Shares of MediaAlpha ($MAX), an insurance technology firm, started trading Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange at $22 per share and closed at $31.86 per share.
The IPO is notably the Los Angeles-based company's first time raising outside capital.
"We're self-funded, so the IPO is actually, if you can believe it, our first primary capital raising event," co-founder and CEO Steve Yi told Cheddar. "I think we had the operating discipline to continue to grow, but we also recognize that what got us here isn't necessarily going to be what takes us where we want to go because we see an enormous market opportunity."
He added that public markets offer the company flexibility to take advantage of growth opportunities in the insurance industry, which has been "late in terms of consumer online transactional adoption, but it's here now, and there are seismic shifts awaiting the industry."
MediaAlpha provides customer acquisition technology to insurance providers looking to utilize data science to convert prospective customers into policyholders. The company works largely within the home and auto insurance category but plans to expand in other areas as well.
"We work with well over 30 auto and home insurance companies to enable them to utilize their data science capabilities to identify those consumers who are less likely to convert into a policy and monetize those consumers by serving a set of comparison and referral listings for other insurance options," Yi said.
He explained that the insurance industry is ripe for "technology-enabled disruption."
"I think people forget that insurance is a $2 trillion annual industry that spends upwards of a $150 billion dollars annually in distribution," he said.
The offering initially priced shares at $19, in the middle of an expected range of $18 to $20.
The company's strong first-day performance comes as the overall stock market stumbled amid renewed concerns of a spike in coronavirus cases hobbling the economic recovery.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people — including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures — has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of sports betting in the U.S. The multibillion-dollar industry has made it easy for sports fans — and even some players — to wager on everything from the outcome of games to that of a single play with just a few taps of a cellphone. But regulating the rapidly-growing industry has proven to be a challenge. Professional sports leagues’ own role in promoting gambling has also raised eyebrows.
Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply. Third-quarter earnings fell to $1.4 billion, from $2.2 billion a year earlier. Excluding charges, per share profit of 50 cents came in below analysts' estimate. Tesla shares fell 3.5% in after-hours trading. Musk said the company's robotaxi service, which is available in Austin, Texas, and San Francisco, will roll out to as many as 10 other metro areas by the end of the year.
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