2019 has already seen a slew of impressive tech companies go public, but traders will be watching closely over the next two quarters, as another round of heavyweight tech company IPOs are expected.
"It really was a fascinating and impressive quarter. When you think back at the first half of 2019, it was the busiest first half since 2007," Jose Cobos, the New York Stock Exchange's head of technology capital markets, told Cheddar. "We had a tremendous number of IPOs."
"That's even more impressive when you think about the fact that January and February, for the most part, the market was closed as result of the SEC and government shutdown."
The New York Stock Exchange reports that it raised about 75 percent of all tech IPO proceeds in the U.S. during the first two quarters, a share equivalent to just over $12 billion. Eleven tech companies have gone public on NYSE so far this year, including household names like Uber ($UBER) and Fiverr ($FVRR), as well as lesser-discussed firms like the security policy management company Tufin Software Technologies ($TUFN) and the Nigerian shopping platform Jumia Technologies ($JMIA).
It's expected that Peloton, Postmates, and Airbnb will follow suit later this year.
"[In] September, October, November, I think we'll continue to see a fairly large number of companies go out," he said, adding that 2018 was ultimately the highest performing year for tech companies, in terms of listings and proceeds raised, since 2014.
Meanwhile, in recent years, only two companies have pursued direct listings: Spotify ($SPOT) and Slack ($WORK). He said more companies could list shares, but that "it's not necessarily the right method for all companies."
Unlike public offerings, direct listings don't involve the creation of new shares.
Companies usually go public, Cobos explained, because executives hope to raise more capital to grow the business, to provide liquidity to investors, and to expand their company's public profile.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
