Buy Airbnb Shares: The Guide To Invest Waiting for IPO
If you want to buy Airbnb shares, we can immediately tell you to wait. This multinational is not yet listed on the stock exchange; therefore, it is not possible to buy its shares yet. But there are interesting alternatives that you will discover by reading this guide.
There is a lot of interest around this very famous online booking site; but if it is not listed yet, how can you invest in it?
Let’s go step by step: Airbnb was preparing the IPO, but the coronavirus epidemic has messed up the plans and it is not known yet when the public offer will take place.
Before explaining the alternatives to investing in Airbnb, it is important to clarify that there is another factor to consider when evaluating an investment – almost as important as the asset: The broker.
The brokers, or the intermediaries, that allow you to trade assets, are not all the same. In fact, only those with a regular license are safe and reliable.
Here is a short list of the best brokers (all with CySEC or FCA license) where you could invest. By choosing eToro, you can also make automatic investments.
Platform: Min. Deposit: 50€ License: Cysec |
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Platform: Min. Deposit: 100€ License: Cysec |
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Platform: Min. Deposit: 50€ License: Cysec |
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Platform: Min. Deposit: 250€ License: Cysec |
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Platform: Min. Deposit: 100€ License: Cysec |
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72.30% of retail CFD accounts lose money
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Platform: Min. Deposit: 250€ License: Cysec |
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What is Airbnb?
Airbnb was founded in 2007 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nate Blecharczyk.
Their goal was to develop a web portal where to share apartments and beds and offer travelers cheaper accommodation than hotels.
In addition to this, the portal has allowed many homeowners to turn their properties into a profit and for this reason, it has grown enormously.
A significant feature of Airbnb is the amount of additional services that are rarely found in a hotel: Such as offices in apartments, charging stations for electric cars, bicycles available, kitchen, etc.
Buy Airbnb shares with the best brokers
The company is not listed yet, so buying Airbnb shares is not possible at the moment. However, there are alternatives.
If you choose one of the proposed alternatives, you will need an intermediary in order to invest. It is important that you do not choose it randomly, brokers are not all the same.
To invest you need a PC, an internet connection, and an online broker with CySEC or FCA license, to learn how to invest safely.
The broker must offer CFDs, contracts that replicate the price of the asset you are interested in and allow you to invest upwards or downwards without paying commissions.
The main advantages of these investment platforms (CFD brokers) are:
- They allow you to negotiate directly online without paying commissions.
- They allow the use of financial leverage, a multiplier that allows – for example – to negotiate with 3,000 euros having only 100 in the account.
- It is possible to invest both upwards and downwards and earn (if the forecast is correct) in any market scenario.
- The minimum deposit does not exceed 250 euros.
The only disadvantage is that with CFDs you don’t participate in stock dividends since you don’t really get hold of the shares, but you only earn on price changes.
The best platforms to invest with CFDs in total security are: eToro, ForexTB, and Trade.com . Let’s the features of each one of them.
eToro: Ease of use and automatic trading
eToro is certainly the most used online broker in the world and the over 7 million active users on its trading platform prove it.
The CySEC license is just one of many eToro authorizations, which confirms the security and reliability of the broker.
eToro offers one of the clearest, simplest, and most practical trading platforms in the market, but this should not mislead the more experienced traders. In fact, the software also offers charts and indicators for the most professional technical analysis.
EToro’s fame is partly due to its automatic investment system: Copy Trading.
This feature allows you to copy the market operations of the best traders in the world (in eToro) in a totally automatic and free way, also if you want to buy Airbnb shares.
To access Copy Trading you need to follow these steps:
- Register on eToro
- In the section “people”, you can choose the traders to copy based on the performance.
- With a click, Copy Trading will copy exactly the same operations of the chosen traders in your account.
- At this point, you will get the same returns as these trading experts (of course, in proportion to your investment), without doing anything else.
Here are some of the best eToro traders (which you can copy), with their annual performances:
Click here and choose which trader to follow
Both Copy Trading as well as traditional trading can also be tested on a free Demo account, without taking real risks.
Click here and sign up for free
For more details you can read our full eToro review.
ForexTB: Excellent Course and Free Trading Signals
ForexTB is quickly making a name among trading intermediaries for its security and the remarkable services offered for free.
The broker can count on the authorization of CySEC and provides two free trading platforms:
- The web platform is easy to use and can be entered from any browser without downloading any software.
- Metatrader 4 is more technical and full of professional indicators and meets the needs of the more experienced traders.
Click here to sign up for free on ForexTB
To facilitate the learning of trading beginners, ForexTB has created and offered a highly appreciated trading course (ebook) for free. This course gives the foundation for online trading and allows you to better understand investment markets and platforms.
Click here and download the trading course for free
One of the most appreciated free services is certainly the Trading Signals sent to investors. These indications, developed by the Trading Central analysis center, are very precise and punctual, with a success rate of over 70%.
To receive free ForexTB Trading Signals, click here
Trade.com: Small investments and free training
Trade offers a series of services for training traders and for this reason it is among the most growing intermediaries in recent months.
It is an authorized FCA broker, one of the most complex authorizations to get.
Trade.com training is available to all users through a teaching area divided into three sections: basic, intermediate, and advanced. In this way you, everybody can choose the most suitable content for his level of preparation and experience.
For novice traders, it starts with a free trading course that is really useful and you download from the link below:
Download the free Trade.com course by clicking here
Investments are often considered too “expensive” and therefore avoided, but this is not always the case. Trade.com tries to give anyone an opportunity to trading thanks to the lowest entry thresholds on the market: 100 euros.
If 100 euros still seems too much, don’t worry. In order to learn, it is not necessary to deposit real money, since there is a free Demo account, ideal for practicing without taking any risks, you can also buy Airbnb shares on Demo account.
Click here to sign up for free
Airbnb: Business model
With 4 million ads in over 191 countries, Airbnb’s global reach is remarkable. Aside from the setback due to Covid-19, it is expanding everywhere creating fierce competition with classic hotel booking sites.
The business model intercepts the need to stay in the city – sometimes very expensive – at lower prices and this always attracts new customers.
In 2018, its use rose from 70% to 79% in Mexico City for example, while stays in Beijing increased by 90%.
With such a business model, it is difficult to think of a public offering flop… But it is not all positive around Airbnb.
Is Airbnb making profits?
In 2018, Airbnb posted profits of over $ 1 billion. Financial data showed that the company increased performance from each booking by 31%.
According to Reuters, this translated into a $ 9.4 billion increase in 2019 with respect to 2018. Forecasts said Airbnb’s profit would reach $ 8.5 billion in 2020, but Coronavirus mixed the cards.
Regardless of the epidemic, Airbnb has a profit problem. This would have a major impact on the share price, is that why the IPO is not ready yet?
According to the Wall Street Journal, this giant reported a loss of $ 322 million in the first nine months of 2019.
In the same period of 2018, he had a profit of $ 200 million. What’s up then?
- Airbnb has had some significant recent expenses due to security concerns. Everything from prostitution to violence have consumed Airbnb’s profits lately.
- In addition, Airbnb suffered a colossal scam by homeowners, who were moving guests in other apartments at the last minute for the most imaginative reasons.
- Airbnb has also made some high-profile acquisitions such as HotelTonight and Urbandoor that have gnawed profits.
But these are solvable problems and investments are needed to grow. So, it is safe to assume that Airbnb is still an excellent company in its pre-IPO phase.
Can we buy Airbnb shares?
Airbnb is currently a private company. As a result, there is no Airbnb share price, because these are not “offered” to the public.
But there is good news. It seems that Airbnb will soon become a publicly traded company, according to some rumors. But we believe it is more likely next year.
So, at the moment, you can only wait for the listing and prepare for a big IPO that will probably attract many investors.
Buy Airbnb shares: Which are the alternatives?
There are 3 alternatives to purchasing Airbnb shares:
- An attempt may be to purchase shares from the holder, i.e. private Airbnb shareholders. However, it is very unlikely that a shareholder will now sell his shares which are likely to increase in value after the IPO. Moreover, it is not easy for a private person to do such a negotiation. These hypothetical actions are more likely to be carried out by a bank or an investment fund.
- Another possibility is to invest in a private equity fund that invests in companies such as Airbnb with venture capital. Both AngelList and EquityZen are funds that allow investors to diversify their investments in pre-IPO companies such as Airbnb.
- Investing in Airbnb competitors already listed. The market is always growing and some Airbnb competitors are very interesting. Among these we find:
Booking.com, Marriott, and Expedia; just to name a few.
Conclusions
Airbnb’s IPO is a promising technological company that should be made public in the coming months. Many expected the company to go public last year, like many of its “colleagues”, including Uber, Lyft, Zoom, and Pinterest.
Airbnb has chosen to wait, aiming for 2020, which as we know has been a very complicated year for tourism and consequently also for this booking portal.
At the moment, there is no precise timing regarding the IPO, but we have seen that there are interesting investment alternatives.
If you want to invest, our advice is to do tests in the Demo accounts of the brokers we have presented here. In this way, you can evaluate strategies and intermediaries safely without unnecessary risks. Here are the official links to register:
- Practice the eToro Demo account for free by clicking here
- Register for free on ForexTB and access the Demo account from this link
- Access the Trade.com Demo account for free from this link
It is a portal that offers apartments and beds for rent all over the world.
Not yet, it is not a publicly traded company even though the IPO is certainly imminent.
Airbinb’s competitors already listed are an excellent alternative to invest in the same sector.
You should choose only brokers with a regular license that offer CFDs and allow you to trade without paying commissions.