WeWork shrinks loss as office space demand rises

As health-related restrictions ease, demand for office space has been rebounding, and that's helping WeWork.

In its first report since going public last month, the office-sharing company shrank its quarterly loss more than analysts expected.

WeWork has benefited from the move by many companies to adopt a hybrid model for work. The SoftBank-backed company said occupancy in its offices was up 9% from a year earlier, and memberships increased 7%.

WeWork has tried to cut losses by exiting unprofitable leases and selling non-core assets.

The company was supposed to make its stock market debut two years ago. But WeWork had to abort its plans amid investor concerns over its business model and co-founder Adam Neumann's management style. That botched IPO attempt resulted in his ouster that year.

The company finally succeeded last month through a merger with a blank-check firm in a $9 billion deal- a far cry from its $47 billion valuation in 2019.