Pinterest valued at USD 12.7 billion in IPO, sign of tech demand after Lyft struggles

Pinterest Inc’s initial public offering set the online scrapbook company’s valuation at USD 12.7 billion on April 17, above its expectations and a sign of strength for the tech IPO market after Lyft Inc’s struggles.

Pinterest, where users save ideas for clothes, décor and recipes, is due to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 18. Its performance will be a key test of the tech IPO market after the Nasdaq debut of ride-hailing start-up Lyft at the end of last month.

Lyft raised more than it had set out to do when it went public, but shares have dropped around 17 per cent from its IPO price, raising concerns about bigger rival Uber Technologies Inc when it prices its IPO next month.

A key difference between Pinterest and Lyft, however, were their valuation expectations. Lyft, which lost USD 911 million last year, was seeking a valuation of up to USD 24.3 billion in its IPO, higher than the USD 15 billion valuation it attained in its latest private fundraising round in 2018. Pinterest lost USD 63 million in 2018.

Pinterest’s initial USD 15-USD 17 per share target range had set it on course to be valued below its last private fundraising valuation of USD 12.3 billion in 2017.

At USD 19 per share, Pinterest, which offers advertisers a venue to sell to consumers, raised around USD 1.4 billion at a roughly USD 12.7 billion valuation.

The fact that Pinterest attained a higher valuation in the IPO will be a relief to an investor who participated in prior fundraising rounds and gives some vindication to the company ahead of its public market debut on April 18.

Pinterest is also the most high-profile listing of a US social media company since Snap Inc in 2017. Snap’s stock also priced well in its IPO but is now down more than 30 per cent below its IPO price.

Other IPOs this year, such as cloud computing company PagerDuty Inc and jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co have also traded above their IPO prices since going public.

Investors in IPOs typically expect new companies to outperform the broader market. Renaissance Capital’s IPO exchange-traded fund is up 30 per cent so far in 2019, compared with a 15.7 per cent rise in the benchmark S&P 500 Index.

IPOs of Pinterest and other such loss-making unicorns — startup companies with valuations of at least USD 1 billion — has presented a predicament for investors sitting on the fence. They do not want to miss out on popular companies with fast growth, but at the same time have to weigh the risks of businesses with unproven economics.

Pinterest will trade under the symbol “PINS”. Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, JPMorgan and Allen & Company are the lead underwriters on the Pinterest