Editor’s Morning Note: It’s IPO week. Here’s what you need to know about tech’s next two flotations.
The stuff investors’ dreams are made of.
While the pace of US-based technology IPOs remains ossified, some still slip through the grate. This week, The Trade Desk and Apptio will likely both push the button and go public.
As with the rest of 2016, our rules apply: Expect at least moderately conservative pricing, and if the offerings fall, their declines could shut the IPO window. For not too long, mind, but a minute all the same — at some point, institutional pressure behind aging unicorns will make it harder to actually throw the sash1. We’re not there yet.
I think that a quick refresher into both companies is the best way to approach our week together. To that end, we are off.
September 21: The Trade Desk
Here are the core facts you need to know about The Trade Desk’s IPO, in grouped by genre to make this all the easier for you.
IPO notes:
- Shares offered: 4.66 million.
- Share price range: $14 to $16.
Fundraising to date:
- Fundraising from equity sales to date: $85 million.
- Fundraising from debt to date: >$150 million.
Financial performance:
- Last quarter revenue: $47.18 million.
- Last quarter revenue growth (YoY): 92.3 percent.
- Last quarter net income: $7.59 million.
- Last quarter net income growth (YoY): 95.47 percent.
Per-IPO balance sheet:
- Cash and equivalents: $37.61 million
- Debt: $58.00 million, nearly all due in the next three years.
It’s an interesting IPO, given its debt position and GAAP profitability. If investors are content to float the company, it may have enough cash to manage its debt and still grow at a quick pace.
The company has both the profits and the growth to make it standout from other recent offerings that had just one of the two. How well its ad-tech positioning will convert to investor sentiment I leave to the future.
The company should debut on Wednesday. You can read its full S-1/A here.
September 23: Apptio
As before, here are the vital signs of the coming IPO. For fun, compare the two sets of data and ask yourself which shares you would like to hold, price aside for the moment.
IPO notes:
- Shares offered: 6,000,000
- Share price range: $13 to $15
Fundraising to date:
- Fundraising from equity sales to date: $136 million.
Financial performance:
- Last quarter revenue: $38.77 million
- Last quarter revenue growth (YoY): 22.39 percent
- Last quarter net income: -$8.989 million
- Last quarter net income growth (YoY): 2.54 percent
Per-IPO balance sheet:
- Cash and equivalents: $42.05 million
- Debt: Around $19 million.
Apptio has less debt, but it doesn’t make money and is growing at a fraction of the pace of The Trade Desk.
Notably, Apptio has more than 80 percent subscription revenue. That makes its year-over-year growth rate seem a mote minor. Between hoped-for negative dollar churn and new accounts, it feels soft, especially with sales and marketing costs of just over 50 percent of revenue, and 77 percent of gross profit in its last quarter.
Anyhoo, the company will tick live on Friday. You can read all the listed numbers here. Get ready.
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That’s the upcoming week. Should the two offers do well, we could see our other filed kids pull the trigger. Bad results, however, could stick the wagon.
- Down, not up. Don’t you dare quote the Christmas poem either. It’s only September.