Stephen Ju

Stephen Ju asked about the trend of third-party redemptions per redeemer, noting its sequential bottoming but still being below last year's levels. He questioned whether a normalization of CPG ad budgets would drive recovery and what client conversations Ibotta is having to secure more attractive and compelling offers, balancing quality and quantity.

Answer

Bryan Leach, Founder and CEO, explained that offer supply (more, better quality, longer-lasting offers) directly impacts redemptions per redeemer. He stated that Ibotta's improved core capabilities, favorable pricing, third-party measurement, and LiveLift are designed to increase offer supply and client credibility. Mr. Leach emphasized Ibotta's primary focus on total redemptions and total redeemers, noting a nearly 25% year-over-year increase in redeemers. Matt Puckett, CFO, added that improved execution, core product strength, and LiveLift expansion are collectively enhancing offer supply and driving positive business trends, giving confidence for revenue growth later in 2026.

Stephen Ju asked about the third-party redemptions per redeemer bottoming out, the path to recovery, and the impact of CPG ad budgets. He also questioned the conversations with clients regarding attractive and compelling offers, focusing on quality versus quantity.

Answer

Bryan Leach, Founder and CEO, stated that increased offer supply and quality, driven by improved core capabilities and Live Lift, will boost redemptions per redeemer. He emphasized Ibotta's focus on total redemptions and redeemers, noting a nearly 25% year-over-year increase in redeemers. Matt Puckett, CFO, reiterated that improved execution and core product strength are driving better offer supply and changing business trends.

Stephen Ju asked about LegalZoom's success in upselling Formation Nation customers from one-time transactions to other LegalZoom subscription products, given Formation Nation's contribution to subscription units.

Answer

Jeffrey Stibel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LegalZoom.com, stated that the success in upselling Formation Nation customers is similar to LegalZoom's own base, though potentially slower than desired, as Formation Nation serves as a value-priced service offering. He anticipates further opportunities for conversion to subscriptions.

Stephen Ju of UBS asked about the potential to unlock incremental customer lifetime value (LTV) from Formation Nation's transactional base and whether that could lead to more aggressive customer acquisition spending.

Answer

CEO Jeff Stibel explained that the immediate win is bifurcating customer types, sending lower-intent users who need more handholding to Formation Nation's effective onboarding process. He noted that while there is a significant opportunity to introduce subscriptions to the Formation Nation base, they are careful not to break a model that already works well. COO & CFO Noel Watson added that they have already started to increase marketing spend for Formation Nation and that realizing LTV opportunities would certainly expand what they can do on the acquisition front.

Stephen Ju inquired about the halo effect observed after the Paris Olympics and its potential implications for the World Cup, as well as the larger spend buckets for 2026 to maintain flat margins despite an $800 million year-over-year increase in spending.

Answer

Brian Chesky, Co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, highlighted the Paris Olympics' massive impact on supply recruitment, especially from everyday people, and its role in positioning Airbnb as a solution for cities. He expects the World Cup to be similarly impactful across three countries. Ellie Mertz, CFO of Airbnb, explained that incremental investment will primarily go into sales and marketing (programmatic and go-to-market efforts for supply acquisition across homes, experiences, services, and hotels) and product development to accelerate innovation.

Stephen Ju asked about the long-term vision for the "Trips" tab evolving into a broader travel agent role and whether learnings from new payment options in Brazil could accelerate future product development.

Answer

CEO Brian Chesky linked the long-term vision to AI, explaining Airbnb's plan to become an "AI-native" application. He described starting with high-stakes customer service AI, which has already reduced human agent contacts by 15% in the U.S. The next step is to expand this AI globally and then integrate it into travel search next year, fundamentally changing travel planning on the platform.

Stephen Ju asked for clarification on whether the primary driver for future growth will be transaction volume (e.g., international expansion, new offerings) or capturing greater unit economics through monetization.

Answer

CEO Brian Chesky confirmed the focus is on growing transaction volume and network effects over increasing take rates. The top priorities are perfecting the core service based on user feedback and expanding internationally. He noted that while there are future opportunities to increase monetization, especially on the host side, the immediate goal is to grow market share and unit volume.

Stephen Ju inquired about the typical timeline for Airbnb's global localization efforts, citing Japan, and asked for details on the planned $200-$250 million investment in new businesses, specifically its allocation between marketing and engineering.

Answer

CFO Ellie Mertz explained that localization timelines vary, highlighting Brazil as a two-year success while noting Japan is starting from a lower base. She clarified the $200-$250 million investment will primarily impact the marketing and product development lines to fund team build-outs, product awareness, and increased headcount for new business support.

Stephen Ju inquired about the potential for the relaunched Experiences product to increase overall user engagement and usage frequency, particularly by appealing to users in their local cities.

Answer

CEO Brian Chesky responded with an emphatic '100%.' He positioned Experiences as a key strategy to evolve Airbnb from an infrequent travel app to a more frequent, potentially monthly or weekly, use case. He confirmed the new services are being designed for both travelers and locals to use in their hometowns, which he believes will significantly increase engagement and broaden the app's utility.

Stephen Ju asked about Viator's efforts to make its usage less episodic by encouraging users to book experiences in their home markets, inquiring if this strategy is proving challenging or if activity is picking up.

Answer

Matt Goldberg, President and CEO, stated that Tripadvisor continues to attract customers for experiences regardless of location (long-haul, short-haul, or local). He noted that while the company has the largest supply, its primary focus is currently on entering new geographic markets. He acknowledged that expanding into more local experiences is an area of future growth, requiring deeper investment in local supply, but it is not the current top priority.

Stephen Ju inquired about Viator's progress in making its business less episodic by encouraging users to book experiences in their home markets, rather than solely when traveling, and whether this strategy is proving challenging or if awareness is picking up.

Answer

President and CEO Matt Goldberg confirmed ongoing efforts to attract customers for experiences wherever they are, including closer to home. He noted that while expanding supply for local experiences is an area of future growth, the primary focus currently is on entering new geographies, with more to come on local activities later.

Stephen Ju asked about the drivers behind Viator's 17% gross bookings growth, questioning the balance between product-led conversion improvements and potentially easier prior-year comparisons.

Answer

CEO Matt Goldberg attributed Viator's growth to a strong focus on product enhancements designed to improve the customer experience and drive repeat bookings. He highlighted improvements in product matching, catalog organization, user experience, and a rapidly growing mobile app channel. Goldberg emphasized that these efforts, combined with leveraging AI and enhancing the operator experience, are key to achieving long-term double-digit growth and margin expansion.

Stephen Ju asked whether AppLovin is demand-constrained versus supply-constrained, the potential for more supply, and the company's strategy for targeting advertisers of a certain size.

Answer

Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairperson Adam Foroughi reiterated that the market is not zero-sum, citing the growth of smaller ad networks. He believes there's ample opportunity to monetize the 1 billion-plus users, noting Meta's 3x users and 8x revenue, suggesting significant room for AppLovin's conversion rates to rise from ~1% to 5% with more diverse advertisers. He confirmed a focus on performance-based advertisers (D2C, Shopify merchants) rather than brand dollars or large agencies, aiming to help smaller businesses scale rapidly, mirroring their success with indie game developers.

Stephen Ju asked whether AppLovin is demand-constrained versus supply-constrained, how much more supply (new/existing publishers) can be added, and about targeting advertisers of a certain size (smaller first, then larger/upper funnel).

Answer

Adam Foroughi stated they are far from needing new publishers, emphasizing that the market is not zero-sum and there's significant room to monetize the 1 billion+ daily users, expecting conversion rates to rise from ~1% to 5% with more diverse advertisers. He clarified they target anything not 'brand dollars' (i.e., performance-based, transactional, or lead-based), preferring smaller D2C/Shopify merchants who see direct correlation to revenue, as this creates more value and dependency on their platform.

Stephen Ju asked about the necessary tech stack changes for Angi to leverage AI, move up the marketing funnel, and become a destination platform, given its differentiated consumer experience. He also sought Angi's perspective on current macroeconomic cross-currents.

Answer

Jeffrey W. Kip, CEO of Angi Inc., explained that Angi is replacing legacy technology with a modern, single, AI-first platform, integrating conversational AI and LLMs to improve customer experience. He noted the timely arrival of high-powered agentic coding, which will allow for more componentized deployment across channels. Andrew Russakoff, CFO, commented on the macro environment, citing weakness and pressure on volumes, with lower job values and overall consideration, as reflected in consumer confidence surveys. He noted that two-thirds of Angi's business is in nondiscretionary tasks, providing ballast in a recessionary environment.

Stephen Ju asked about the necessary tech stack changes for Angi to leverage AI for a differentiated consumer experience and become a destination platform, along with insights into current macro cross-currents affecting the business.

Answer

Jeffrey W. Kip (CEO, Angi) outlined the strategy to replace legacy technology with a modern, AI-first, componentized platform, integrating conversational AI and agentic code to enhance the customer experience and matching. Andrew Russakoff (CFO, Angi Inc) noted recent macro weakness, including lower job values and consumer confidence, but highlighted the business's resilience due to two-thirds of tasks being non-discretionary.

Stephen Ju requested color on the factors causing the year-over-year decline in international revenue. He also sought commentary on the monthly active pro metric, noting that it appears to be nearing a trough as acquisition and churn rates converge.

Answer

CEO Jeffrey Kip explained the international revenue decline was driven by a strategic shift in the Canadian business to a higher-ROI, lower-revenue online acquisition model, and regulatory impacts in Europe (Digital Services Act) that created temporary conversion headwinds. Regarding monthly active pros, Kip stated that while the gross number will continue to decline into 2026 due to winding down unprofitable legacy acquisition, the capacity per pro is increasing. He anticipates the raw number of pros will begin growing by 2027, driven by the rollout of online pro enrollment in the U.S.

Stephen Ju asked if Lyft's competitive strategy has evolved, given that competitors appear to quickly replicate its product innovations.

Answer

CEO David Risher asserted that Lyft's customer-obsessed innovation strategy remains unchanged, calling it an 'imperative' in tech. While acknowledging competitors use a 'photocopy strategy,' he pointed to Lyft's results—market share at a 2.5-year high and strong driver preference—as proof of success. He concluded that in a vastly underpenetrated market, being the innovation leader is the winning long-term approach.

Stephen Ju asked for an update on the progress of Lyft Media, specifically the 'sponsored rides' concept for performance advertisers and the general outreach efforts to brand advertisers.

Answer

CEO David Risher confirmed Lyft Media is on track to hit its $100 million run rate target by year-end, supported by strong ad performance metrics and new formats. He explained that the 'sponsored rides' feature, which allows retailers to pay for a user's ride to their store, is currently in an early but encouraging experimentation phase with a few partners. He reiterated his conviction in the concept's potential.

Stephen Ju from UBS asked about Lyft's progress in differentiating its service from competitors and moving beyond being perceived as a commodity by riders.

Answer

CEO David Risher acknowledged that this is an ongoing journey. He stated that after getting basics like pricing right, the company has innovated with features like Women+ Connect and Price Lock. He believes Lyft's biggest competitor is 'inertia' and that the next step is to be more vocal about its differentiated, faster, and more innovative service. He noted that while brand surveys show customers 'like' Lyft, the goal is to make the reasons for choosing Lyft clearer to consumers.

Stephen Ju asked if Lyft would consider a more direct role in AV fleet management beyond its asset-light model and inquired about rider cohort behavior, specifically how frequency evolves with tenure.

Answer

CEO David Risher affirmed the commitment to an asset-light model, explaining that Lyft's role, via its Flexdrive subsidiary, is in fleet management (e.g., managing SLAs with maintenance partners) rather than direct operations. On rider behavior, he reiterated the long-term growth model is a mix of new riders and increased frequency, emphasizing that there is significant room for new rider penetration.

Stephen Ju of UBS asked if sales cycles are elongating in the current macro environment and what steps the company is taking to enhance its value proposition to clients during RFPs and renewals.

Answer

CEO Paul Abbott asserted that sales cycles are not elongating. He explained that difficult economic conditions typically trigger a 'flight to quality,' which strengthens GBTG's value proposition of providing savings and control, leading to an acceleration in new sales performance, as seen in Q1.

Stephen Ju of UBS followed up on the Q1 MAU performance, asking for clarification on the impact of churn from the successful Q4 Wrapped campaign and the effect of high conversion rates on the ad-supported user base.

Answer

Co-President and CBO Alex Norström confirmed that the outperformance from the Q4 Wrapped campaign led to some expected churn in the subsequent one to two months, impacting Q1 MAU. He also noted that strong conversion of free users to paid subscribers, particularly in emerging markets where conversion rates are typically lower, positively impacts the premium tier but reduces the ad-supported MAU count.

Stephen Ju asked if eBay has an opportunity to capture a share of the economics from its partnership with Klarna, or if the partnership should be viewed solely as a GMV growth accelerant.

Answer

CEO Jamie Iannone declined to comment on specific partnership economics but highlighted that the Klarna partnership is driving incremental GMV by enabling higher average order values, which are 3-4x the market average. He framed it as part of a broader financial services strategy that creates synergies, such as eBay Balance, which encourages sellers to spend on the platform at a zero cost of payments, and Seller Capital, which helps small businesses grow.

Stephen Ju asked about the timeline for generative AI to impact revenue versus its more immediate impact on cost savings and operational efficiency.

Answer

CEO Glenn Fogel agreed that cost savings from AI are realized faster, while revenue gains will be slower but represent a huge opportunity. CFO Ewout Steenbergen provided concrete examples of current impact, noting that AI efficiencies in customer service are already offsetting rising payment costs in the S&O expense line and that a meaningful portion of the $150 million in 2025 transformation savings is from GenAI.

Stephen Ju asked about the acceleration of sales cycles for Google Cloud's GenAI solutions and whether PMax was seeing increased use for mid and upper-funnel campaigns.

Answer

CEO Sundar Pichai confirmed that Cloud customers are seeing tangible ROI from GenAI, leading to strong momentum. CBO Philipp Schindler acknowledged PMax's broad success but highlighted the Demand Gen product as being specifically powerful for inspiring consumers and driving action in the mid-to-upper funnel, effectively addressing that marketing objective.

Stephen Ju asked when enterprise AI products might shift from focusing on cost savings to driving revenue generation, and when direct response could become a larger growth contributor for YouTube than brand advertising.

Answer

CEO Sundar Pichai explained that AI is a horizontal technology that can simultaneously cut costs and generate revenue, citing improved customer service as an example that also boosts conversions. CBO Philipp Schindler noted that direct response is benefiting from AI-powered campaigns like PMax and Demand Gen, and that recent YouTube Shopping features also support this business.