The home-sharing company, valued at just US$18 billion in a private fundraising round in April, saw its stock surge by as much as 115 per cent in Thursday’s Nasdaq debut, bringing its market cap to US$101.6 billion. Airbnb’s share price closed at US$145 on the U.S. exchange, more than double the IPO price of US$68 per share, raising the company US$3.5 billion. (Business Insider, The New York Times)

Talking point: In an interview with Bloomberg Thursday morning, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said he was “humbled” by investor reception to the IPO. “The higher the stock price, the higher the expectations, the harder we are going to be working, obviously.” Airbnb’s market performance is a sharp departure from the state of the company at the start of the pandemic—as bookings plummeted, Airbnb raised emergency funding and laid off a quarter of its 7,500 workers. In the lead-up to the IPO, Airbnb launched a global campaign to promote domestic travel, one that Chesky claims largely worked in reversing the company’s fortunes. The company acknowledges It still faces a number of challenges, including increased enforcement of domestic regulation on short-term rentals.