Wireless Speaker Company Sonos Files For IPO: What You Need To Know

High-end speaker maker Sonos filed for an IPO on Friday. The company plans to list in the Nasdaq under the ticker “SONO,” and proposed an initial offering of $100 million worth of shares.

The Details

Sonos reported a net loss of $14.2 million on $992.5 million in revenue in fiscal 2017, a significant improvement over 2016’s $38.2 million net loss on revenue of $901.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA in 2017 was $56 million.

The company’s annual growth has been volatile but accelerating since 2016. Revenue is on pace to exceed $1 billion this year.

Over half of Sonos’ revenue last year came from overseas, and the company sees further expansion into international markets as one of its key growth strategies.

Sonos' lead underwriters are Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. Private equity firm KKR, which owns 25.7 percent of the company, is also an underwriter.

Besides KKR, the company’s biggest shareholders are Index Ventures (13 percent), former-CEO and founder John MacFarlane (12.9 percent), Director Valdur Koha (7.4 percent) and Redpoint Ventures (5.2 percent).

The Product

Sonos is also working to develop new smart speakers and home sound systems in the hopes of competing against Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Apple Inc. AAPL and Google GOOGGOOGL. Other competitors include more traditional speaker makers like Bose and Harman Kardon.

As of March 31, the company had sold over 19 million registered devices.

Investors considering Sonos should take the time to read the full IPO prospectus.

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