IPOs this week : Apr 12 - 16, 2021 (wk 15)

IPOs expected to price

•  Alkami Technology (ALKT), 

• AppLovin (APP), 

  TuSimple (TSP) and 

• Karat Packaging (KRT) 
  

 

 IPO quiet period expirations

• Duckhorn Portfolio (NYSE:NAPA), 
• Olo (NYSE:OLO), 
• Sun Country Airlines (NASDAQ:SNCY), 
• Tuya (NYSE:TUYA), 
• Vine Energy (NYSE:VEI), 
• Connect BioPharm (NASDAQ:CNTB) and 
• Finch Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FNCH) next week. 

Sun Country may be the most interesting of the bunch to watch. The airline stock trades more than 50% over its IPO pricing level, but industry booking trends have started to heat up.

Coinbase preview: Coinbase (COINB) is expected to start trading on April 14. Ahead of the direct listing, the company reported Q1 revenue of about $1.8B vs. $191M a year ago. Coinbase also said it has 56M verified users. Trading on the private market has valued Coinbase at about $68B or $100B after factoring in a fully-diluted share count. D.A. Davidson is already on the books with a price target on Coinbase of $440.

Duckhorn Portfolio (NAPA) began trading on the NYSE on Wed 18 March 2021

The Napa Valley winery said 20.0 million shares were sold in the IPO, 13.3 million shares directly from the company and the rest by selling shareholders. 

• The IPO priced overnight at $15 a share, in the middle of the expected range of between $14 and $16 a share, as the company raised $200.0 million and was valued at about $1.73 billion. 
• Opened 24% above its initial public offering price. 
• The first trade was at $18.60 at 11:41 a.m. Eastern for about 1.8 million shares. 

Upstart (UPST) reported earnings on Wed 17 March 21 (a/h)

  ** charts after earnings **

Upstart beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus; guides FY21 revs above consensus

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, $0.05 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 41.9% year/year to $86.7 mln vs the $73.5 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.

Bank partners originated 123,396 loans across our platform in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 57% from the same quarter of the prior year.

Conversion on rate requests was 17.4% in the fourth quarter of 2020, up from 14.9% in the same quarter of the prior year.

Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $112-$118 mln vs. $75.30 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Sees adjusted net income of $13.4-$14.2 mln.

Co issues upside guidance for FY21, sees FY21 revs of approximately $500 mln vs. $359.45 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. Contribution Margin of approximately 41%.

Upstart agrees to acquire Prodigy Software; terms not disclosed

Upstart has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Prodigy Software, a provider of cloud-based automotive retail software. With the acquisition of Prodigy, Upstart will accelerate its efforts to offer AI-enabled auto loans through the tens of thousands of auto dealers nationwide where the majority of auto loans are originated.

More than $2 bln in vehicle sales have been powered by Prodigy at franchised dealers from brands such as Toyota, Honda, and Ford.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar year 2021.

Branson-backed SPAC to raise $500 million

(Reuters) - A blank-check firm, backed by Virgin Group's billionaire founder Richard Branson, is looking to raise as much as $500 million through an initial public offering, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday.

Virgin Group Acquisition Corp III, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, plans to sell 50 million units, composed of shares and warrants, priced at $10 per unit on the New York Stock Exchange. (https://bit.ly/2OEew3C)

The firm said in its filing it will be looking for targets to acquire in one of Virgin Group's core sectors, namely travel and leisure, financial services, health and wellness and renewable energy, among others.

Branson, a serial entrepreneur and a prolific investor, has raised hundreds of millions through multiple blank-check companies so far.

In February, VG Acquisition Corp (NYSE:VGAC), one of Branson's SPACs, agreed to take consumer DNA-testing firm 23andMe public through a merger, valuing the merged entity at $3.5 billion.

Plans call for the deal to close during the second quarter, with the combined company trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ME.”

Branson, a multibillionaire, is famous as a swashbuckling entrepreneur who started his first business as a teenager. He eventually founded the Virgin Records music label, Virgin Megastores record store, Virgin Atlantic Airlines, Virgin Galactic space-tourism company (NYSE:SPCE) and other businesses. Branson is also famous for his hobby of flying in hot-air balloons, setting several world records.

SPACs are shell companies which raise funds to acquire a private company with the intent of taking it public through a merger at a later date, allowing such companies to enter public markets by sidestepping a traditional IPO.

Credit Suisse is the sole book-running manager for the Virgin Group Acquisition Corp III offering.