The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) placed a price tag on the shares of Roblox, which is due to start trading on Wednesday morning – $ 45 a share.
This reference price is basically just a guess as to where a stock’s price might fall. In its announcement, the NYSE emphasized that the actual opening price will be determined from buy and sell orders collected from brokerages.
Image source: Getty Images.
Roblox, the operator of a very popular video game application, is going public in a direct public offering (DPO). Unlike the more traditional initial public offering (IPO), in which newly minted shares are sold to the public through investment bank underwriters, in a DPO, existing shareholders sell their shares through a stock exchange to investors. The company had previously planned to launch an IPO, but changed its strategy after a recent round of financing that raised about $ 520 million.
Roblox is currently unprofitable, although it is growing rapidly. 2020 revenue was just under $ 924 million, representing an 82% year-over-year growth. This was due to the almost doubling of the daily active user count (SAD) of the company, which has grown to almost 32.6 million souls. Roblox’s net loss, in turn, was almost $ 256 million, much deeper than the $ 71 million deficit in 2019.
The company is forecasting further growth, although not at such high rates. She believes that DAUs will grow 9% in 2021, with revenues 60% higher.
Roblox is a very hot title for young players who are not yet in their teens. He has great name recognition among his parents; this, added to the company’s growth potential, should make it a popular action as soon as it reaches the stock exchange.