By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 17th, 2024
The move by Airbnb and Doordash to boost their valuation with hiked share pricing is set to place the US IPO market on a climactic ending for the 2020 calendar year.
Airbnb Inc and Doordash Inc are set to boost their earlier projected market valuations through hiked Initial Public Offering (IPO) pricing and top range IPO pricing ahead of their proposed public market debut. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Airbnb, the American vacation rental online marketplace company based in San Francisco is set to re-price its Initial Public Offering shares from $44 to $50 per share to $56 to $60 per share ahead of its public listing scheduled for Thursday.
With this new pricing, Airbnb could see its valuation skyrocket to about $42 billion on a fully diluted basis. On the other hand, DoorDash Inc is an American on-demand prepared food delivery service company scheduled to debut on the stock exchange a day earlier than Airbnb. Doordash with its already highly-priced IPO shares also looks to sell its shares at the top range of its proposed $90 to $95 per share. With this, Doordash could see a valuation of at least $36 billion.
The ambitious plans by these two aspiring publicly traded companies is an indication of the healthy United States IPO markets this year and the promising position of the market to end the year with record-breaking listings. Airbnb and Doordash will ride on the back of the current positioning of the US economy driven upwards by sentiments of potential coronavirus vaccines which are expected to be administered any moment from now.
Airbnb, Doordash and Other IPO Debuts amid COVID-19 Turbulent 2020
While the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic presented to many companies a situation of economic menace, for others, it served as a means to step up their games.
There were strategic business models that thrived amidst the coronavirus pandemic as they are focused on everyday essentials. Doordash is one of them, while people stay indoors amidst the lockdown, many rely on startups like Doordash to deliver food and groceries for sustenance. Correspondingly, the more the value offering by a firm, the better the company’s potential return.
Airbnb also saw a strategic demand on its platform amid the pandemic as people seek out short stay apartments away from COVID-19 hotspots in the cities.
Besides the IPO schedule of Airbnb and Doordash, other companies including Lufax Holding Ltd (NYSE: LU), Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE: PLTR), and Agora Inc (NASDAQ: API) are amongst the startups that have made an earlier debut on US stock exchanges this year despite the harsh bites of the pandemic.
Per the Wall Street Journal report, the move by the duo of Airbnb and Doordash to boost their valuation with hiked share pricing is set to place the US IPO market on a climactic ending for the 2020 calendar year. According to the SEC filing for both companies, Airbnb will trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “ABNB,” while Doordash will make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DASH”.