Morgan Stanley has updated its roster of internet stocks to monitor, focusing on how major platforms are executing AI strategies and navigating competitive pressures in digital commerce and advertising. The bank identifies performance differences across companies, citing both operational wins and areas of concern that could influence 2026 growth and profitability.
Airbnb
Morgan Stanley lists Airbnb among the top internet names to watch despite a set of mixed results. In the fourth quarter, Airbnb reported bookings and revenue that beat expectations by 5% and 1% respectively, while adjusted EBITDA came in 2% below the bank's estimates. Management's guidance pointing to accelerating top-line growth in 2026 was viewed as favorable, but commentary that margins should remain around 35% signals continued reinvestment.
The firm highlighted several operational priorities at Airbnb: enhancements to its suggestion algorithms, adding supply, improving rate transparency and rolling out a "Reserve Now, Pay Later" feature that Morgan Stanley expects will represent roughly 25% of gross booking value in Q1. On artificial intelligence, the bank noted Airbnb's work on platform-specific AI offerings as a competitive stance versus horizontal AI agents such as ChatGPT and Gemini.
However, the bank flagged the company's high direct-traffic mix - approximately 90% - as a potential vulnerability. In response to its assessment of the company's outlook and risks, Morgan Stanley reduced its price target for Airbnb to $120 from $130 and lowered the target price-to-earnings multiple from 24X to 22X. Separately, Airbnb's fourth-quarter release showed revenue above estimates while earnings per share fell short, and the company also received an upgrade to Outperform from Evercore ISI, which cited product improvements and the quarter's performance.
Morgan Stanley portrays Pinterest as a platform still working to refine its go-to-market approach for small and medium-sized businesses and international advertisers. Engagement metrics remain robust, with the bank citing about 80 billion monthly queries and an estimated 50% of those queries as monetizable.
Management is redirecting savings from a $100 million gross headcount reduction, with Morgan Stanley estimating roughly 50% of those savings will be reinvested back into the platform. Despite these moves, the bank underlines elevated execution risk. Pinterest faces competitive pressure from larger advertising ecosystems run by companies such as Meta, Google and Amazon, and it also confronts potential disruption from emerging GenAI and vision search tools.
Following results that Morgan Stanley characterized as disappointing, several analysts downgraded Pinterest, including RBC Capital and JPMorgan, in reaction to its quarterly performance and the forward guidance it provided.
Expedia Group
Expedia's fourth quarter showed room nights in line with expectations while bookings, revenue and adjusted EBITDA topped forecasts, factors the bank attributed in part to average daily rate and foreign exchange dynamics. Morgan Stanley noted that the company's 2026 guidance came in ahead of expectations, especially around adjusted EBITDA and margin assumptions.
The investment bank highlighted Expedia's identification of efficiency levers, including improved targeting and internal AI-driven enhancements. At the same time, Morgan Stanley cautioned about Expedia's heavier exposure to chain bookings, estimated at 25% to 30%, which it said creates greater full-transaction disruption risk relative to some peers. The bank also raised the prospect that emerging AI partnerships could put pressure on the long-term margin profile of the company's online travel agency business. Expedia's fourth-quarter earnings and revenue results were reported as surpassing analyst forecasts.
Instacart
Instacart rounded out Morgan Stanley's list. The bank observed that Instacart's Q4 and Q1 guidance for gross transaction value exceeded expectations by roughly 3% as the company reported adding its largest customer cohort in three years and saw improving retention patterns.
Advertising revenue stood out: fourth-quarter results and first-quarter guidance were about 2% and 4% above expectations, respectively, as Instacart broadened its advertising base to more than 9,000 brand advertisers, up 29% since Q4:24. Morgan Stanley described the company's execution in online grocery as solid despite competitive pressures and noted promising AI initiatives across its consumer platform, enterprise offerings and retail partnerships.
On financials, Instacart's fourth-quarter report showed revenue above analyst estimates while earnings per share missed forecasts.
What Morgan Stanley's review implies
Across the four names, Morgan Stanley's analysis underscores a common theme: firms are advancing AI-enabled features and advertising products while balancing reinvestment against margin targets. Results and guidance produced mixed signals - with some revenue beats juxtaposed against EPS misses - leaving differentiated risk-reward profiles for investors to weigh as companies move into 2026.