📈 Airbnb's $2B Quarter Changes Game

Good Morning…

While Wall Street obsessed over Airbnb's slight earnings miss, the company quietly minted a 50% EBITDA margin—the kind of profitability that would make even the stingiest hotel chain weep with envy.

Here's why patient investors with a nose for operational excellence should pay attention to what's happening beneath the surface of those Q3 numbers.

🔎 Market Trends → Fed's Miran says he expects rate cut in December

🖥️ Market Movers from Fintech.tv → [WATCH] SmartCon 2025 Highlights: Chainlink’s Vision for the Future of Finance

And now…

⏱️ Your daily briefing for Friday, November 7, 2025:

MARKET BRIEF
Before the Open

Pre-Market

Fear & Greed

Markets in Review

AI Darlings Stumble — But Market Still Has a Rally Left in It

Wall Street took a breather Thursday as the AI trade sagged under the weight of rich valuations. The selloff was sharpest in the stocks that climbed the most this year — a familiar reminder that even market champions must justify their price tags.

The unease wasn’t only about tech. Layoff announcements surged to 153,000 in October — the highest for the month in 22 years, raising questions about the labor market’s underlying pulse. A government shutdown has stalled official macro data, creating a vacuum that nervous traders eagerly filled.

Commodities offered some relief. Gold hovered below $4,000/oz, down from recent records but still up more than 50% YTD as investors hedge geopolitical risk. Oil stayed range-bound as traders weigh winter demand against softer economic signals.

Despite the turbulence, this isn’t a market rolling over — it’s one working through a valuation cleanse. The foundation beneath the consumer and corporate earnings remains sturdier than headlines imply.

Market Movers:

• Datadog (DDOG) surged ~21% on strong Q3 earnings and a confident raised outlook — showing investors that cloud businesses with clear monetization and margin expansion still earn premium multiples.

• AMD (AMD) and Palantir Technologies (PLTR) both dropped sharply—despite top-line beats, they issued cautious forward guidance or flagged pressure on profitability, triggering a valuation reset as the market demands “beat + raise” not just “beat.”

• Duolingo (DUOL) plunged ~27% after weaker guidance — a reminder that growth-story names without strong EPS path or monetization momentum are highly vulnerable when sentiment

What They’re Saying:

“So much of this stuff was priced for perfection,” said Mike Mussio of FBB Capital Partners. “Beat and raise, you’re fine. Miss on margins, and you’re punished.”

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Events

There are no events scheduled for today

Earnings Reports

• Today: Constellation Energy Corporation, KKR & Co. Inc., Enbridge Inc, Duke Energy Corporation, Brookfield Asset Management

• Monday: Barrick Mining Corporation, CoreWeave, Inc., Occidental Petroleum Corporation

MARKET INSIGHTS
Leading News 

Airbnb Prints Record Margins as "Reserve Now, Pay Later" Ignites Booking Growth

Why it matters:

The vacation rental giant (ABNB) just delivered its most profitable quarter ever with a 50% adjusted EBITDA margin—proving the platform economics still work even as growth moderates.

Zoom Out:

The numbers tell a story of operational excellence masquerading as mature growth. Revenue climbed 10% year-over-year to $4.1 billion, while gross booking value surged 14% to $22.9 billion—both beating Wall Street's expectations. But here's the kicker: adjusted EBITDA hit $2.1 billion, the highest in company history.

CEO Brian Chesky isn't resting on laurels. The company's new "Reserve Now, Pay Later" feature—launched early in Q3—has 70% adoption among eligible users and helped accelerate U.S. bookings. Meanwhile, international expansion is gaining traction in Japan and Brazil, with management betting on 3-5 year timelines for experiences and services to become material revenue drivers.

The bears will point to earnings missing estimates ($2.21 vs. $2.34 expected) and slowing top-line growth from the 14% three-year CAGR. Fair concerns. But with $11.7 billion in cash, $3.5 billion in trailing buybacks, and free cash flow margin at 33%, ABNB is returning capital aggressively while reinvesting in AI integration and platform expansion.

Key Insights:

• Margin expansion math works: That 50% EBITDA margin reflects genuine operating leverage—not accounting games. Q4 guidance suggests full-year margins around 35%, up from previous expectations.

• The "pay later" playbook: While higher cancellation rates accompany the new payment option, management confirms net bookings still accelerate. Classic fintech-meets-marketplace arbitrage.

• Hidden optionality: Hotels and boutique properties represent an untapped supply channel, particularly in constrained markets like NYC and Madrid. Management's testing an "entrepreneurial" multi-pilot approach to new verticals.

Market Pulse:

"Q3 was one of our strongest quarters ever, with record profitability and accelerating growth across the board." — Brian Chesky, CEO

Bull’s Take:

At 29x P/E near one-year lows and fortress balance sheet fundamentals, ABNB offers a rare combination—platform durability with margin power—for patient capital allocators willing to ride through growth normalization.

Market Stories of Note

Tesla Shareholders Bet $1 Trillion on Musk's Robot Dreams:

Tesla shareholders just approved a compensation package that could grant Elon Musk nearly $1 trillion in stock over the next decade—the largest corporate payout in history, tied to wildly ambitious targets including $8.5 trillion in market value and 1 million working robots. The 75% approval reveals retail investors betting big on Musk's AI pivot, even as Norway's sovereign wealth fund warned about dilution. If Musk hits even half these milestones, shareholders won't mind the dilution because their stakes will have multiplied several times over.

Peloton's Quiet Turnaround: Profits Beat, Subscribers Flee:

The beleaguered fitness company (PTON) just posted its second consecutive profitable quarter with $14 million in net income and raised full-year EBITDA guidance to $425-$475 million—even as subscribers dropped 6% to 2.73 million. CEO Peter Stern's cost-cutting produced $118 million in adjusted EBITDA, beating estimates by $18 million, while new AI-powered bikes aim to reverse the bleeding. If churn stabilizes as premium products gain traction, you're buying operational discipline cheap—though that 833,000-unit recall the same morning proves turnarounds rarely run smooth.

CRYPTO
Fear & Greed 

Headlines

• Bitcoin Declines to $101K over Panic Selling Rally (link)

• Google Finance to roll out Polymarket and Kalshi prediction markets data in search results (link)

• UK Stablecoin Rules Will Be in Place 'as Quickly as the U.S.,' BOE Says: Bloomberg (link)