StubHub to price IPO at $23.50, valuing company at $8.6 billion

StubHub is pricing its IPO at $23.50 after last week providing a range of $22 to $25.

• The online ticket platform delayed its debut twice, most recently due to market volatility following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs announced in April.

• The IPO market has been picking up steam of late after a multiyear drought.
• StubHub plans to sell 34 million shares, priced at $23.50 a share, valuing the company at $8.6 billion.
• Despite robust IPO demand, StubHub faces challenges, including competition and slowing sales growth, with an 88% CEO voting stake.
• The ticket business is highly competitive, with StubHub going up against Ticketmaster owner Live Nation (LYV) and other resellers such as Vivid Seats (SEAT) and privately held SeatGeek. Vivid Seats has plunged more than 80% this year. The company cited “pressure on consumer spending coupled with continued competitive intensity” in its most recent earnings report.

The pricing comes at the midpoint of the expected range that the company gave last week. At $23.50, the pricing gives StubHub a valuation of $8.6 billion.

StubHub confirmed the IPO pricing in a release late Tuesday. The company said its shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday under the symbol “STUB.”

The San Francisco-based company was co-founded by Eric Baker in 2000, and was acquired by eBay for $310 million seven years later. Baker reacquired StubHub in 2020 for roughly $4 billion through his new company Viagogo, which operates a ticket marketplace in Europe.

At the top of the pricing range StubHub offered last week, the company would have been valued at $9.2 billion. StubHub had sought a $16.5 billion valuation before it began the IPO process. 

StubHub said in its updated prospectus that first-quarter revenue increased 10% from a year earlier to $397.6 million. Operating income came in at $26.8 million for the period.

The company’s net loss widened to $35.9 million from $29.7 million a year ago.

IPOs this week : Sept 15 - 19, 25 (wk 38)

IPOs expected to price

• StubHub (STUB) is expected to price its IPO and begin to trade. The online marketplace company is offering 34 million in an expected range of $22 to $25 per share. 
• WaterBridge Infrastructure (WBI), 
• Netskope (TSK) and 
• Regentis Biomaterials (RGNT)

IPO quiet period expirations

The post-IPO quiet periods end for 

• Yimutian (YMT) and Velo3D (VELO) to free up analysts to post ratings.

StubHub files for IPO

StubHub filed filed its initial public offering on Friday, revealing in the paperwork that revenues for 2024 jumped to $1.7 billion in 2024, a 30% increase over 2023 earnings.

The secondary market concert ticket vendor shares will be traded on the stock market under the ticket symbol STUB.

The company said in its filing that more than 40 million tickets were sold through StubHub in 2024, with transactions in 200 countries and territories involving more than 1 million sellers.

Nevertheless, StubHub reported a loss of $2.8 million for the year, quite a drop from the 405 million in profit it reported for 2023. Though according to the filing this is related to a rise in operational and sales and marketing expenses, extinguishment of debt, and related costs relative to 2023.

The company had planned to go public last year but withdrew in July.

The company launched in 2000 and for 13 years was a subsidiary of eBay, which acquired it in 2007 for $310 million. StubHub c0-founder Eric Baker bought the company back in 2020 in a $4 billion deal through his new company Viagogo.