Airbnb IPO Filing: 5 Key Takeaways Investors Need To Know

One of the highly anticipated IPOs in recent years could happen soon as Airbnb filed its S-1 on Monday. Here is an early look at the key facts and figures for Airbnb, which will list on the Nasdaq with symbol ABNB.

1. Large Customer/Host Base: Airbnb has over 4 million hosts around the world and 86% of the company’s hosts are from outside the United States.

The company has 5.6 million active listings. In 2019, the company had 54 million active bookers and over 247 million guest arrivals.

2. Financials: Airbnb had gross booking revenue of $38 billion in 2019, which was up 29% year-over-year. Revenue for 2019 was up 32% to $4.8 billion.

The company saw rapid revenue growth from 2017 to 2019 with totals going from $2.56 billion, $3.65 billion and $4.81 billion for the last three respective years.

Gross bookings for the first nine months of 2020 were down 39% year-over-year to $18 billion. Revenue was down 32% year-over-year to $2.5 billion for the first nine months.

Related Link: Apple Veteran Chief Designer Jony Ive To Now Design The Future Of Airbnb

3. Impact Of COVID-19: Travel restrictions from COVID-19 caused a decline in the number of nights and experienced booked.

January and February were both up year-over-year for nights booked with gains of 22% and 12% respectively. March and April saw triple-digit declines year-over-year for nights booked.

The months of July, August and September have seen a recovery with nights booked down 28% year-over-year for each month.

4. Hosts Will Get Access To Shares: Airbnb will offer shares to its hosts with a directed share program. The offering will be available to eligible U.S hosts who hosted on the Airbnb platform in 2019 and 2020.

Airbnb lists 9.2 million shares in the filing as part of the Host Endowment. This will give hosts a way to invest in the success of the company at the offering price.

5. Growth Plans: Airbnb plans on growing its company and revenue by unlocking more hosting, growing and engaging its guest community, investing in their brand, expanding the global network and innovating the platform design.

Airbnb lists a serviceable addressable market size of $1.5 trillion made up of $1.2 trillion for short term stays and $239 billion for experiences.