WeWork contends to lead 2019 IPOs amidst controversy

WeWork has yet to breach the public market, but the startup has made headlines after its controversial capital maneuvers in recent history.

Now valued at $47 billion, the 9-year-old office-sharing juggernaut has inspired plenty of skepticism about its valuation, as well as basic questions from investors like what the company actually does, and whether or not it's a tech company.

Though WeWork is growing rapidly (revenue jumped 113% to $728 million), its losses are also expanding. Adjusted EBITDA loss more than doubled in the quarter, to $220 million, and net loss, excluding an investment gain, rose from $274 million to $631 million. Both revenue and losses more than doubled in 2018 as well. Revenue reached $1.8 billion, but the company lost $1.9 billion. 

Concerns about hefty losses have sent stocks like Uber and Lyft falling since their debuts earlier this year, and threaten to spoil WeWork's IPO. However, WeWork is a fundamentally different business from Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb (which could also initiate an IPO this year), and shouldn't be grouped together with them.

A closer look at the company's fundamentals and its long-term opportunity shows that it could be the big winner in this year's IPO class if or when WeWork actually goes public. Here are three reasons:

Read more here.

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