=Snap was initiated at JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank

• Snap was initiated with a neutral rating at JPMorgan. $24 price target. The company has to grow into its current valuation, JPMorgan said. 
• Snap was also initiated with a buy rating at Deutsche Bank. $30 price target. Engagement and monetization opportunities are under-appreciated, Deutsche said.

====Ionis (IONS) spinout Akcea files for $100M IPO

Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ lipid disorder subsidiary Akcea Therapeutics has filed for a $100 million IPO. The spinout has secured a $50 million stock purchase commitment from its partner Novartis, putting it on track to pull in cash to fund mid- and late-phase trials of four pipeline prospects.

Akcea is yet to set the terms of the IPO but its initial filing lists $100 million as the top end of its fundraising ambitions. In a year noted as much so far for thwarted IPOs as successful listings, that target could prove elusive for some companies. But Akcea, in keeping with many biotechs that have listed successfully since the IPO market slowed down, has already secured the support of a backer that is willing to buy a sizable slice of the offering.

If all goes to plan, Novartis will buy up $50 million worth of the IPO shares. The Swiss Big Pharma’s commitment dates back to the deal it struck with Akcea and its parent company Ionis in January. Among the components of that deal—the value of which could top out above $1 billion—was a promise by Novartis to invest $50 million in Ionis or Akcea within 18 months. Akcea is using that commitment to get book building for its IPO off to a flying start.

Lipid disorder specialist Akcea has earmarked the IPO funds for four trials. The top priority is to fund volanesorsen through to its commercial introduction in familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy (FPL), two rare genetic disorders characterized by problems with how the body handles triglycerides.

Ionis posted phase 3 data in patients with hypertriglyceridemia late last year, before following up with a readout from a trial of people with FCS earlier this month. Both studies linked volanesorsen to steep declines in triglyceride levels, but ongoing concerns about the safety of the antisense drug marred investor perceptions of the most recent readout. If volanesorsen comes to market, some of the IPO haul will go toward providing platelet monitoring to mitigate the risk of adverse events.

Other tranches of the anticipated cash boost will enable Akcea to take its two Novartis-partnered assets—AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx and AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx—through phase 2 trials. Once Novartis sees data from those studies, it will decide whether to exercise its option to license the the assets. Akcea also plans to spend money on a phase 2 trial of wholly-owned dyslipidemia candidate AKCEA-ANGPTL3-LRx.

Ionis stands to profit from the success of Akcea. The first payment of $15 million will come out of the IPO funds to cover a sublicensing agreement related to the $75 million upfront fee paid by Novartis. Down the line, Akcea will split licensing fees, milestones and royalties from Novartis 50-50 with Ionis. And Ionis will also retain an as-yet-undecided stake in Akcea.

The Container Store (TCS) : 3-year performance

weekly

monthly

Tallgrass Energy (TEGP) : 2-year performance

** charts 5 weeks after earnings **

 

Tallgrass Energy (TEGP) reported earnings on Wed 15 Feb 2017 (a/h)

• Tallgrass Energy Partners, LP (TEP) and Tallgrass Energy GP, LP (TEGP), collectively referred to as Tallgrass Energy, reported strong financial and operating results for Q4 of 2016 and provided 2017 guidance.

LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) _ Tallgrass Energy GP LP (TEGP) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $8.7 million.

The Leawood, Kansas-based company said it had profit of 17 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 14 cents per share.

The limited partnership posted revenue of $160.7 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported profit of $26.8 million, or 55 cents per share. Revenue was reported as $605.1 million.

Tallgrass Energy GP shares have dropped slightly since the beginning of the year. The stock has more than doubled in the last 12 months.

Alteryx (AYX) began trading on the NYSE on 24 March 2017

Data analytics provider Alteryx (AYX) raised $126 million by offering 9 million shares at $14, the high end of the estimated price range of $12 to $14. The stock opened at 17.25 just before 10:30 ET on the stock market today, and subsequently dropped to 16.67 in its first minutes of trading.

• This is the 25th IPOs priced this year, up 212% from the same period a year ago, according to Renaissance Capital.

Alteryx defines itself as "a leading provider of self-service data analytics software." Its subscription-based software platform "enables organizations to dramatically improve business outcomes and the productivity of their business analysts," the company said in its IPO prospectus. "It allows organizations to easily prepare, blend, and analyze data from a multitude of sources and more quickly benefit from data-driven decisions."

Alteryx said it had more than 2,300 customers worldwide at the end of 2016, including Ford Motor (F), Nike (NKE) and Tableau Software (DATA), it said.

For 2016, Alteryx reported revenue of $69.76 million, up 61% year over year, with a net loss of $24.2 million, vs. a loss of $21.45 million in the previous year.

Address

3345 Michelson Dr Ste 400
IRVINE, CA 92612-7683
United States 

Website 

http://www.alteryx.com

Key stats and ratios

	Q1 (Mar '17)	2016
Net profit margin	-19.85%	-28.28%
Operating margin	-19.67%	-26.84%
EBITD margin	-	-24.85%
Return on average assets	-13.57%	-23.26%
Return on average equity	-111.24%

Teladoc (TDOC) : 2-year performance

  

Cheetah Mobile (CMCM) earnings on Tue 21 March 2016 (b/o)

Mavi Jeans considering an IPO

• Founded in 1991, Mavi Jeans was Turkey’s first fashion brand to become global. 
• The firm has more than 390 stores and is available from 5,000 locations in 50 countries.
• Flagship stores in New York , Vancouver, Montreal, Berlin , Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Moscow .
• The company's name derives from the fact that 'Mavi' is a Turkish word for blue.
• website: us.mavi.com

Mavi Jeans Store at the LP12 Mall of Berlin

The owners of Turkey’s Mavi Jeans, the brand that claims to be a favorite of celebrities including Lady Gaga and Adriana Lima, have hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. to work on an initial public offering, people familiar with the matter said.

Turkven Private Equity and the Akarlilar family mandated banks for the listing, which could value the company at about $800 million, including debt, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are private. No final decisions have been made and the owners may decide to postpone or cancel a listing.

The listing could be the largest Turkish IPO in years. Companies have raised about $508 million from initial share sales since 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The largest was insurance provider Avivasa Emeklilik & Hayat AS’s listing in Istanbul in 2014, which valued the company at 1.68 billion liras ($465 million), the data show.

ProPetro (PUMP) began trading on the NYSE on 17 March 2017

Oilfield services firm ProPetro (PUMP) sold an upsized 25 million shares at $14 each, raising $350 million. 

ProPetro planned to offer 20 million shares at a price range of $16-$19, which would have raised $350 million at the midpoint.

Address

1706 S Midkiff Rd Ste B
MIDLAND, TX 79701-8844
United States

Key stats and ratios

	Q4 (Dec '16)	2016
Net profit margin	-10.56%	-12.16%
Operating margin	-13.60%	-13.83%
EBITD margin	-	1.41%
Return on average assets	-15.01%	-10.76%
Return on average equity	-46.89%	-36.58%
Employees	642

MuleSoft (MULE) began trading on the NYSE on 17 March 2017

• San Francisco-based enterprise software company MuleSoft 
• The offering of 13 million shares was priced at $17 each on Thursday, above the expected range of $14 to $16. 
• Shares opened Friday up 43 percent, debuting at $24.25 apiece.
• That values the company at nearly $3 billion, about double the valuation it commanded at its last private financing event in 2015.
• MuleSoft makes software that automatically integrates disparate data, devices and applications to help businesses networks run faster. 
• The company is not profitable, and last year shaved its losses to $50 million from $65 million the year prior, according to IPO filings. Its revenue in 2016 was $188 million, a 70 percent jump from the year before.
• The company has more than 1,000 customers, including Coca-Cola Co, McDonald's Corp, Salesforce.com Inc , Spotify and Unilever.
• MuleSoft raised $221 million in its public offering, a modest sum next to Snap, which raised $3.4 billion, making it the largest U.S. technology debut since Facebook in 2012.

     

Address

77 Geary St Fl 400
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108-5707
United States 

Website links 

www.mulesoft.com/

Key stats and ratios

	Q4 (Dec '16)	2016
Net profit margin	-23.65%	-26.42%
Operating margin	-23.19%	-25.77%
EBITD margin	-	-24.73%
Return on average assets	-27.67%	-26.31%
Return on average equity	-	-
Employees	841

Canada Goose (GOOS) began trading on the NYSE on 16 March 2017

• Hot debut values Canada Goose at $2bn.
• Shares were priced at $12.78, opened for trading at $18.00, and closed 40% higher on first day of trading.
• Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange.
• CEO and president: Dani Reiss, the grandson of company founder Sam Tick.
• The IPO raised C$340m for the company as well as shareholders Bain Capital and Mr Reiss. The company plans to use the proceeds to pay down debt.
• Fans of the trendy brand are willing to pay upwards of $1,000 for the down winter coats with coyote fur trim and a circle patch logo.
• Founded in a small warehouse in Toronto in 1957 as Metro Sportswear making outerwear such as woollen vests and snowmobile suits, Canada Goose went on to develop a parka for scientists at Antarctica’s McMurdo Station and one that was worn by the first Canadian to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
• The stock sold in the IPO carries fewer voting rights than those held by existing shareholders enabling Bain Capital, which bought a majority stake in the company in 2013, to control 68 per cent of the voting rights after the IPO, while Mr Reiss holds 29 per cent.
• The IPO wasn’t large at 20 million shares, which helped create scarcity value.
• There are about 106 million shares outstanding with Bain Capital, owning more than 60%.

Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss, second from right, rang the New York Stock Exchange opening bell to mark his company’s IPO on Thursday.

Grandson of the founder’s stake is worth about $418 million

Actor Daniel Craig wearing a Canada Goose coat. 

PETA staged a protest outside the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

       

Canada Goose has been around for six decades, but only in the past few years has it risen to trendy status, appearing on everyone from James Bond actor Daniel Craig to students at cold-locale colleges to Kate Upton on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Canada Goose shares priced at C$17 last night (the company listed shares on both the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange). In U.S. dollars, that's equivalent to $12.78.

Canada Goose's IPO timing was serendipitous, coming the week a surprise mid-March snowstorm blasted through the East Coast. Its debut is also two weeks after Snap Inc.'s highly anticipated IPO, which also priced above its projected range and surged in its first day of trading.

***

Unusual business risk: animal-rights activists. Because Canada Goose's products include animal products including goose and duck feathers and coyote fur, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and others lament the brand's business practices.

In November, Canada Goose opened its first New York City retail store, in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood.  Protesters from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) crashed the grand opening.

Since that time, protests and marches have continued, and signs have popped up around New York that slam the company’s use of coyote fur to line its parka hoods. (“Fur trim kills.”) And PETA intends to buy $4,000

worth of shares in the company when it hits the market—the minimum number needed to attend Canada Goose shareholder meetings.

Smart Sand (SND) reported earnings on Thur 16 March 2017 (b/o)

** charts after earnings **

  

Smart Sand beats by $0.02, misses on revs; sees FY17 capex at about $55 mln :

• Reports Q4 (Dec) GAAP earnings of $0.40 per share, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.38; revenues rose 94.1% year/year to $29.45 mln vs the $29.75 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Overall tons sold were ~274k in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared with ~107,200 tons sold in the fourth quarter of 2015 and 229,700 tons for the third quarter of 2016, increases of 156% and 19%, respectively.
• The co estimates that capital expenditures will be ~$55 mln in 2017.

Mobileye (MBLY) to be acquired by Intel (INTC) for $63.54/share

Presidio (PSDO) began trading on Nasdaq on 10 March 2017

 Technology unicorn Presidio (PSDO) began its first day of trading Friday by debuting below its offer price, showing subdued investor reaction following the more splashy initial public offering of Snapchat operator Snap (SNAP).

Late Thursday, Presidio raised $233 million, pricing 16.7 million shares at 14 each and the low end of its estimated range of 14-to-16. Presidio stock opened at 13.50 on the stock market today, climbed as high as 14.36, closing up 1.8% at 14.25.

Apollo Global Management holds a majority of the shares in Presidio.

Presidio specializes in digital infrastructure, cloud computing and security solutions, with about 7,000 business and government customers. For the fiscal year ended June 30, Presidio reported revenue of $2.7 billion, up 14%, and a net loss of $3.4 million, vs. a net loss of $29.4 million the previous fiscal year. It competes against information technology giants such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), IBM (IBM) and Accenture (ACN).

Presidio came to market with a valuation of about $1.3 billion, making it the first tech unicorn to go public since the much-larger Snap did last week.

J. Jill (JILL) began trading on the NYSE on 9 March 2017

• 11.67 million shares of JILL, priced at $13 per share, opened trading on the New York Stock Exchange at its launch, which was below the expected range of $14 to $16 per share. 
• The retailer is receiving no proceeds from its IPO since its owner, private-equity firm TowerBrook, is unloading shares during the offering but will keep over 50% of J. Jill’s common stock. 
• This is not J. Jill’s first IPO. It originally went public back in 1993, and was acquired by Talbot’s for $157 million in 2006 after they beat out Liz Claiborne in a bidding war. Talbot’s then sold J. Jill to private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital for just $75 million only three years later, and was sold again to TowerBrook in 2015 for a reported $400 million.
• J. Jill is a women’s apparel brand that has been around since 1959; its core customer base are affluent women between the ages of 40 and 65, and it has a heavy reliance on catalog and online sales. 

• One week later