The IPO market may not be at the go-go levels of the late 1990s, but the environment is still fairly bullish. This is especially the case with technology companies and biotechs. Note that there have been ten deals that have posted returns of over 100%.
Bloom Energy, which was founded in 2002, is a high-profile Silicon Valley clean energy operator. The company has built a stationary power generation platform — that relies on natural gas or biogas — for the commercial and industrial (C&I) segments. A system can produce 250 kilowatts of power in half the size of a standard 30-foot shipping container. Customers include biggies like Home Depot (NYSE:HD), AT&T (NYSE:T) and Kaiser Permanente.
Despite all this, Bloom Energy will likely face lots of scrutiny from investors. Consider that the losses remain heavy. Last year, they came to $263 million — compared to $376 million in revenues! The company also has only $88 million in the bank and the debt load is $950.5 million.
There are also concerns about the political environment. After all, the Trump Administration is not exactly interested in clean energy.
As for the offering, Bloom energy plans to issue 18 million shares in the range of $13 to $15 per share (it is encouraging that insiders expect to purchase $50 million of the allocation). The company will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker of BE and the lead underwriters include JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS), KeyBanc Capital Markets and BofA Merrill Lynch (NYSE:BAC).
IPOs to Watch: Tilray
Tilray, which is based in Canada, is a cannabis producer. In fact, the company was one of the first to obtain a license from Health Canada.
And Tilray has wasted little time in capitalizing on the opportunity. The company already has established distribution in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa. There is also a production facility that is certified for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), which is based on the requirements of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Now, the IPO will not be cheap. Consider that, at the mid-point of its range, the shares will still be expensive. But, then again, this probably won’t stop investors from piling in. The fact is that the cannabis market remains red-hot and Tilray will be a pure play on it.
The company plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol of TLRY and the lead underwriters include Cowen and Roth Capital.
IPOs to Watch: Tenable
Tenable is an online security company that focuses on the emerging challenges for IT, such as cloud computing, IoT (Internet-of-things) and application containers. For the most part, the technology helps to measure and analyze the risks, which is done through the Cyber Exposure Command Center.
Keep in mind that Tenable has been around for roughly two decades. In other words, the company has been able to amass a large customer base of over 24,000 people. About 53% are on the Fortune 500 and 29% are on the Global 2000.
To increase adoption, Tenable has a free version. This allows potential customers to understand the value of the technology, which helps to sell the premium version.
And, yes, Tenable continues to be a high-growth company. Last year, revenues spiked by 51% to $187.7 million, though the company remains unprofitable.
Tenable plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol of TENB and the lead underwriters on the IPO include Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Allen & Company and Deutsche Bank Securities (NYSE:DB).
IPOs to Watch: Aurora Mobile
Aurora Mobile is a Chinese provider of mobile big data, with a footprint of 925 million MAUs or over 90% of the market. To get as much value from this data, Aurora leverages machine learning and AI.
So how did Aurora build this massive database? Well, the company creates services — like push notifications, instant messaging and analytics — for app developers. It’s similar to the focus of Twilio Inc. (NYSE:TWLO).
From 2016 to 2017, the customer base jumped from 1,168 to 2,263 and revenues soared by 305%, to $45.4 million (the company primarily sells data solutions). Yet, the company continues to post net losses.
The company also plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol of JG and the lead underwriters include Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank Securities.
IPOs to Watch: Opera Ltd.
The Internet browser is a mature technology — essentially a commodity. But for Opera, the company has been able to spin its own version as an Artificial Intelligence (AI) play, such as with content and recommendation systems.
Note that the company has a sizable base, with 321.7 million average MAUs (monthly active users), of which 264.3 million are mobile. Much of the growth is coming from areas like South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.
For the first quarter, revenues shot up by 54.8% to $39.4 million and net income came to $6.6 million.
