Tag Archives: JPM

Didi Global Prices IPO at $14 a Share

Chinese ride-hailing goliath Didi Global Inc. priced its IPO at $14 on Tuesday afternoon, according to people familiar with the matter, setting the stage for the company to begin trading Wednesday, after it made a lightning-fast pitch to potential investors.

The company sold more stock than it had planned, though the new deal size couldn’t immediately be learned. Given the upsizing, the pricing would give Didi a market capitalization of more than $67 billion, which would trail U.S. ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc.’s roughly $95 billion but land well ahead of Lyft Inc., which sits at roughly $20 billion.

Didi’s fully diluted valuation, which typically includes restricted stock units, would easily eclipse $70 billion at the initial-public-offering price, confirming earlier reports by The Wall Street Journal.

Didi’s pricing comes just three business days after it launched its roadshow, making it one of the shortest investor pitches for an initial public offering in recent memory, according to bankers, investors and lawyers.

Didi ran its roadshow through round-the-clock virtual meetings because of time-zone differences, according to people who participated. Company executives focused on Didi’s scale and potential for continuing growth, the people said. The executives emphasized that 70% of China’s population will live in cities by 2030 and that few people own cars in those cities—and far fewer than in the U.S. Didi argues it is in position to capitalize on that, from shared mobility in general to its investments in electric vehicles and artificial intelligence.

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Sizzling Stock Market Sets High Bar for Earnings Season

The stock market is running hot entering first-quarter earnings season.

A formidable rally has propelled the S&P 500 up 9.9% this year to 20 record closes, keeping stock valuations at historic highs. Some investors, though, say shares may have more room to run as the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and bountiful government spending strengthen the outlook for corporate profits.

Earnings season kicks off in earnest this week, with results from America’s big banks—including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co—and companies ranging from Delta Air Lines Inc. to PepsiCo Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Investors will be watching for signs of confidence from executives that customer demand will keep rising and cost increases can be managed to help ease their concerns that stocks are looking expensive.

The S&P 500 traded Thursday at 22.6 times its projected earnings over the next 12 months, above the five-year average of 18.14, according to FactSet. Paying up, even for shares of high-quality companies, raises the prospect of muted future returns for shareholders.

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