Sands Capital Global Growth Fund Sold Airbnb (ABNB) as Top-line Growth Decelerated

Sands Capital, an investment management company, released its “Sands Capital Global Growth Strategy” second-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Global Growth adopts a flexible approach to identify the most promising growth companies worldwide. Global equities outperformed the MSCI ACWI in the quarter. The portfolio returned 21.7% in the quarter compared to 11.5% for the index. The second quarter results were the fourth best in both absolute and relative terms since its 2008 inception. You can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to know more about its best picks for 2025.

In its second-quarter 2025 investor letter, Sands Capital Global Growth Strategy highlighted stocks such as Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB). Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) operates a platform that connects hosts and guests. The one-month return of Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) was -2.64%, and its shares lost 0.62% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 16, 2025, Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) stock closed at $121.66 per share, with a market capitalization of $74.485 billion.

Sands Capital Global Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) in its second quarter 2025 investor letter:

"We exited Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB). Top-line growth decelerated from approximately 40 percent in 2022 to less than 10 percent in the first quarter of 2025, and new growth initiatives appear underwhelming. What we consider Airbnb’s second act—experiences—has been in market for several years but has yet to make a meaningful impact on the business. The stock continues to trade at a premium valuation despite rising uncertainty around its growth trajectory, increasing its vulnerability in our view. We acknowledge that travel remains a secular growth category, particularly if AI-driven productivity gains create more leisure time. We also recognize the potential for significant profit upside if management successfully expands margins. However, Airbnb was a stub weight in Global Growth—representing less than 100 basis points—and given our lack of conviction to increase the position meaningfully, we chose to recycle the capital into higher-conviction opportunities."

Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 79 hedge fund portfolios held Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) at the end of the second quarter, which was 66 in the previous quarter. Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) reported revenue of $3.1 billion in the second quarter of 2025, marking an increase of 13% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) and shared the list of best mid cap FMCG stocks to buy. Burke Wealth Management sold its stake in Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABNB) in Q2 2025. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.