Sonos Inc., a maker of high-end smart speakers that integrate with Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa, today filed for an initial public offering.

The company didn’t divulge how many shares it plans to sell and set the funding target for the IPO to $100 million, a figure firms often use as a placeholder before determining the real amount. What Sonos’ filing does reveal, however, is strong growth fueled by rapidly rising consumer demand for smart speakers.

In the six months ended March 31, the company saw revenue climb 18 percent year-over-year, to $655.7 million. Sonos’ profit declined by 14 percent in the same period, to $13.1 million. But it’s worth noting that the hardware maker has closed the past three fiscal years with a net loss. The IPO documents show that the company was profitable for at least two years before that.

Sonos seems to be slowly working its way back into the black. The company reported a net loss of $14.2 million on $992.5 million in sales for fiscal 2017, compared with a $38.2 million loss and revenues of $901.3 million for the year before.

Overall, Sonos has sold more than 19 million speakers to date. The company’s core product line spans from the $199 Sonos One to a $1,899 home theater system with three subwoofers. One of the company’s biggest strengthens is that its devices can communicate with one another over Wi-Fi, allowing users to control all the speakers in their home from one place via Alexa voice commands or an app.

This capability has helped Sonos build up a strong following of customers who more often than not buy multiple speakers. According to the company’s filing, the 19-million-plus Sonos speakers that have been registered online by users are installed in some 6.9 million homes.

The Wall Street Journal reported in April that an IPO could value Sonos at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion. Sources told the publication said that the company may schedule its stock market debut for June or July.

Sonos plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SONO.” In the section of the IPO filing covering business risks, Sonos said its revenue is prone to short-term fluctuations and depends on partnerships to a large extent.  

The document places an emphasis on Sonos’ partnership with Amazon, detailing that it could revoke access to Alexa with “limited notice.” That’s significant because the e-commerce giant’s Alexa-powered Echo devices directly compete with Sonos in the smart speaker market. Music streaming giant Spotify Technology SA, which went public this year and is believed to be working on its own audio hardware, is an important partner as well.

Photo: Sonos