It’s always risky to read too much in to the ‘pop’ of a company’s shares on the day it goes public, although if they sink below their initial price, that’s definitely not a good sign.
Ticketing firm Eventbrite’s executives will be breathing a sigh of relief, then: its first day of trading as a public company went well. Surprisingly well, in fact: Shares opened at $36 but ended the day at $36.50 – having been originally priced at $23. That’s a 59% rise, which suggests Wall Street confidence in Eventbrite’s business. This, despite its IPO filing making clear that the business has yet to move out of the red: in 2017 its revenues were $201.6m (up 51% year-on-year) but it recorded a net loss of $40.4m. Still, investors like what they see. “I think the appetite for a platform like Eventbrite that serves the mid-market of events, ticketing 3 million events last year, is something that’s quite rare and I think the appetite is reaffirming for us that we have a strong business and decades more to go,” said CEO Julia Hartz yesterday.
Music Ally’s next Learn Live webinar will help you understand what’s required for artists to thrive in new international markets!