Prices for Allbirds IPO are above the range, giving more points to DTC startups
You might have thought that the public-offering market would slow down after the somewhat disappointing earnings of the recently public Robinhood. It was nothing of the kind.
Allbirds, a consumer DTC shoe company, was backed by an ocean private capital and priced its IPO last night at $15 per share. This is $1 more than the expected range. It also registered an additional million shares to support its offering, increasing its heft and the positive vibe surrounding its upcoming IPO.
We are now back at our ongoing discussion about the value of tech-enabled unicorns that are busy finding public-market liquidity.
Remember that Rent the Runway's IPO price was just above 7x the July 31, 2021 run-rate (quarter times four). We don't care about post-IPO moves, but IPO prices.
We noted earlier that Allbirds' current annual run rate, which is $14 per share, would be just below 9x if it was fully-diluted. Allbirds, at $15 per share and with an additional million shares, is worth approximately 9x its current annual run rate depending on how many shares you count.
It is very early so please don't get too excited about modestly relaxed math!
The Allbirds IPO pricing supports our general view that unicorns with tech-enabled technology can expect a higher-single-digit revenue multiple if they can present a compelling case to larger pools of investors.
