IPO

StubHub IPO is destined for the cheap seats

2 Apr 2025

The online swap-meet for tickets to anything from WrestleMania to Lady Gaga was last valued at $17 bln in 2021. Headliners include cash flow and 30% growth. But gloomy consumers and investors mean controlling shareholder and CEO Eric Baker would be lucky to get half-price.

 

China stocks are still a trade, not an investment

2 Apr 2025

Global traders are returning to Chinese equities but long-term investment allocations have lagged. The $14 trln onshore market remains an IPO wasteland where fast foreign money prevails over buy-and-hold. Beijing’s private sector support will struggle to offset US aggression.

CoreWeave scripts AI’s Tinker Bell moment

27 Mar 2025

The cloud services firm cut its mooted target IPO valuation by 22% as supplier Nvidia steps in for support. Like the storybook fairy, the business lives on belief, in this case that a few companies will keep feeding a circular silicon economy. Rising doubt could be existential.

Basic rules of banking apply to Klarna too

27 Mar 2025

The buy now, pay later provider wants to be valued as a disruptor in its US IPO. But on conventional metrics, loan losses, which grew 40% to $495 mln last year, compare poorly with credit card users. There’s no sign Klarna and its peers have invented a better way to lend money.

Prudential’s India listing may prove short-sighted

25 Mar 2025

The insurer might seek a $12 bln valuation for its local asset management unit. Returning proceeds to shareholders could boost Pru's stock, which trades at a discount to AIA. But a sale would be a partial retreat from a fast-growing market while giants like BlackRock pile in.

Physiotherapy app has some heavy IPO lifting to do

21 Mar 2025

Hinge Health, last valued at $6.2 bln, is trying to shape up how patients recover from injuries. Its finances are getting stronger, with corporate clients and insurers footing bills. User churn is a risk, however, and the company is ill-equipped to fix a limping stock market.

Klarna’s wisest IPO aim is a modest valuation hike

17 Mar 2025

The buy now, pay later firm made a net profit in 2024 as it eyes a US listing. Klarna was once worth $46 bln, but the last funding round only fetched $7 bln. While a new Walmart deal helps, rocky markets and the need for a discount to rival Affirm imply little more than $10 bln.

Market jitters hand IPO wannabes a thorny dilemma

11 Mar 2025

The S&P 500 fell 3% on Monday and the VIX volatility gauge surged. Float candidates like Klarna and CoreWeave will hope things calm down, but high valuations and trade wars suggest otherwise. If trouble persists, cash-hungry buyout barons and others may have to take the plunge.

Walmart’s India payments IPO looks hasty

10 Mar 2025

The US retailer is preparing to float PhonePe, a leader in a consumer payments niche. But a potential $15 bln valuation looks punchy, the firm's path to profitability seems uncertain, and regulation is unfavourable. A deal risks a repeat of the disastrous listing of rival Paytm.

CoreWeave is the epitome of AI overheating

5 Mar 2025

Demand for the chips powering chatbots sent revenue at the company, which sells access, up eight-fold in 2024. Backed by supplier Nvidia and leveraging its silicon, it embodies the circular tech economy as it seeks a $35 bln listing. Thing is, its scarcity value could evaporate.

Bubble tea giant gives Hong Kong needed IPO jolt

3 Mar 2025

The 42% pop in early trading for Mixue, China’s dominant chain with more shops than Starbucks, shows scale still sells on the street and in the market. The city’s largest listing this year augurs well for bigger debuts to come — including battery maker CATL’s $5 bln offering.

CATL’s electric-car hedge needs a hedge of its own

27 Feb 2025

Sales at the $163 bln Chinese company's energy storage unit generate a fifth of its top line and are growing at a rapid pace. But CATL's infrastructure ambitions will face as much Western scrutiny as its flagship battery business. Geographic diversification is in order.

Nikola crash bookends capital market morality tale

19 Feb 2025

The electric-truck maker once worth $26 bln has joined a clutch of rivals in bankruptcy. The battery powered vehicle startups combined hard-to-gauge promise with big-up-front costs, yet nevertheless became SPAC darlings. The slower route to an IPO might serve a purpose after all.

India’s banks will struggle to keep equities crown

19 Feb 2025

Kotak joined the ranks of the top 10 stock underwriters globally in 2024, a first for the country's financiers. Compatriots are doing well too. A record $71 bln of fundraising activity in rich local equities helped. It'll be hard to repeat as markets elsewhere come back to life.

Think twice about cybersecurity IPO encore

10 Feb 2025

SailPoint is teeing up another market debut, seven years after buyout shop Thoma Bravo first listed the software developer, which it took private again in 2022. Fast growth and progress toward boosting cash flow are tempting, but an $11.5 bln valuation invites a double-take.

Smithfield IPO gets at meat of the M&A matter

27 Jan 2025

The US pork producer would be worth $11 bln, with debt, on its mooted price range, 50% more than its Chinese owner paid in 2013. Sales growth has been slow, even as profit at a key unit doubled under WH Group. The spinoff, however sensible, speaks to the folly of many deals.

A $65 bln US gas IPO looks to leave port too soon

22 Jan 2025

Breakneck natural-gas shipment growth boosted exporter Venture Global, now eyeing a hefty public valuation. Yet it cut its price by over 40%, suggesting trouble setting sail. Amid a contract dispute and huge investment in a volatile industry, the rush to market is ill-timed.

Hong Kong bankers make lemonade out of delistings

15 Jan 2025

Club Med owner Fosun Tourism plans to take itself private, capping a record year of similar deals in a city thirsty for large IPOs. It helps the company's ailing parent and hard-up shareholders get a decent premium. For financiers too, the trend is bittersweet.

Toymakers build fun Hong Kong stocks a playground

10 Jan 2025

Bloks shares surged on their debut on overwhelming demand. The $2 bln firm, which specialises in Transformers and other figurines, is tapping into China's collectible toy frenzy led by peer Pop Mart. The duo spotlight a cheap and cheerful part of an otherwise gloomy economy.

Altered states will rule in 2025

9 Jan 2025

From President-elect Donald Trump’s whims to volatile capital markets, uncertainty is rising worldwide. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists share predictions for how robotic cars, obesity drug-fueled M&A or a smartphone backlash will take root amid the upheaval.