initial public offerings (IPOs) trading on American exchanges

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Alibaba (BABA) reported earnings on Wed 30 Jan 2019 (b/o)

** charts after earnings **



 





Alibaba beats by $0.68, misses on revs
  • Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of RMB 12.19 per share, excluding non-recurring items, RMB 0.68 better than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of RMB 11.51; revenues rose 41.3% year/year to RMB 117.28 bln ($17.06 bln) vs the RMB 118.52 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus. 
  • Revenue from core commerce increased 40% year-over-year to RMB102,843 million (US$14,958 million).
  • Revenue from cloud computing increased 84% year-over-year to RMB6,611 million (US$962 million).
  • Revenue from digital media and entertainment increased 20% year-over-year to RMB6,491 million (US$944 million). Revenue from innovation initiatives and others increased 73% year-over-year to RMB1,333 million (US$193 million).
  • Annual active consumers on China retail marketplaces reached 636 million, an increase of 35 million from the 12-month period ended September 30, 2018.
  • "The profitability of our marketplace-based core commerce business, as measured by adjusted EBITA, was RMB54.3 billion (US$7.9 billion), representing a 31% year-over-year growth. This profitability and US$7.5 billion in free cash flow generated this quarter enable us to continue to invest in other important strategic businesses and technology to support the growth of our ecosystem."

Saturday, January 26, 2019

e.l.f. Beauty(ELF) : letter from Marathon Partners

  • Marathon Partners Equity Management LLC, which owns about 8.5% of e.l.f., urges the discount cosmetics seller to either start a process to sell itself or refocus on core operations and reduce costs.


Marathon Partners Equity Management, LLC, the New York-based investment firm that owns approximately 8.6% of the common stock of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc., has delivered a letter to the beauty company’s board of directors urging them to undertake a comprehensive review of the company's operating strategy, corporate governance practices and executive compensation.

In its letter to the board, Marathon Partners outlines a number of recommendations, including cost rationalization, corporate governance improvements and changes to executive compensation that it believes will increase shareholder value and improve potential outcomes for public shareholders. Marathon Partners recommends that the board take the following actions to enhance e.l.f.'s corporate governance practices:
  • Separate the role of chairman and CEO.
  • Assign a non-TPG designated director to the role of lead independent director.
  • Engage independent counsel to fully reassess the second amended and restated stockholders agreement dated March 3, 2017.

Tarang P. Amin is chief executive officer and director of e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. He has served as CEO and drector since January 2014, and has served as chairman since August 2015.

"It is unfortunate that we have not been able to find common ground with the e.l.f. team and board over the past six months. While we still believe the management team is talented and has created a valuable and differentiated platform in the cosmetics space, we believe senior leadership and the board have lost sight of the obligations and responsibilities that come with accepting new investors and public company ownership,” said Mario Cibelli, managing member at Marathon. “It is time for the board to reinvigorate good corporate governance at e.l.f and implement best practices that drive increased accountability to the public shareholders of the company. If mistakes or oversights were made, then it is time to rectify them and swiftly return to the business of creating value for all shareholders of the company."

Cibelli continued, "We have called for a re-examination of the Stockholders Agreement with new, independent counsel. We believe the agreement has disproportionately benefited TPG  while serving to undermine the best interests of the public shareholders of e.l.f. There are serious questions around the number of designated Directors TPG is entitled to, with troublesome implications under either interpretation of the Agreement. Stockholders agreements, such as the one governing e.l.f., can covertly create two classes of share ownership without a dual class structure. Corporate boards need to be on high alert to avoid conferring second class status upon their public shareholders as sponsors seek to implement and sustain such agreements. We challenge the e.l.f. Board and TPG to simply eliminate the Stockholders Agreement and create a more equitable environment for the public shareholders of the Company. Paradoxically, we believe such a move will ultimately do more good than harm for even TPG."

Cibelli concluded, "While we have been surprised that e.l.f.'s lapses in corporate governance have occurred under TPG's watch, we are confident that senior members of TPG will understand our points and agree that significant change at the Company is required. The recent Reuters Breakingviews interview referenced in our letter – featuring the co-CEOs of TPG Holdings on a variety of topics, including shareholder activism – is very encouraging and gives us confidence the firm will be supportive of changes at e.l.f. designed to improve corporate governance, grow shareholder value and fully empower the Company's independent Board members so that they may uphold their fiduciary obligations to the public shareholders."

The full text of Marathon Partners' letter to the Board can be accessed here.

Friday, January 25, 2019

Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) : 5-year performance


  • Sector: Real Estate
  • Industry: REIT - Diversified
  • Forward Dividend & Yield 2.57 (7.18%)
  • Full Time Employees: 714
  • http://www.glpropinc.com





Sunday, January 20, 2019

IPOs this week : Jan. 21-25, 2019 (wk 4)

No companies are expected to price their IPOs this week, but there are plenty of share lockup expirations to keep an eye on.

Lockups expire on 
  • Pinduoduo (NASDAQ:PDD), Provention Bio (NASDAQ:PRVB), Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE), Berry Petroleum (NASDAQ:BRY), Cango (NYSE:CANG), Aurora Mobile (NASDAQ:JG), Focus Financial (NASDAQ:FOCS), Tenable (NASDAQ:TENB) and Liquidia Technologies (NASDAQ:LQDA) on January 22.
  • Adial Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ADIL), Endava (NYSE:DAVA), Summit Wireless Technologies (WISA) and Opera (NASDAQ:OPRA) on January 23.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Cars.com (CARS) considering sale

  • The Chicago-based digital auto listings company said today that it's exploring a possible sale, and mulling various strategic options.
  • June 2018:  Cars.com hired JPMorgan to explore its options regarding a possible sale of the company, the New York Post reported.
** charts after announcement **





Cars.com announces review of strategic alternatives in pursuit of enhancement of shareholder value 
Digital auto marketplace Cars.com is exploring a sale in the wake of Starboard Value taking an ownership stake in the online car retailer.

The Chicago-based company said it has been exploring “strategic alternatives” since September. The company has not set a timetable and will not provide additional details until the board approves a specific course of action or determines further disclosure is appropriate or required by law.

Starboard Value bought an ownership stake in Cars.com in early 2018. Last month, Starboard asked the company to improve stock performance, sell itself or shake up its management ranks. The auto seller added Starboard representatives to its board and slashed 8 percent of its workforce.

Cars.com launched in 1998 by a group of newspapers, which included the previous owner of the Chicago Tribune.

"We have taken direct control of newspaper affiliate relationships while adapting the company's internal sales and technology operations to accelerate the business strategy, while substantially reducing legacy costs,” Cars.com CEO Alex Vetter said in a statement regarding the potential sale. “Throughout this strategic review process, we will continue to execute on our strategy and remain focused on providing exceptional value to our customers."

Cars.com acquired two digital startups in early 2018 – Dealer Inspire and Launch Digital Marketing, two Chicago-based companies that provide digital tools to automotive dealers. Cars.com said the acquisitions will allow it to offer more digital tools to auto dealers through its online marketplace.

"In light of multiple inquiries which indicate the possibility of realizing that future value now," Scott Forbes, Cars.com board chairman, said Wednesday along with the announcement. "And after careful consideration, we took the decision to explore strategic alternatives in late 2018, consistent with the board's commitment to acting in the best interests of the company and its stakeholders to enhance shareholder value."


Cars.com CEO Alex Vetter, left, with Chicago mayor Rahm Emmanuel in October 2017


** charts before  announcement **


Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Moderna (MRNA) : progress report on cancer treatments

  • Moderna (MRNA) today announced recent progress updates in its immune-oncology and rare disease programs and highlighted corporate objectives for 2019-2020. Included among this presentation, Moderna highlighted that based on previously reported clinical observations in two patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma in a Phase 1 study, it has submitted an IND amendment to the FDA and to the study's clinical research sites to commence a Phase 2 cohort of mRNA-2416 (OX40L) as a monotherapy in advanced ovarian carcinoma within its current Phase 1 study. An IND application has also been submitted to the FDA for mRNA-3704, Moderna's development candidate for methylmalonic acidemia. Moderna noted that it expects its cash, cash equivalents, and investments in marketable securities as of December 31, 2018 to be approx. $1.7 bln, compared to $902 mln as of December 31, 2017.