Tag Archives: ipo

08/7/20

The Pricing of IPOs

Comes now the triumphant case of Austin, Texas based BigCommerce who IPOed at $24/share on Tuesday. It was cause for local pride and a bit of celebration.

But, was it really?

Absorb these facts:

 1. Company comes public at $24/share and nets $216,000,000.

Well played. Bravo! Years of hard work come together. The American Dream is alive in Austin By God Texas.

 2. Stock price closed that day at $72.27/share, a nifty 201% above the IPO price in less than one full day of trading. [Helen, I think we go with the big Lexus.]

 3. On Wednesday, stock opens at $68, rewarding the folks who got a slice of the IPO and the investment bankers who bought the 15% over-allotment, the Green Shoe, for which they paid $24/share.

 4. Stock closed at $91.80/share on that same Thursday. At this price, the company’s market cap is in the $7B range. A lot of value was created for the founders and the venture capitalists who threw in over $200MM to build this baby.

I love the smell of capitalism in the morning.

For those doing the math, confirm that the $24/share to $91.80/share run is a 283% gain. Not a bad performance for two days.

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02/10/20

Casper — CSPR — The Unfriendly Mattress Company

So, Casper — CSPR NYSE — got public at a value that is a meaningful  discount to the last venture money valuation. Still, they got public.

The IPO went through some birth canal stress, exiting as a skinnier version of its most recent $1.2B private value. It is currently showing a public market cap of $346MM. That is one Hell of a haircut.

“Could you nip it a little close on the sides, please? But, don’t amputate the ears?”

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01/13/20

The Casper IPO IQ Test

After a blood bath with the failed WeWork, the IPO market is coming back for another IQ test — how stupid are you?

This is not a drill.

Comes hither our sleepy friends Casper, the mattress folks.

Casper isn’t spooked by IPO woes

Could investors ghost the Casper IPO?

Spooky.

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10/15/19

Smile Direct Club — No Smiling Allowed

Comes now the curious story of Smile Direct Club — the worst Initial Public Offering of 2019.

IPO prices at $23 and rests comfortably this morning at a bit above $9. Ouch. We are talking a huge loss of value, down 60%.

Here are the Smile Direct Club founders, Jordan Katzman and Alex Fenkel. Does it strike you as odd that neither of these co-founders are smiling? Seems a little creepy as if they are doing it on purpose.

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09/13/19

We IPO — An Obscenity Or Just Offensive?

If you have been off the ‘net, you may not have heard, but We (We Work) is trying to float a public issuance of its stock. Your Big Red Car wrote about it here.

We IPO — You Work, I Work, WeWork

Back in the middle of August when that was written, several pithy criticisms of the deal were made. Since then, We (We Work) has gotten some sense beaten into its dopey head and backtracked on the most egregious offenses against common sense and humanity.

Is it enough? is it enough? Is it enough? No. No, a thousand times NO!

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05/20/19

Beyond Meat — Don’t Burn That Fake Burger

If you have a hankering for a burger, then Beyond Meat may be for you, especially if you like plant protein burgers. Into the conversation, comes recently IPOed Beyond Meat.

BYND came public on 2 May 2019 at $25/share. Since then, the chart looks like the following. Hello, America!

From an Initial Public Offering price of $25/share, the first trade was at $46/share and the first day ended with the price $65.75/share. This was a 163% premium to the IPO price.

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05/13/19

UBER Surge Pricing

Hail, Uber! Uber went public last week with great fanfare befitting the third largest Initial Public Offering in US history. Hoorah, Uber! All hail Uber!

Then, they ran into reality and reality drowned them with surge pricing.

Uber came public at the low end of the proposed range (already a huge disappointment when compared to the investment bank courtship days) and promptly fell, making it the largest first day IPO loser in US history. Hello, America.

In fairness to Uber, the markets have been reeling with the US-China trade treaty negotiation news and the imposition of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs. [Trump’s fault?]

Lyft — a competitor — was also tanking adding to the cloud over the market and the IPO world.

Nonetheless, Uber has some problems.

Uber shares.

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