and how it informs about Airbnb generally moving beyond the core in the years ahead?

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. So let's stick with that last point around across the globe because I think the other notable shift in commentary that I've heard from the company on earnings calls in the more recent past has been a refocus on getting the international piece more right. It seemed like there was a bit of a messaging of we'd focused on the core. We focus on some of the more developed markets. There's a big world out there. There's a lot of opportunity we need to get that right. Talk about how that geographic focus away from just how you align around the consumer might also alter what the platform looks like in the years ahead. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 09, 2024 / 11:25PM, ABNB.OQ - Airbnb Inc at Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : When you look at -- and maybe it's very different market by market. But when you look at that opportunity set, do you guys, as a company, look at that and say it's a demand unlock problem. It's educating the consumer, it's driving demand. Or is it also an element of supply? Do you think you have supply in those types of countries or you're just not marrying that supply with the right level of demand? Which is the bigger friction point or unlock that could produce growth?

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. Sticking with that theme though, on supply. I think you've introduced a lot of innovation in the market in the last 12, 18 months where you continue to think about ways of opening up pockets of supply and Brian's talked a lot about if you -- if you're a traveler, you should become a host, if you're a host if you should become a traveler and try to create a flywheel effect around all of that. Talk a little bit about some of the innovation you've introduced on the supply side. And how should we think about elements of pockets of growth you're still trying to drive globally around supply. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 09, 2024 / 11:25PM, ABNB.OQ - Airbnb Inc at Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : I might have asked Brian that question two years ago at this exact conference.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Yeah. Understood. Maybe just one follow-up, and then we'll move on from there. When you think about big events happening, obviously, the Olympics happened in Paris this year. There were European football championships in Germany. There will be a World Cup here in the United States in 2026. How do you think about the elements of still how you can benefit from bigger events and what opportunities and challenges that presents on the demand and the supply side? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 09, 2024 / 11:25PM, ABNB.OQ - Airbnb Inc at Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. Understood. The team has talked a lot about the potential for generative AI to inform the platform and product going forward. I think there's a very healthy investor debate about whether generative AI is a good thing or a bad thing for the travel industry more broadly. When you guys sit down as a team, what's your structural view of how Generative AI might change travel and how you think about aligning investments again, what your world view is about Generative AI, could impact your platform? I'm assuming to the positive since you're investing against.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Understood. Okay. Keeping with the theme of expanding beyond the core. One thing I wanted to ask about was experiences, local, how you think about elements of supply around building larger basket sizes, bigger travel planning initiatives. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 09, 2024 / 11:25PM, ABNB.OQ - Airbnb Inc at Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference How do you think about driving supply and then bringing that supply back to informing your consumers and your customers that, that's available to them to build bigger experiences and bigger travel packages on the platform?

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Let me ask an outside-the-box question. You guys, as a company have always been doing travel on a very non-commoditized way. So when you think about, I'm going to buy an airplane ticket or I'm going to reserve a restaurant. That's a lot of ways, a lot of commoditized products that sits alongside maybe like a hotel room or something like that. When you think about the base of hosts that you have that could give experience, recommendations or a local flavor or local color, how do you think about tapping into that as an asset broadly to maybe inform for a traveler when you get here to my house, you should do X, Y, and Z in the local community and maybe do it in a more non-commoditized matter? Is that something that you should be thinking about or that you are thinking about on a product roadmap standpoint?

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. Understood. Last one on expanding behind the core. We get a lot of questions about Promoted Listings. Obviously, the --

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I think there's -- I want to ask you a little bit different way. In terms of when you think about what promoting listings can do, I think a lot of investors focus on what the pure math is and how it can impact the P&L. How are you thinking about promoted listings more holistically in terms of aligning the goal of promoted listings against balance of supply and demand on your platform, making sure just introducing an advertising product for the sake of it isn't the goal, but creating a right balance between supply and demand.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Understood. Very clear. Bringing it all together for us. I think as we've gone through this past couple of earnings reports, you've been very clear that the company is currently in an investment mode. You've given a bit of a framework for this year to how to think about I don't know if it's the right word to use, but a floor of as low as something for EBITDA --

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Yeah. I would agree. 35% is very high. But what do you think is not being heard from that message from the broader investment community. I think we get a lot of questions on what do you mean by an investment cycle and what you mean by the EBITDA margin you've given? With this opportunity, just what do you want to leave investors with in terms of what are the priorities for the investments you're trying to make going forward? And how should we think about this year as representative of some investment cycle or just an element of this year, and we're not ready to talk about beyond this year just yet, which I think is where we sit right now.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Can I just ask one follow-up and maybe it will be putting too fine a point on it. Should investors be thinking about these investments as relatively fixed in nature today and the return profile on those fixed investments could come down in the future? Or are the elements that have a variable nature that could be more short term in nature in terms of the return profile because there's a peer competitive years that went down this road a couple of years ago talking about more fixed investments that would outrun potentially growth rates of revenue. And that eventually runs its course, but I just didn't know how we should be thinking about fixed versus variable and return profile. If you're ready to talk about that yet on those investments.

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : Okay. So bring it all together for us, we're in the last few minutes of this. The broader view of where the travel industry is growing over the next couple of years. Just three to five years, I've tried to be ending every one of these conversations on a big picture. When you guys sit down as a team and think about where the company is going or where the industry is going, what most excites you about the landscape for travel and Airbnb broadly as a platform inside that landscape?

Question: Eric Sheridan - Goldman Sachs - Analyst : All right. Well, first, I know we've got a few minutes left, but I think we're going to leave it there for two reasons. Number one, this conversation is between investors and drink. So we're going to leave it there because we want to let people get to their networking reception first. And second, Ellie, thank you so much for doing this. I know you agreed to do this very late on. Thank you so much for stepping in. I really enjoyed the conversation. Great to see you. Please join me in thanking Airbnb.