Airbnb files preliminary paperwork for public stock offering

Airbnb on Wednesday filed preliminary paperwork for selling stock on Wall Street, undaunted by a global pandemic that has taken some wind out of its home-sharing business.

The San Francisco-based company said it submitted a draft registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission. It kept details in the statement confidential.

Airbnb said the number of shares in the company it plans to sell and their price hasn’t yet been determined. The timing of the IPO also hasn’t been set.

Airbnb, which was founded 12 years ago, has long been expected to go public. Its CEO, Brian Chesky, told The Associated Press this summer that he was working on the IPO documents when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in March.

The pandemic initially hurt demand for the 7 million properties listed by Airbnb. Chesky has said that Airbnb’s 2020 revenue will likely be less than half of what the company booked last year.

In May, Airbnb cut 1,900 employees, or around 25% of its workforce. The company funded operations with $2 billion in loans, including a $1 billion investment from private equity firms Silver Lake and Sixth Street Partners.

But demand has rebounded some as some travelers see home rentals as safer during the pandemic than crowded hotels. On July 8, the company said guests booked more than 1 million nights’ worth of future business. It was the first time that threshold had been reached since March 3.

In a report issued last week, AirDNA — a company that tracks the short-term rental industry — said occupancy rates for short-term rentals have recovered more quickly than those for hotels.