Tech IPOs uncork too much of a good thing 14 Dec 2020 First-day pops like Airbnb and DoorDash’s look like success, but have left rivals hesitant. Gaming platform Roblox and payments startup Affirm are delaying IPOs after peers left billions on the table. Firms like a share-price jump but exaggerated moves leave losers close to home.
Chinese toymaker puts hype in its mystery box 11 Dec 2020 Pop Mart shares doubled on their Hong Kong debut. Sales are soaring in its home market, where young adults make blind purchases without knowing what they will get. But the company’s collectables remain a niche hobby. A premium valuation to peers like Hasbro looks just as faddish.
Airbnb IPO surge puts pressure on next unicorns 10 Dec 2020 Shares of the home-sharing app more than doubled, beating the debut of food-delivery firm DoorDash. Airbnb has some rare traits compared to other frothy offerings, such as its ability to turn a profit. Its jumping stock still sets a new bar for upcoming tech IPOs like Instacart.
Weedmaps deal marks a high point of the SPAC boom 10 Dec 2020 The business operates on the cleaner side of the cannabis trade, running a dealer review site and offering software to the pot industry. Business is booming. And legal complexities ironically give it some protection. They also make it a better candidate for a SPAC than an IPO.
Hong Kong joins the IPO pop parade 10 Dec 2020 First-day gains in the city’s debuts have bested New York’s this year for only the second time in a decade. Rallying stocks help, but JD Health’s 56% jump suggests a more dynamic market following a slew of tech listings. That bodes well amid growing competition with Shanghai.
DoorDash IPO leaves too much on the table 9 Dec 2020 It raised $3 billion at $102 per share – and the stock started trading at $182. Market share prices don’t tell the full story, but the food delivery company could clearly have gotten more. That’s unfortunate. Between competition and Covid-19, DoorDash could use the extra cash.
Liquid soap lubricates Chinese IPO gold rush 9 Dec 2020 Following booze and bottled water, detergent is the latest consumer staple poured onto Hong Kong’s foamy market. Priced around 25 times forecast earnings, Blue Moon touts market dominance and high margins. Competition and rising material costs will put pressure on both.
Wish’s cut-price approach fails to extend to IPO 8 Dec 2020 The owner of the cheap-and-cheerful e-commerce site reckons it’s worth up to $14 bln. Wish’s gamification of online shopping is a bit like China’s hugely successful Pinduoduo. The valuation suggests too much optimism that the model will translate for a U.S. audience.
China delisting plan sinks teeth into wrong places 3 Dec 2020 A proposal to boot foreign companies off U.S. exchanges if they don’t comply with auditing oversight is on its way to becoming law. It’s a fair demand, but targeting CCP members misses the mark as does giving others a free pass. The bill goes both too far and not far enough.
Healthcare IPO examines value of China’s big tech 2 Dec 2020 The unit of e-commerce giant JD priced its $3.5 bln offer at a reasonable 13 times sales. Virtual consultations and pharmacies are booming, supporting an official push for a healthy China. It’s a timely reminder that powerful internet platforms have valuable uses for Beijing.
Xiaomi $4 bln cash raise exploits peak market 2 Dec 2020 The $81 bln Chinese smartphone maker is using its 143% share rally this year to raise $4 bln - a record Hong Kong follow-on. Shares are now pricier than Apple’s, which should please founder Lei Jun, a Steve Jobs imitator. He has his work cut out justifying that valuation.
Airbnb IPO price deserves more stars than DoorDash 1 Dec 2020 The two are seeking similar IPO valuations: up to $30 bln for the home-sharing app and $27 bln for the delivery firm. That doesn't compute. Airbnb’s scale and proven cash-generating ability are more appealing. Moreover, the pandemic’s end will boost Airbnb and hurt DoorDash.
Alibaba and Hong Kong celebrate happy anniversary 26 Nov 2020 Both have been rocked in various ways in the year since the Chinese tech titan completed its landmark $13 bln secondary listing. At the same time, more companies have followed suit and boosted the city’s trading volume. Benefits may keep accruing if indexes retrain their sights too.
Affirm IPO earns half a credit for disruption 24 Nov 2020 The payment startup offers a clever alternative to credit cards, passing some of the cost of buy-now-pay-later to merchants. That suits peddlers of pricey items who want to juice up sales, or customers without access to plastic. The challenge is to make that more than a niche.
Corona Capital: Tiffany, Biden, Vaccines, Cash box 24 Nov 2020 Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: The cut-price jeweller issues less-than-sparkling results; the U.S. president-elect gets to start tackling the pandemic; Russia touts its discount vaccine; and UK firms gorge on shareholder-unfriendly equity issues.
Boutique SPAC merges Wall Street and Easy Street 20 Nov 2020 Perella Weinberg may hit up a blank-check company to go public after a year of IPO mutterings. The deal would be an endorsement of a less complex process to list shares. But boutiques aren’t consistently great investments and SPACs have their own reputations to clean up.
Video IPO live-streams cost of ByteDance rivalry 20 Nov 2020 Chinese app Kuaishou wants to go public at a $50 bln valuation. The Tencent-backed company swung into the red in the first half as growth slows and fierce competition with TikTok’s owner takes a toll. It’s a preview of the costly battles playing out across the industry.
Russia is blessing and curse for e-commerce IPO 19 Nov 2020 Online marketplace Ozon’s New York offering values it at up to $5.6 bln. A big and underpenetrated market is a plus, as are barriers to foreign rivals. But subsidising deliveries in the world’s biggest country means it’s burning cash. The $1 bln fundraising may not be its last.
Gatecrashers join Europe’s telecom tower M&A bash 17 Nov 2020 Vodafone’s mobile mast unit might be worth 14 bln euros when it lists. Telefonica, Orange and Deutsche Telekom are carving out their businesses. With half of Europe’s 700,000 towers still potentially up for grabs, acquisitive Spanish operator Cellnex faces some stiff competition.
Airbnb’s IPO doesn’t require head-in-sand moment 16 Nov 2020 The home-sharing app’s revenue fell 30% in the first nine months of the year as Covid cut into travel. That isn’t great, but it forced Airbnb to rein in unnecessary spending just as similar firms’ stocks rose. An IPO valuation above $31 billion – its last marker – isn’t a stretch.