Airbnb Picks Nasdaq For IPO

Airbnb has chosen to list its shares on the Nasdaq market, marking the index’s biggest listing since Facebook‘s $16 billion one in 2012, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Nasdaq typically goes for tech-focused stocks like software or biotechnology, featuring high-profile initial public offerings (IPOs) like Lyft and Zoom. However, due to the fallout from Facebook’s troubled IPO years ago, Nasdaq has often lost high-profile listings to the New York Stock Exchange, Bloomberg reported. Uber‘s $8.1 billion listing from 2019 and Snowflake‘s $3.86 billion were among those.

Airbnb, whose IPO is one of the most anticipated of the year, would be the third-biggest on the index after Facebook’s aforementioned listing and Mondelez International‘s $8.68 billion from 2001, according to Bloomberg.

Airbnb suffered during the pandemic as users canceled reservations en masse and largely stopped traveling due to a need to avoid catching the coronavirus. The popular vacation rental company was valued at $18 billion in April of this year, but that was a step down from the company’s $31 billion valuation beforehand, Bloomberg reported.

In an email to shareholders, Airbnb said it is splitting its privately held shares this week, Bloomberg reported. The move would lower its stock price per share. The value of the shares has risen 10.4 percent from the company’s previous valuation listed in compensation reports to the IRS. The split had the company’s common shares listed at $34.88 a piece as of Sept. 30.

While Airbnb lost ground early in the pandemic as people quit traveling, it began to see a rebound as people adjusted their plans to go to rural areas where they’d be hopefully less at-risk of catching the virus. PYMNTS reported that CEO Brian Chesky said the company began to see over 1 million nights of Airbnb stays booked in July, with people discovering smaller towns, national parks and other wildlife-related retreats.

Airbnb also said no to the possibility of entering into a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with billionaire Bill Ackman, indicating that the company is OK going forward the traditional way as opposed to looking for new forms of help.