Airbnb Shares Skyrocket +135% On First Day Of Trading
โ€” Updated on 29 January 2023

Airbnb Shares Skyrocket +135% On First Day Of Trading

โ€” Updated on 29 January 2023
Garry Lu
WORDS BY
Garry Lu

After settling on US$68 per share for its debut, the Airbnb IPO enjoyed a fortuitous first day on the NASDAQ. Opening at an already-impressive US$148 before later climbing as high as US$160, the Airbnb shares (NASDAQ: ABNB) closed at approximately US$144, securing a market capitalisation of US$100 billion. Quite the vote of confidence from investors, especially given the year that has been.

โ€œIn March/April, I didnโ€™t think it was going to be possible to still go public this year,โ€ says Nathan Blecharczyk, Airbnb Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer.

โ€œBut I think this pandemic has demonstrated how resilient the Airbnb business is.โ€

โ€œYou gave us hope that the idea of strangers staying together in each othersโ€™ homes was not so crazy after all,โ€ says Brian Chesky, Airbnb Co-Founder & CEO.

โ€œAirbnb is rooted in the fundamental idea that people are good and weโ€™re in this together.โ€

RELATED: Bumble IPO Set To Be Valued At Over US$6 Billion

airbnb shares

As weโ€™ve previously mentioned, unsurprisingly, 2020 has been a considerably tough year for Airbnb despite its status as an agile marketplace disruptor. According to its prospectus, the accommodation rental giant had faced a net loss of around US$697 million from US$2.52 billion of revenue at the time of its filing.

Additionally, when COVID-19 kicked off in earnest around March, Airbnb was hit with US$1 billion in lost bookings almost overnight. Later in May, the operation had no choice but to terminate approximately 25% of employees (nearly 1,900 individuals) and completely gut marketing costs.

The optimism, however, comes from something of a rebound. Last quarter, the company generated US$219 million in net income from US$1.34 billion of revenue. Representing a loss of almost 19% from US$1.65 billion in 2019, the presence of any net income at all should be considered a โ€œwinโ€.

Though itโ€™s worth noting Airbnb and its 2-bagger shares havenโ€™t been the sole triumph story this week, at least not within the realm of IPOs. Just a day prior, DoorDash (NYSE: DASH) also debuted as a publicly listed company, closing out its own first day with gains just a touch under +86%. At the time of this writing, its shares are trading at US$186, securing an equally respectable market capitalisation of US$70 billion.

Safe to say, thereโ€™s some serious $$$ flying about as the year closes outโ€ฆ

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Garry Lu
WORDS by
After stretching his legs with companies such as The Motley Fool and the odd marketing agency, Garry joined Boss Hunting in 2019 as a fully-fledged Content Specialist. In 2021, he was promoted to News Editor. Garry proudly retains a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, black bruises from Muay Thai, as well as a black belt in all things pop culture. Drop him a line at garry@luxity.com.au

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