Even though WeWork has seemingly recovered from one of its worst quarters in company history at the beginning of 2021, the embattled company still can't seem to turn a profit after it finally made its IPO in October of last year. Even with the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions and the return of parts of the workforces to offices around the globe, the company still racked up losses of $803 million in the fourth quarter of 2021 against a revenue of $718 million for combined losses of $4.6 billion and revenues of $2.6 billion this past year. As our chart shows, it's still unclear if the company's expectation to become profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis from this year's third quarter onward is within reach for the embattled firm.
According to last week's earning call, WeWork has high hopes for an increase in demand due to the shift towards a more hybrid work model in the upcoming months. At the end of 2021, the occupancy rate of all systemwide locations stood at 65 percent even after exiting unprofitable leases and reducing its worldwide workstation capacity by 20,000. The goal of 90 percent occupancy by the end of 2022 as outlined in the company's forecast in March 2021 seems increasingly unobtainable at this rate.
One of WeWork's most direct competitors, Switzerland-based IWG, fared considerably better over the last year while still operating at a loss, showcasing the improved but still difficult situation in the coworking space market. In 2021, the company amassed roughly $340 million in losses compared to a net loss of $802 the year prior.
