By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – Airbnb stock (NASDAQ:) fell 2.1% in Monday’s premarket on fears the recent rise in Covid-19 cases in Europe could mar its prospects in the busy holiday season.

Austria brought back lockdowns starting today after cases surged while Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel today said the situation is worse than anything the country has experienced so far. To stop the spread of disease, she called for stricter restrictions.

Jens Spahn, the country’s health minister, had last week said he couldn’t rule out another full lockdown. Many of the country’s famed outdoor Christmas markets have already been canceled for the second year in a row, and people who aren’t inoculated face possible curfews, according to Bloomberg.

U.S. cases have begun to increase in the states where the Delta virus, the most prevalent coronavirus variant that hit, was waning.

An average of 93,000 daily cases is recorded, an increase of about 30% on the previous 14-day period.

Airbnb stated earlier this month that things will improve following a strong third quarter.

According to the vacation rental company, gross bookings (which include both room nights and experiences) increased 48% last year to $11.9 billion and are also significantly higher than those of pre-Covid.

Company expects October-December revenue to be between $1.39 and $1.48 Billion, which is more than in the comparable period of last year. Both nights and experiences bookings outperform in both these comparisons.