Trading Strategies For Airbnb Stock Before And After Q1 Earnings

Airbnb, Inc ABNB was trading over 1% higher Tuesday as the company heads into its first-quarter earnings print after the close.

When Airbnb printed a fourth-quarter earnings beat Feb. 14, the stock surged 13.35% the following day and an additional at 5% at one point on Feb. 16, before topping out at $144.63 and entering into a downtrend.

For the fourth quarter, Airbnb reported earnings of 48 cents per share on revenues of $1.9 billion, beating a consensus estimate for EPS of 25 cents on revenues of $1.86 billion.

For the first quarter, analysts, on average, estimate Airbnb will report earnings per share of 6 cents on revenues of $1.6 billion.

On April 20, Truist Securities analyst Naved Khan maintained a Hold rating on Airbnb and raised the price target from $120 to $130.

From a technical analysis perspective, Airbnb’s stock looks bullish into the event, trading in an uptrend above the 200-day simple moving average (SMA). It should be noted that holding stocks or options over an earnings print is akin to gambling because stocks can react bullishly to an earnings miss and bearishly to an earnings beat.

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The Airbnb Chart: On April 6, Airbnb reversed course into an uptrend after back testing the 200-day SMA as support and bouncing up off the level. The back test of the level caused the stock to rip higher into an uptrend, with the most recent confirmed higher high formed on May 1 at $122.65 and the most recent higher low printed at the $116.18 on May 4.

• Since printing the higher low, Airbnb has climbed 10% without retracing to the downside. This suggests the stock may need to drop lower to at least print another higher low within the next few trading days.
• If Airbnb closes Tuesday’s session near the high-of-day, the stock will print a hanging man candlestick, which could indicate lower prices will come on Wednesday and the next local top has occurred. If that happens, bullish traders can watch for Airbnb to eventually form a bullish reversal candlestick — such as a doji or hammer candlestick — above $117 to indicate the uptrend will continue.
• If Airbnb receives a positive reaction to its earnings print and spikes higher on Wednesday, bearish traders will want to watch for the stock to eventually print a bearish reversal candlestick, such as a doji or shooting star candlestick, to indicate the next local top is in and a retracement is on the horizon.
• Airbnb has resistance above at $130 and $141.92 and support below at $121.50 and $110.44.

Photo courtesy of Airbnb.