IPO times have changed [Spencer Platt/Getty Images]
IPO times have changed [Spencer Platt/Getty Images]
Hey Snackers,
The banker who drops bangers just got his big break: Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon (fka: DJ D-Sol) will be spinning his EDM set at Lollapalooza this summer, the same weekend as Doja Cat and Kygo.
Stocks dropped yesterday as oil spiked to its highest level in two weeks as Russia’s war on Ukraine enters its second month.
There’s an IPO drought… and it’s leaving Wall Street thirsty. Big banks like Morgan Stanley, Chase, Bank of America, Goldman, and Citi make big bucks from helping companies go public. But as initial public offerings have slowed to a trickle, fees have shriveled:
A perfect storm… Last year, IPO conditions were ideal: booming markets, low interest rates, confident investors, SPACs, and online roadshows made listing easy. But the clouds have rolled in and most of last year’s IPOs are trading below their listing prices (not encouraging for prospective IPO’ers). Some other reasons for the reversal:
IPOs prefer calm weather… and right now the weather in public markets is anything but. Companies that can afford to are choosing to delay going public until conditions improve: last month fintech biz Acorns canceled its offering last minute because of “market conditions.” Instacart and Stripe also recently said they planned to stay private, dashing investors’ IPO dreams, at least for now.
Took the Harry Potter sorting quiz... still not a wizard. Investors weren’t feeling the magic this week when HuffPost owner BuzzFeed dished up its first public earnings. On the plus side, annual sales were up 24% from 2020. On the not-so-plus side, revenue was still $100M short of what investors expected. BuzzFeed shares are down 40% since its December IPO.
10 reasons your cat’s grumpy… Like most digi-media companies, BuzzFeed makes money through strategically placed ads — alongside “Seinfeld” quizzes and spring break shopping listicles. But a decade ago, the company built out a legit newsroom (think: major investigative reports). Last year BuzzFeed’s global news division even won a Pulitzer. But like many newsrooms, BuzzFeed News bleeds money, to the tune of $10M a year. Now:
Self-reliance is hard to achieve… in the digi-media economy. Publishers like BuzzFeed rely on clicks from Meta and YouTube to drive traffic — and a single algorithm change could crush their numbers. Last year BuzzFeed warned that a heavy reliance on social-media platforms could hurt its business, and it has. In its earnings call, its CFO repeatedly mentioned that its audience was abandoning Facebook, where the bulk of its e-com traffic comes from.
Madeleine Albright, who died yesterday at 84, was the first woman to be US secretary of state
Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Moderna, and Pfizer
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