Airbnb

This hospitality platform has become one of the go-to sites for parents, casual vacationers, virtual workers, and nearly everyone looking to find unique places to stay. Airbnb is one of the leading hospitality providers for these people, with over 4 million hosts on the platform opening their doors.

Airbnb amassed nearly $47 billion in gross booking value in 2021, which might not have been possible without the company's strong network effects. Hosts drive Airbnb's success: The more stays that are offered, the more appealing it is for vacationers to look at Airbnb. This increase in demand from consumers also creates a nice flywheel -- higher demand makes the platform more intriguing to hosts, which creates more demand from consumers. As a result, Airbnb's leadership in this market is likely to continue to grow over time.

The most impressive thing about Airbnb is its resiliency during one of the worst times imaginable for a hospitality company -- a pandemic in which travel flatlined. While the company was hit hard, many hosts were still able to offer socially distanced stays to consumers, which allowed vacationers to travel safely. Because of this, Airbnb established itself as one of the platforms where safety and health were prioritized.

As the world reopened, the company leveraged its growing brand to quickly become a go-to for vacation-deprived consumers. Now, Airbnb's revenue is back to pre-pandemic highs, and it's nights booked on the platform are expected to surpass Q1 2019 levels in Q1 2022. Importantly, the company also saw a quick bounce-back on its bottom line: Net income in Q4 2021 reached $55 million, coming back from a loss of nearly $4 billion in Q4 2020.

Just like any consumer-facing platform, Airbnb has flaws; it has struggled with price transparency, which has reduced customer satisfaction. On the flip side, this hasn't affected actual consumer habits too much, considering the company's unwavering recent growth. With its fast-growing brand name and network effects, Airbnb looks like a stock that could continue expanding and be a fruitful investment over the long term.