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Airbnb Inc. submitted its IPO filing Monday, becoming the latest big name to join the push to go public despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The global online rental marketplace’s business was severely impacted and continues to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Although it is starting to mount a comeback as it adjusts to the new realities of limited travel for business and pleasure, Airbnb ABNB, +0.33% has lost more money in the first nine months of this year than it lost all of last year. Its gross booking value was down nearly 40% and its revenue declined more than 30% year over year.
But in a testament to what Airbnb calls its resilient business model, the company posted a third-quarter profit of $219 million on revenue of $1.34 billion. Still, it warned of continued challenges, mentioning new strict lockdowns in Europe.
“Similar to the impact of the initial COVID-19 wave in March 2020, we are seeing a decrease in bookings in the most affected regions,” Airbnb said in its prospectus.
Airbnb expects to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ABNB, and the listing will be led by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, two of 35 underwriters listed in the prospectus. The company stated a $1 billion target for the IPO, though that is typically a placeholder amount on an initial filing that will be updated later in the process. The target does suggest big ambitions, though, as the standard place holder is $100 million.
In the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company’s gross booking value was $18 billion, down 39% year over year, on revenue of $2.5 billion, down 32% from the year-ago period. Last year, Airbnb’s gross booking value was $38 billion, an increase of 29% from $29.4 billion in 2018. Its 2019 revenue rose to $4.8 billion, up 32% from $3.7 billion in 2018.
During the first nine months of this year, the company had a net loss of $697 million, a decrease of $374 million year over year, and adjusted Ebitda loss of $230 million, a decrease of $253 million year over year.
In 2019, the company lost $674 million and had an adjusted Ebitda loss of $253 million, compared with a loss of $17 million and adjusted Ebitda of $171 million in 2018.
