Bernstein initiates Airbnb coverage, Juul prepares for potential bankruptcy, Paradiso crowned world’s best bar

Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss a new call from Bernstein saying that Airbnb could become the most prominent Western travel firm, Juul preparing for a potential bankruptcy, and Barcelona’s Paradiso crowned the world’s best bar.

Video transcript

BRAD SMITH: It is time for "Cut for Time," three stories, one minute each. We start with this today. A new call from Bernstein says Airbnb could become the biggest Western travel platform in the next five years. It initiated as outperform with a price target of $143, saying that the vacation rental industry is valued at about $150 billion. Note goes on to say Airbnb well positioned to grow in other markets, including hotels, experiences, and long-term stays. Airbnb, of course, has gotten a bid from some of those experienced travelers over the course of the pandemic who were just looking to work virtually in different places.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, I stayed at my first Airbnb a couple of weeks ago--

BRAD SMITH: Good.

BRIAN SOZZI: --when I went out to San Francisco to cover a couple of tech conferences for us here at Yahoo Finance. I loved it. This stay was palatial. I had beautiful, clean sheets, beautiful towels, stainless steel appliances. I was just captivated. I loved it better than a hotel. It was great. Loved it. I will absolutely do it again. I'll even try to get that room. It was just great.

BRAD SMITH: Well, except you got to clean the stuff afterwards. You got to basically set up the--

BRIAN SOZZI: You do? No, I'm just kidding.

BRAD SMITH: You did?

BRIAN SOZZI: No, I cleaned it. But I was OK with it because it was just a beautiful place.

[BUZZER]

It had a barbecue. I just felt better about life after I stayed there.

All right, e-cigarette maker Juul is reportedly looking to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to people familiar with the situation, Juul has engaged in informal talks concerning financing. This the latest out of the embattled e-cig maker, who has fielded thousands of lawsuits over the past few years concerning its marketing practices. Well, yeah. Look, who would have thought ingesting chemicals via a plastic device that actually burns was a good idea? Definitely not me.

BRAD SMITH: Yeah, it was supposed to be a safer alternative, of course, to the traditional smoking and vaping, more broadly, as we have seen within what Juul was trying to do and have the flashy colors, get into different markets where they were clearly going after the younger age or the younger tier of smokers, and using some of the marketing tactics that they did. It was proven they shouldn't be doing that. And then, additionally, you get into the conversation of what the actual chemicals were, the vitamin E acetate. Yeah, no, that shouln't be in there.

BRIAN SOZZI: If you can't pronounce it, don't put it in your body. I mean, come on. I mean, what are we doing here?

BRAD SMITH: Well, 7 seconds left. We'll say, just don't do it, folks.

BRIAN SOZZI: Don't do it.

BRAD SMITH: All right, we'll see what comes with the bankruptcy proceeding there. Finally, here, we got to rush to the finish on this last one. It is official-- the world's best 50 best bars in the world for 2022 have been announced.

Taking the top spot is not the spot that I thought it was going to be-- Paradiso in Barcelona. I bet it's good, though. Two of the top 10 bars, though, were in New York City, with London and Paris also representing in the top 10. This year marks the first time since 2009 that a bar in New York and London didn't nab the number one spot there. And there, you're taking a look at a few of them. Have you been to any of these? Can we get to--

BRIAN SOZZI: No, definitely not.

BRAD SMITH: Can we check in on the New York ones? Do we have those? All right, these are the top five best bars, but New York City--

BRIAN SOZZI: I was thinking, Brad, you know, what makes a good bar. And I've determined that it is the bar you don't remember because you just had such a great time.

BRAD SMITH: The one where you were overserved?

BRIAN SOZZI: And you're 15 drinks in, and you forget about it. And that's a good bar, in my humble opinion.

BRAD SMITH: OK, well, our team actually had a pretty good list as we had our brainstorming conversation this morning in our rundown meeting. And what makes a good bar? Obviously, you've got to have a good selection of drinks, number one.

BRIAN SOZZI: True.

BRAD SMITH: Number two, you need to have, apparently, according to some of our team members, some very disgruntled--

[BUZZER]

--bartenders. And you also have to have low lighting, low lighting.

BRIAN SOZZI: It's all about the lighting. You have to set that scene.