KEY TAKEAWAYS Shares in Airbnb, which posted higher-than-estimated earnings Thursday, are surging in morning trading Friday, as the company invoked Amazon’s do-everything retail approach with plans to move well beyond just being a vacation rental app.

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said people use the app once or twice a year. He wants to raise that to once or twice a week.

Amazon ( AMZN -0.16%) and Apple ( AAPL 2.18%) have become among the world's most recognized companies. They've also become very valuable, with the former's market cap exceeding $2.4 trillion and the latter's about $3.4 trillion.

Airbnb stock surged after fourth-quarter earnings beat expectations. It has largely missed out on the travel boom but that may be about to change as the short-term rental company positions its app to become the Amazon.

Airbnb (ABNB) jumped more than 14% in early trading to about $161 per share after profit and revenue for the final three months of 2024 beat expectations.The company said it has seen “continued strong demand” in the current quarter.