Sonos Inc., one of the leading smart speaker companies, filed for its initial public offering on Friday, with the company planning to go public on Nasdaq with the “SONO” ticker symbol.
The Santa Barbara, California-based, company reported that it made $992.5 million in revenue last year, but had a net loss of about $14 million, according to its SEC filing. Sonos lost $38 million in 2016. Sonos — with products ranging from the $199 Sonos One to a $1,900 home-theater system — said it has sold more than 19 million products and is in 7 million households.
And despite reporting a 33 percent bump in year-over-year listening on its devices, with customers listening to 70 hours of content each month on average in 2017, Sonos noted its operating in an “extremely competitive” smart speaker market. Tech giants like Apple, Amazon and Google have all entered the market in recent years, along with other rivals like Samsung and Bose.
Sonos is seeking a $2.5 billion to $3 billion valuation, according to a recent Bloomberg report, and the company set a placeholder offering size of $100 million in its SEC filing. CEO Patrick Spence noted in the filing that the music business can be volatile, and that investors should look at Sonos as a long-term play as streaming continues to gain traction.
“Short-term fluctuations and uneven product cadences are built into our business model,” said Spence. “This means we won’t be right for every investor. But if you share our desire to achieve long-term success, our commitment to being open, our dedication to doing the hard things and our excitement about the potential of the Sonic Internet, then we invite you to join us.”
Spotify, one of the services that goes hand in hand with Sonos, went public with a $26 billion valuation earlier this year.