By Dee-Ann Durbin

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 percent of its workforce.

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.

Share:
More In Business
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV: What you need to know
Disney content has gone dark on YouTube TV, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC. That’s because the companies have failed to reach a new licensing deal to keep Disney channels on YouTube TV. Depending on how long it lasts, the dispute could particularly impact coverage of U.S. college football matchups over the weekend — on top of other news and entertainment disruptions that have already arrived. In the meantime, YouTube TV subscribers who want to watch Disney channels could have little choice other than turning to the company’s own platforms, which come with their own price tags.
Load More