Blue Apron (APRN) began trading on the NYSE on 29 June 2017

Blue Apron is a meal subscription service that delivers neatly packed boxes of produce and meat/poultry/fish, plus the recipes and step-by-step instructions you need to get a delicious and different meal on the table at least a couple of nights a week.

Blue Apron (APRN) made a lukewarm debut on the NYSE at $10 per share on Thursday morning, after slashing its IPO pricing by one-third the day prior.

The meal-kit delivery company, valued at $2 billion in the private market, is going public at a time when the food-delivery space has gotten increasingly crowded. This competitive environment may force companies like Blue Apron to diversify their products if they want to survive.

The two types of food-delivery companies

The space has two distinct categories: grocery delivery, which is disrupting the $782 million market; and the meal and restaurant delivery space that’s shaking up the $540 million market. Both of these categories operate in primarily urban areas and surrounding suburbs.

Blue Apron falls into the grocery delivery space, as it ships uncooked ingredients. Grocery delivery startups have been attracting increasing investor dollars year-over-year since 2013, amounting to $1.4 billion in funding last year, according to CB Insights. Instacart is a stand-out player that raised $400 million in March, boosting its valuation to $3.4 billion.

However, we haven’t seen a massive success story for a prepared-meal delivery company. In fact, we’ve seen a litany of failures — David Chang’s Maple, Spoonrocket, Sprig, Kitchit, Kitchensurfing and Dinner Lab all shut down this year.

  

How Much Does It Cost?
Blue Apron breaks down the cost of its meal plans by servings, and gives you a weekly total as well. The two-person plan is $10.99 per serving for either the meat/poultry/fish meal or the vegetarian option. If you go with the entry-level plan — two recipes with enough ingredients to serve two people (four meals, total), you’ll also pay $7.99 for shipping, which rings in at $51.95 total. If you bump up to three recipes a week, the shipping is free, and the weekly fee is $65.94 per week.

If you’re cooking for four people, the pricing gets a little more complicated — only because the more you buy, the less you pay per meal. For example, two weekly recipes with enough ingredients to serve four people (eight meals, total) are $9.99 per serving, or $79.92/week. Three recipes (12 meals) is $107.88/week and four recipes (16 meals) is $143.84. You always get free shipping when you commit to a four-person plan.

The Competition

• HelloFresh relies on revamping a lot family dinner classics. You’ll see pasta dishes, meatloaf, burgers, tacos, stir fries, soups, pork chops, and more — with a twist.
• Plated has a huge selection of recipes each week — there are 20 — and even offers a few dessert options. The ideas are innovative without being too over the top.
• Home Chef lets you cook up to six meals per week for up to six people, which is far more than any of the other meal subscriptions boxes.

=Byline Bank is planning its IPO

The parent of Byline Bank is planning the first initial public offering by a Chicago-area bank in 15 years. The Chicago-based lender, previously called Metropolitan Bank Group and raised from the dead four years ago through a $207 million recapitalization, is taking advantage of a strong market for bank stocks.

At $3.3 billion in assets, Byline Bank is on the small side for the up to $82 million offering it's planning, according to a Securities & Exchange Commission filing today. But the bank's leadership, Chairman Roberto Herencia and CEO Alberto Paracchini, see a place in the Chicago banking scene for a publicly traded bank Byline's size as locally based banks like Wintrust Financial and MB Financial that used to occupy that niche have grown to $19 billion or more.

The last Chicago bank IPO took place in 2002 when the parent of Cole Taylor Bank raised $46 million from the public markets. MB Financial acquired Taylor Capital Group in 2014.

Rising interest rates and optimism about economic growth are propelling bank stocks. "It's just a very good time to be raising capital," says Stephen Nelson, managing director with investment banking firm D.A. Davidson in Chicago.

For Herencia, a well-known banker in Chicago for decades and former CEO of the North American arm of Puerto Rico's Banco Popular, the IPO will enable Byline to be a more active acquirer of smaller banks. Byline last year purchased the parent of suburban Milwaukee-based Ridgestone Bank, the largest Small Business Administration lender in Illinois.

Herencia and Paracchini, another Banco Popular veteran, have spent the last three years repairing a Chicago banking franchise that nearly ran aground in the Great Recession. Formerly owned by the Fasseas family, founders of Chicago's Paws animal shelter, the banking group once had close to 100 branches. Byline dramatically pruned, reducing an 87-branch network in two years to 56 branches; most of those are in the city. The bank eked out a pre-tax profit last year after losing money is 2015 and 2014 as the new team dug out of the old bank's problems.

Herencia and Paracchini decline to comment, citing legal limitations in advance of an IPO.

In the first quarter of 2017, Byline posted $6.6 million in net income, a 6.8 percent return on equity.

Herencia recruited an investment group made up mainly of prominent, wealthy Mexicans to recapitalize Metropolitan Bank Group. The lead shareholder, a group led by Antonio del Valle Perochena, chairman of petrochemical giant Mexichem, holds 47 percent of the bank's parent. After the offering, that group, which won't sell shares in the IPO, will own about 39 percent.

One of the smaller Mexican investors plans to cash out in the IPO, according to the filing. Overall, existing shareholders are selling 1.9 million shares while the bank is raising equity through the sale of up to 4.7 million shares.

Noble Midstream Partners LP (NBLX) : 9-month performance

Noble Midstream Partners LP owns, operates, develops, and acquires midstream infrastructure assets in the United States. The company provides crude oil, natural gas, and water-related midstream services.

• Founded in 2014 
• HQ: Houston, Texas 
• Sector: Energy
• Industry: Oil & Gas Midstream
• http://www.nblmidstream.com
• Noble Midstream Partners LP is a subsidiary of Noble Energy, Inc.

 

=Shotspotter (SSTI) began trading on Nasdaq on 7 June 2017

• ShotSpotter provides a gunfire detection and location technology that can tell police where shots are coming from and the number of attackers involved. This information can be provided to police via smartphone before the police arrive on the scene.

SAGE Therapeutics (SAGE) reports Phase 2 Brexanolone clinical data

  

monthly

SAGE Therapeutics reports Phase 2 Brexanolone (SAGE-547) clinical data published in The Lancet:

Co announced that The Lancet has published results from a Phase 2, double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled study of brexanolone (SAGE-547) in women with severe postpartum depression.

• The study found that treatment with brexanolone resulted in a clinically meaningful and statistically significant mean reduction in the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression total score, a common measure of depression severity, that began at 24 hours and was maintained at similar magnitude until the 30-day follow-up.
• Brexanolone was well-tolerated in this study with no observations of deaths, serious adverse events or discontinuations.
• Overall, fewer patients who received brexanolone experienced adverse events compared with placebo (4 of 10 on brexanolone and 8 of 11 on placebo).

Appian (APPN) : 2-week performance

Ticker:  APPN
 

Intrawest Resorts (SNOW) to be acquired for $1.5B

(Apr 10, 2017) Intrawest Resorts Holdings Inc. said on Apr 10, 2017 it has agreed to be taken over by Aspen Skiing Co. and KSL Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for $23.75 US per share in cash.

However, investors reacted to the news by sending Intrawest shares down $1.70 US, or 6.7 per cent, to close at $23.60 US on the New York Stock Exchange.

** charts 2 months later **

"This transaction creates significant opportunity for Intrawest and delivers tremendous value to our current shareholders," said Thomas Marano, Intrawest's chief executive officer, in a release.

He said the takeover price represents a 40 per cent premium over $16.97 US per share, Intrawest's closing stock price on Jan. 12, 2017, the trading day prior to a Reuters report speculating that the company was exploring a potential sale.

"Our new partners bring additional financial resources and a shared passion for the mountains and our mountain communities," Marano said.

The deal is expected to conclude by the end of the third quarter of this year.

In addition to Mont Tremblant and Blue Mountain, Denver-based Intrawest also owns or operates two Colorado ski resorts, Steamboat and Winter Park, plus Stratton in Vermont and Snowshoe in West Virginia. Intrawest also owns Canadian Mountain Holidays, a heli-skiing and heli-hiking company with 13 lodges in British Columbia.

Aspen Skiing Co. owns and runs Aspen Snowmass, which has four mountains — Snowmass, Aspen Mountain, Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk.

Playa Hotels & Resorts (PLYA) began trading on Nasdaq on 8 May 2017

Playa Hotels & Resorts began trading on the Nasdaq on Monday, May 8, after the all-inclusive resorts operator completed its merger with Pace Holdings Corp., a division of private equity company TPG.

• Playa CEO and chairman Bruce Wardinski and his management team will continue to run the combined company. Pace CEO Karl Peterson and former Sabre Corp. CEO Tom Klein have been appointed to Playa's board of directors.
• On March 1, Pace shareholders approved the transaction, which makes Playa the only publicly traded all-inclusive resorts company.
• Playa's portfolio consists of 13 resorts across Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, including properties operating under Hyatt's Ziva and Zilara brands.

Coupa Software (COUP) reported earnings on Mon 5 June 17 (a/h)

** charts before earnings **

 

** chart after earnings **

Coupa Software beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus; guides FY18 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus :

• Reports Q1 (Apr) loss of $0.09 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.14); revenues rose 40.8% year/year to $41.1 mln vs the $38.33 mln Capital IQ Consensus.
• Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of ($0.20)-($0.18), excluding non-recurring items, vs. ($0.20) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $41.3-41.8 mln vs. $39.73 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
• Co issues upside guidance for FY18, sees EPS of ($0.53)-($0.49), excluding non-recurring items, vs. ($0.54) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY18 revs of $1782-175 mln vs. $168.63 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

Smart Global Holdings (SGH) : 2-week performance

Smart Global Holdings (SGH) began trading on Nasdaq on 24 May 2017

• Smart Global, which does business as Smart Modular, priced 5.3 million shares at $11 per share. That was well below the expected range of $13 to $15 per share. The company raised $58.3 million, far from the $74 million it would have raised if it priced shares at the middle of the range.
• The proceeds are also below the $66.6 million the company was planning to use to pay off debt.
• But shares opened at $12 per share and ended at $13.45.
• The company went public again after being taken private in 2011.

Description

Smart Global Holdings Inc. is a holding company. The Company through its subsidiaries provides specialty memory solutions. The Company manufactures memory for desktops, notebooks, servers and mobile memory for smartphones. The Company also serves original equipment manufacturer (OEM), customers to develop memory solutions. The Company also provides customized, integrated supply chain services to certain OEM customers to assist them in the management and execution of their procurement processes. The Company offers its products and services under a range of categories including dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) components, DRAM modules, flash components, mobile memory and supply chain services. The Company offers a range of DRAM modules including DIMMs, nonvolatile DIMMs, load reducing DIMMs, registered DIMMs, unbuffered DIMMs, small outline DIMMs, and mini-DIMMs.

Address

39870 Eureka Dr
NEWARK, CA 94560-4809
United States

Key stats and ratios

	Q1 (Feb '17)	2016
Net profit margin	-1.36%	-3.73%
Operating margin	4.60%	1.16%
EBITD margin	-	7.13%
Return on average assets	-2.23%	-3.90%
Return on average equity	-95.03%	-539.31%
Employees	1,139

Jounce Therapeutics (JNCE) began trading on Nasdaq on 27 Jan 2017

Massachusetts-based Jounce Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing cancer immunotherapy treatments.

Company Website www.jouncetx.com
CEO Richard Murray
Employees (as of 12/31/2016) 85
Fiscal Year End 12/31
Status Priced (1/27/2017)
Symbol JNCE
Exchange NASDAQ Global Select
Share Price $16.00
Shares Offered 6,365,000
Offer Amount $101,840,000.00

Jounce Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company. The Company is engaged in developing therapies that enable the immune system to attack tumors. Through the use of its Translational Science Platform, the Company first focuses on specific cell types within tumors to prioritize targets, and then identify related biomarkers designed to match the right therapy to the right patient. The Company’s lead product candidate, JTX-2011, is a clinical-stage monoclonal antibody that binds to and activates the Inducible T cell CO-Stimulator (ICOS), a protein on the surface of certain T cells found in a range of solid tumors. The Company has initiated JTX-2011 multi-arm Phase I/II clinical trial in patients with solid tumors. The Company is also developing JTX-4014 for use in future combinations with JTX-2011, as well as for use in combination with other future product candidates. The Company is developing JTX-4014, a fully human Immunoglobulin G 4 (IgG4) monoclonal antibody.

Key stats and ratios

	Q1 (Mar '17)	2016
Net profit margin	1.90%	-36.84%
Operating margin	-1.22%	-38.89%
EBITD margin	-	-33.66%
Return on average assets	0.49%	-8.45%
Return on average equity	-2.90%	-
Employees	85

Obseva (OBSV) began trading on Nasdaq on 26 Jan 17

ObsEva SA is a Swiss reproductive health and pregnancy therapeutics company.

• Geneva-based company, U.S. headquarters in Boston.
• Priced 6.45 million shares at $15 per share, within its previously-announced range of $14 to $16. 
• Raised $97 million in an initial public offering.

Credit Suisse Group AG reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Obseva SA in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Leerink Swann initiated coverage on shares of Obseva SA in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC initiated coverage on shares of Obseva SA in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock.

Obseva SA last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 18th. The company reported ($0.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.41) by $0.17. Analysts forecast that Obseva SA will post ($2.11) EPS for the current fiscal year.

In the first half of 2017, ObsEva’s lead drug will enter two Phase 3 studies for the treatment of uterine fibroids, a kind of benign tumor, and will enter another Phase 3 trial in 2018 for the treatment of endometriosis, a disorder in which tissue that typically lines the uterus grows outside of the uterus.

The company is also developing a compound for in vitro fertilization, and recently completed a Phase 1 study of a drug to control preterm labor.