The 2019 IPO List Includes Well Known Companies Such As Uber, WeWork, Lyft, Airbnb, and Robinhood
Here's a list of the top 9 initial public offerings expected to be brought to the public markets this year. Will these companies be able to successfully bring their IPOs to market before this 10 year bull market runs out of steam? Investor appetite remains strong for some of these well-known companies and brands.
Uber - $120 Billion Valuation Expected
Uber is the well-known number one ride-hailing company in the world. Founder Travis Kalanick was replaced in 2017 by Dara Khosrowshahi, the former CEO of Expedia Group. Without wasting any time, Khosrowshahi spent time recruiting a new Uber CFO, Nelson Chai from Merrill Lynch to prepare Uber's IPO. The IPO plans were filed confidentially with the SEC in December. Uber's plan was to beat rival Lyft to Wall Street. The first half of 2019 will see an Uber IPO. Uber Technologies, Inc. is incorporated in Delaware.
WeWork - $42 Billion Valuation Expected
Digital nomads and startup entrepreneurs around the world are familiar with WeWork, the office space sharing startup. The "hip" real estate company, which rents shared office spare in its, modern, open work spaces, doubled its revenue to $422 million in the 2nd quarter of 2018. WeWork is losing money and lost $723 million in the first half of 2018. WeWork is a Delaware corporation incorporated in 2013.
Lyft - $15 Billion Valuation Expected
While not as large as Uber, Lyft is looking to go public with their IPO in the first half of 2019 as well. It will be even more incumbent for Lyft to reduce labor costs and turn a profit. Amazingly, both Uber and Lyft filed their IPO's on the same exact day in December. The competition between these two companies is extremely intense. Companies that are looking to make large investments in Lyft and Uber are Alphabet, General Motors, Fidelity and Icahn Enterprises. Lyft, Inc. is a Delaware corporation.
Airbnb - $31 Billion Valuation Expected
Airbnb, the mammoth room, apartment, and house rental matching serivce is expected to cut out underwriters and go with a "direct listing". With a direct listing shares are sold directly to the public. The drawback is that Airbnb will not get any of the proceeds. Even though Airbnb will not benefit directly, insiders will be able to convert their shares to cash.
Slack - $10 Billion Valuation Expected
You may not have heard of Slack, but they have a loyal following of 8 million daily users and 3 million paying subscribers. They are experiencing growth of 45%. Slack is a workplace messaging application used by corporate users. Slack is preparing an IPO to be completed by years' end. In December 2019, the company hired Goldman Sachs as the lead underwriter. Slack Technologies, Inc. is a Delaware corporation.
Palantir Technologies - $30 Billion to $40 Billion Valuation Expected
While not well known to the general public, Palantir Technologies is well known to intelligence agencies and governments. The company is a data analytics and intelligence firm and was instrumental in the 2011 capture of Osama bin Laden. Employees and investors are ready to cash out even though the company may not be all that excited to come under the scrutiny of Wall Street on a quarterly basis. The secretive company is very guarded about its business. Palantir Technologies, Inc. is incorporated in Delaware.
Robinhood - $5.6 Billion Valuation Expected
Popular with the millennial generation, the no-free stock trading platform has more than 5 million accounts. Robinhood now has more users than E-trade but has only been in business for 5 years. Robinhood makes it money by earning interest on account balances, selling order flow to stock exchanges and margin trading. Jason Warnick became CFO after working at Amazon as vice president of finance. This IPO will be one the biggest IPOs to watch in 2019. Robinhood Markets, Inc. is a Delaware corporation.
Pinterest - $12.3 Billion Valuation Expected
Pinterest, a very popular consumer image search and sharing application website, is looking to list in April, 2019. Many fashion brands and online retailers find Pinterest an indispensable advertising partner. Pinterest 2018 revenue is estimated to be approximately $700 million, which is up about 50% year-over-year. Pinterest claims 250 million active, highly engaged users. Pinterest, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in 2008.
Postmates - $1.2 Billion Valuation Expected
Postmates is a food delivery app that is in the process of going public towards the end of 2019. For companies like Postmates, 2019 is shaping up to be the year to go public before the bull market comes to an end. The company's fierce competition includes DoorDash, UberEats and GrubHub. Postmates is a Delaware corporation that was incorporated in 2011.
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