Airbnb Files Confidential IPO Submission With SEC

Airbnb has submitted confidential paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, the company said Wednesday. 

The filing marks a milestone for the short-term rental company, which has suffered a devastating blow from the coronavirus pandemic. Airbnb came into this year having already announced in September its plans to go public. But by April, with the company's cancellation rate at 90%, analysts guessed those plans were seriously jeopardized, if not indefinitely postponed. 

Bookings appear to have picked up. Airbnb's revenues were down 30% year-over-year in June compared to 70% in May, Bloomberg reported last week. 

Airbnb said in its announcement that the number of shares to be offered and the price range have yet to be determined and that it expects the offering to take place once the SEC completes its review process. 

Airbnb is embarking on its IPO as a much different company than it had anticipated last year. In announcing in April that it had raised $1B in debt and equity from investment companies Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners, Airbnb also said it was going to focus more on long-term stays. 

The next month, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said the company was laying off 1,900 employees, or about a quarter of its workforce. 

"We are collectively living through the most harrowing crisis of our lifetime, and as it began to unfold, global travel came to a standstill," Chesky said at the time. "Airbnb’s business has been hit hard, with revenue this year forecasted to be less than half of what we earned in 2019."

Airbnb did not immediately respond to  request for comment.