Amplitude valued at $ 5 billion after stocks jump on Nasdaq debut

September 28 (Reuters) – Shares of Amplitude Inc (AMPL.O) opened nearly 43% above their benchmark price when they debuted on the Nasdaq on Tuesday, registering a valuation of around $ 5 billion for the benchmark-backed analysis company.

San Francisco-based Amplitude, which confidentially filed for direct listing in July, was valued at $ 4 billion after raising $ 150 million from Sequoia Capital and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC in June.

The company’s shares opened at $ 50 per share, up from the benchmark price of $ 35 per share.

Amplitude provides data analysis tools that allow companies to optimize their products. Its clients include NBCUniversal, PayPal Holdings Ltd (PYPL.O), Peloton Interactive Inc (PTON.O) and Instacart.

It has benefited from accelerated digital transformation during the pandemic, as companies seek to optimize the online customer experience using analytical tools.

It said revenue of $ 72 million for the first half of the year, a 56% year-over-year jump, from a loss of $ 16.5 million.

The seven-year-old company opted to go public via a direct listing, an alternative to an initial public offering that gained traction among companies after Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N) launched it in 2018.

In a direct listing, companies are allowed to list on the stock exchange without selling shares. They set a benchmark price but no shares are sold up front at that price, unlike an IPO where shares are sold to institutional investors at a fixed price.

“Traditional IPOs seriously undervalue the prices of companies,” said Spenser Skates, co-founder and CEO of Amplitude, who has been a proponent of direct listing. “There’s a big window for companies to come out this year. It’s about as fast as we could get it.”

Investors see Amplitude’s strong start as a catalyst for other tech companies exploring ways to go public.

“This is a decisive moment for direct registrations. I think the whole market is looking at Amplitude to see how that goes because it looks like a lot of software companies going public in the next 12-18 months in terms of size, growth and not being good names. known, ”said Neeraj Agrawal, partner of Battery Ventures, one of Amplitude’s first investors.

Morgan Stanley advised Amplitude on the direct listing.

Reporting by Krystal Hu and Echo Wang in New York and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Mark Porter

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