initial public offerings (IPOs) trading on American exchanges

Friday, March 29, 2019

Lyft (LYFT) began trading on the Nasdaq on 29 March 2019

Lyft (LYFT) made its highly-anticipated market debut on the Nasdaq, opening at $87.24, a more than 20% increase over its IPO price.



  • The biggest public debut since Alibaba Group in September 2014.
  • Lyft priced its upsized 32.5 mln share offering at $72/share, which was on the high end of the expected range, which was also increased ahead of the pricing.
  • The money-losing company has garnered significant interest from investors, which suggests that risk tolerance remains at a high level despite worries about a slowdown in the global economy.
  • Lyft suffered monumental losses last year, totaling $911 million -- reportedly more than any other US startup in the year prior to its IPO.
  • The company was formerly known as Zimride, Inc. and changed its name to Lyft, Inc. in 2013. Lyft, Inc. was incorporated in 2007.
  • Sector: Technology
  • Industry: Software - Application
  • Full Time Employees: 4,791
  • Hadquartered in San Francisco, California.
  • http://www.lyft.com


  • The IPO gives Lyft, which still has yet to turn a profit, a valuation of $26.4 billion, marking huge paper gains for early investors such as billionaire Carl Icahn, General Motors and Google-parent Alphabet’s investing arm CapitalG.

    Icahn secured a $150 million investment in 2015 when Lyft was valued at $2.5 billion — suggesting as much as a $1.4 billion gain on Friday.

    GM gained almost $1 billion on its investment on Friday, while CapitalG gained almost $500 million.

    Founders Logan Green and John Zimmer are worth $655 million and $452 million, respectively, and hold both Class A and Class B shares.

    Lyft President John Zimmer and CEO Logan Green applaud as Lyft lists on the Nasdaq

    Lyft President John Zimmer and CEO Logan Green applaud as Lyft lists on the Nasdaq at an IPO event in Los Angeles.

    CELEBRATION AT AN AUTO DEALERSHIP

    Instead of celebrating the first day of trading at the Nasdaq in New York, Lyft opted to mark the occasion at a defunct auto dealership in downtown Los Angeles.

    Lyft's staff, with family and friends, and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti gathered before dawn for the kickoff. The building, unmarked on the outside, gave away nothing about the celebration tucked away in the bowels of the old facility, which had been outfitted with pink confetti and Lyft-branded scooters.

    Lyft recently bought the facility to turn it into a driver services center, the first of several it plans to open across the United States in the coming months, where drivers can obtain services like help with taxes or charging electric vehicles.

    Garcetti said in his remarks that the old warehouse symbolizes "a transformation of our economy."




    major shareholders



    Thursday, March 28, 2019

    -=Summit Semiconductor (WISA) began trading on the Nasdaq on 27 July 2018

    Summit Semiconductor (NASDAQ: WISA), a technology company that delivers the wireless immersive sound experience with patented technology supporting the WiSA™ (Wireless Speaker and Audio) interoperability standard, announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 2,400,000 shares of its common stock at an initial offering price of $5.00 per share, for total gross proceeds of $12.0 million before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses.
    The shares of Summit Semiconductor’s common stock began trading on the Nasdaq stock market under the symbol “WISA” on July 27, 2018. All of the shares in the offering are being offered by Summit Semiconductor. The offering closed on July 26, 2018, subject to customary closing conditions.
     Alexander Capital, LP and WallachBeth Capital LLC., Inc. were acting as co-lead managers for the offering.

    Precision BioSciences (DTIL) began trading on the Nasdaq on Thur 28 March 2019

    Precision BioSciences, Inc. operates as a genome editing company and develops therapeutic products in the United States. 
    The company offers ARCUS, a genome editing platform to cure cancers and genetic disorders. The Therapeutic segment develops allogeneic CAR T immunotherapy that recognizes and kills cancer cells; and engages in the in vivo gene correction activities.
    The company has development and commercial license agreement with Shire Plc for research and development of individual T cell modifications; collaboration agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to co-develop a product candidate to cure chronic Hepatitis B infection.


    Precision BioSciences (DTIL) priced 7.9 mln share IPO at $16.00 per share, the midpoint of the expected $15-17 per share range
    Opened for trading at $18.00


    =Quantenna Communications (QTNA) to be acquired by ON Semiconductor (ON) for $24.50 per share



    Quantenna Communications: ON Semiconductor (ON) to acquire Quantenna for $24.50 per share in an all cash transaction 
    The cos entered into a definitive agreement for ON Semiconductor to acquire Quantenna for $24.50 per share in an all cash transaction. The acquisition consideration represents equity value of approximately $1.07 billion and enterprise value of approximately $936 million, after accounting for Quantenna's net cash of approximately $136 million at the end of fourth quarter of 2018. 

    Following consummation, the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to ON Semiconductor's non-GAAP earnings per share and free cash flow, excluding any non-recurring acquisition related charges, the fair value step-up inventory amortization, and amortization of acquired intangibles. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition. ON Semiconductor intends to fund the transaction through cash on hand and available capacity under its existing revolving credit facility.

    ON Semiconductor will host a conference call for the financial community at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), on March 27

    Wednesday, March 27, 2019

    At Home Group (HOME) reported earnings on Wed 27 March 19 (b/o)

    ** charts after earnings **


     




    At Home Group misses by $0.01, reports revs in-line, comps +2.1%; guides Q1 EPS, revs below consensus; guides FY20 EPS, revs in-line
    • Reports Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.47 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 worse than the S&P Capital IQ Consensus of $0.48; revenues rose 20.6% year/year to $354.07 mln vs the $351.72 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; comparable store sales increased 2.1%
    • Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.03-0.04, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.19 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q1 revs of $300-305 mln vs. $315.10 mln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees comps flat to slightly positive
    • Co issues in-line guidance for FY20, sees EPS of $1.02-1.08, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.05 S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees FY20 revs of $1.39-1.41 bln vs. $1.4 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees comps +LSD
    • Co also announced the promotion of Peter Corsa to President. Mr. Corsa will also continue to serve as the company's Chief Operating Officer.

    Monday, March 25, 2019

    =Opera (OPRA), began trading on the Nasdaq on 27 July 2018

    Opera (OPRA), the Norway-based maker of web browsers for PCs and mobile phones, went public on July 27 at $12 a share.

    Arlo Technologies (ARLO) began trading on the NYSE on 2 August 2018

    The San Jose, Calif.-based company makes easy-to-install, wire-free home surveillance cameras, as well as baby monitors and security lights. Since selling its first camera in December 2014, it has sold more than 8.6 million smart connected devices to over 2.2 million registered users in more than 100 countries worldwide.
    • Arlo makes home-security cameras that can be accessed remotely, and it also sells additional security services.
    • It was spun out of Netgear (NTGR)
    • IPO price of $16 a share; opened for trading at $18.50, 15.6% higher; shares jumped 38.1% to close at 22.10.
    • Arlo had 48% of the U.S. market for network-connected camera systems in the second quarter by revenue at retail. The company has market leadership in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Australia
    • ARLO is growing rapidly and generating impressive financial results but faces the prospect of more intense competition from major players.





    Arlo has shipped 7.5 million devices in its history, and its 1.9 million registered users stream a combined 60 million videos a day on average. For information about user engagement on its own platform, Arlo cites Sensor Tower data in its prospectus. The company said that its engagement rate — the number of daily active users divided by the number of monthly active users — equaled 37% in the first quarter of the year.

    Competing with the giants
    Though Arlo’s products work with Amazon and Google voice assistants, those companies also compete directly against Arlo with their own products. In the risk-factor section of its prospectus, Arlo cites Amazon’s Ring and Google’s Nest as rivals.

    “Some of our competitors have substantially greater resources than we do, and to be competitive we may be required to lower our prices or increase our sales and marketing expenses, which could result in reduced margins and loss of market share,” the company disclosed. The prospectus noted that competitor products tend to be “significantly” less expensive than those sold by Arlo.

    Netgear, which makes networking hardware, will have more than 50% of the voting power of Arlo’s common stock following the IPO, meaning that Arlo will be a controlled company. That allows the company certain exemptions, including in regards to the number of independent directors on its board and the makeup of its compensation committee.

    In its IPO filing, Arlo said that Netgear will continue to provide it some shared administrative, information-technology, and other related services for a fee.

    “Our ability to operate our business effectively may suffer if we are unable to cost-effectively establish our own administrative and other support functions in order to operate as a stand-alone company after the expiration of our shared services and other intercompany agreements with Netgear,” the company listed among its risk factors.

    Sunday, March 24, 2019

    IPOs this week : March 25 - 29, 2019

    IPO pricings: Lyft (LYFT) is the elephant in the IPO room, set to price on March 28 and make its trading debut the next day. It has a marketed range of $62-$68/share for a valuation up to $23B. Lyft is getting out ahead of ride-sharing rival Uber, which is now expected to file next month for a behemoth listing of $120B.
    Also pricing:
    • Genfit SA (GNFT) on March 26. 
    • Precision Biosciences (DTIL) and 8I Enterprises Aquisition Corp. (JFKKU) on March 27.

    IPO lockup expirations:
    • Arco Platform (NASDAQ:ARCE), Capital Bancorp (NASDAQ:CBNK), Entasis Therapeutics Holdings (NASDAQ:ETTX), SVMK (NASDAQ:SVMK), and Viomi Technology (NASDAQ:VIOT) on March 25. 
    • Arvinas (NASDAQ:ARVN), Laix (NYSE:LAIX), RA Medical Systems (NYSE:RMED), Sutro Biopharma (NASDAQ:STRO) and Urovant Sciences (NASDAQ:UROV) on March 26. 
    • CooTek Cayman (NYSE:CTK) and Gritstone Oncology (NASDAQ:GRTS) on March 27.

    IPO quiet period expirations:
    • Kaleido Biosciences (NASDAQ:KLDO), Anchiano Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ANCN) and Imac Holdings (NASDAQ:IMAC) on March 25. 
    • Avedro (NASDAQ:AVDR) and TCR2 Therapeutics (NASDAQ:TCRR) on March 26. 
    • Hoth Therapeutics (NASDAQ:HOTH) and Stealth Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ:MITO) on March 27.

    Thursday, March 21, 2019

    Levi Strauss (LEVI) began trading on the NYSE on 21 March 2019

    The iconic blue jean maker and clothing retailer has priced its initial public offering of 36.67 mln shares at $17 per share (above the expected $14.00-16.00 range), valuing the company at about $6.6 billion.

    • Opened for trading at $22.22, up 31 percent from its offering price of $17.
    • The 166-year-old company, which owns the Dockers and Denizen brands, previously went public in 1971, but the namesake founder's descendants took it private again in 1985.




    The company was founded by Levi Strauss, who immigrated to the United States from Bavaria and set up shop in San Francisco in 1853 with a wholesale dry goods business. Twenty years later, he and a business partner received a patent for “waist overalls” with metal rivets at points of strain — a garment known today as the blue jean.

    Levi's employees and owners ring the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on the day that Levi Strauss has returned to the stock market with an IPO on March 21, 2019 in New York City. 



    Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh poses for photos outside the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 21, 2019. Levi Strauss & Co., which gave America its first pair of blue jeans, is going public for the second time. 


    The "No Blue Jeans" rule was relaxed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, March 21, 2019. 

    Levi's employees make free t-shirts outside of the New York Stock Exchange on the day that Levi Strauss has returned to the stock market with an IPO on March 21, 2019 in New York City. 


    2nd day

    First IPO in 1971:  The 166-year-old company, which owns the Dockers and Denizen brands, previously went public in 1971, but the namesake founder's descendants took it private again in 1985.

    Monday, March 18, 2019

    StoneCo (STNE) earnings on Mon 18 March 19 (a/h)

    • Brazilian version of Square (SQ)
    ** charts before earnings **


     


    ** charts after earnings **





    StoneCo reports Q4 results; Beats on revs (two analysts); Take Rate and Net Adds in line with preannouncement 
    • Reports Q4 (Dec) adjusted net income of BRL 155.9 mln vs. adjusted net income of $20.9 mln in the prior year; revenues rose 113.6% year/year to BRL 529.4 mln vs the BRL 465.62 mln two analyst estimate.
    • The number of active clients increased by 136.7 thousand in fiscal year 2018, reaching a total of 267.9 thousand clients at the end of the year, up 104.1% compared to 2017.
    • The Company's take rate reached 1.88% (preannounced) in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to 1.58% in the fourth quarter of 2017, a 30 basis point increase year over year.
    • Total Payment Volume (TPV) was R$26.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, an increase of 73.8% from R$15.3 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017.
    • The Company ended 2018 with 267.9 thousand active clients, up 104.1% compared to the previous year, when it had 131.2 thousand clients. The net addition of active clients in the fourth quarter was 33.5K (preannounced), an improvement in net addition per sales force working day compared to the third quarter of 2018 by approximately 10%.

    Sunday, March 17, 2019

    IPOs this week : March 18 - 22, 2019

    IPO pricings: 
    • Up Fintech (TIGR) is expected to price its offering on March 19. 
    • In a notable deal for the apparel sector, Levi Strauss (LEVI) is expected to price its IPO on March 20. The iconic company is offering 36.7M shares in an expected range of $14 to $16. The timing could be good for the Levi Strauss IPO after American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) and Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE:ANF) both cited strong demand for denim products in their Q4 earnings reports. 
    • Alight (ALIT) is pricing its IPO on March 21, 
    • while across the Pacific, luxury auto specialist Shanghai Dongzheng Automotive is due to price 533M shares in an expected range of HK$4.20 to HK$6.30. 

    IPO lockup expirations: 
    • Aptorum (NASDAQ:APM) and X Financial (NYSE:XYF) on March 18; 
    • Bank7 (NASDAQ:BSVN), Eventbrite (NYSE:EB) and Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) on March 19; 
    • Farfetch (NYSE:FTCH), Y-mAbs Therapeutics (NASDAQ:YMAB) and Golden Bull (NASDAQ:DNJR) on March 20.

    Friday, March 15, 2019

    Diplomat Pharmacy (DPLO) reported earnings on Fri 15 March 19 (b/o)

    ** charts before earnings **

     





    ** charts after earnings **







    Diplomat Pharmacy reports Q4 (Dec) results, misses on revs; slashes previously withdrawn FY19 outlook, calls 2019 a rebuilding year
    • Reports Q4 (Dec) GAAP loss of $4.00 per share, may not be comparable to the S&P Capital IQ GAAP Consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 17.8% year/year to $1.36 bln vs the $1.41 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus.
      • Net (loss) income attributable to Diplomat for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $(298.0) million compared to $6.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2017. This decrease was primarily driven by a $262 million non-cash impairment charge related to goodwill and definite-lived intangible assets associated with the co's PBM segment due to the effects of client losses and a reduced financial forecast, on the co's annual impairment analysis, as well as a $46 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge related to co's Specialty segment due to the effects of a reduced financial forecast, on the co's annual impairment analysis.
      • Income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2018, excluding the non-cash impairment charges, was $13.9 million, compared to $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2017.
    • Brian Griffin, Chairman and CEO of Diplomat, commented "While our 2018 financial results were strong, market conditions in 2019 are significantly more challenging than expected in our specialty and PBM businesses. 2019 is a rebuilding year, and we continue to focus on driving additional volumes to Diplomat by creating partnerships with health plans and hospital systems to meet the demand for better clinical outcomes and management of specialty spend. We are also committed to rebuilding our PBM business...The Company's cost structure is no longer supported by the current business environment and we are accelerating operational efficiency initiatives. I remain confident that Diplomat is making the right investments and executing the right strategy and operational initiatives to leverage our competitive strengths and position Diplomat for future growth and profitability,"
    • Co issues downside guidance for FY19, sees EPS of ($0.50-0.34) vs. ($0.18) S&P Capital IQ GAAP Consensus; sees FY19 revs of $4.7-5.0 bln vs. $5.51 bln S&P Capital IQ Consensus; sees Adjusted EBITDA between $110 and $116 million (vs. $167.8 mln for FY18)
      • The company previously issued a preliminary FY19 outlook in January, which it later withdrew. That preliminary guidance called for revs of $5.6-5.8 bln & flat to low-single-digit percent year-over-year adjusted EBITDA growth compared to the mid-point of updated 2018 guidance.

    Long trade : Smartsheet (SMAR) +18% (3/19)