Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Airbnb on Wednesday raised $3.5 billion in its IPO at a fully diluted valuation of around $47.3 billion, and will begin trading Thursday on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol ABNB.
Why it matters: This is the culmination of a remarkable rebound for the hospitality giant, which many counted out once the pandemic began its rampage.
Details: Airbnb priced its shares at $68, per Bloomberg, versus an upwardly revised range of $56-$60 per share.
- It had raised approximately $6.4 billion from venture capital and private equity firms, including at a $31 billion valuation in late 2017. Earlier this year the company secured a new equity and debt round at just an $18 billion valuation, tied to COVID-19, and one month later 25% of its employees.
Financials: Airbnb reports nearly a $700 million net loss on $2.5 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2020, versus a $322 million net loss on $3.7 billion in revenue for the year earlier period. But it also reports $219 million in profits for the third quarter of 2020, as bookings rebounded.
- The company says that the composition of bookings changed in 2020, as people sought longer stays closer to home.
The bottom line: Tuesday was a huge day for tech IPOs, with both DoorDash and C3.ai both pricing high and then watching their shares soar.
- Airbnb is hoping for a repeat performance.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the exchange on which Airbnb plans to list.