## Instacart’s IPO Priced at $30 per Share, Eyeing a Strong Start
[Instacart](https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/cart?mod=article_chiclet&mod=article_inline), an online grocery delivery service, priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $30 a share on Monday night, hitting the upper range of its expected range. Early trading data on Tuesday from Nasdaq indicated a potential opening price of $40, marking a 35% increase.
## Instacart’s Market Valuation and Capital Raised
The San Francisco-based company announced late on Monday that it had sold 22 million shares at $30 each. This matched the upper end of its earlier indicated price range of $28 to $30 per share. As a result, Instacart’s market value stands at $9.9 billion, based on the company’s fully diluted share count.
Through its IPO, the company raised a total of $660 million, with approximately $420 million going directly to the company. Instacart is set to begin trading on Nasdaq under the symbol “CART”.
## Instacart’s IPO Among Most Anticipated of the Year
The Instacart IPO has been one of the most keenly observed this year, following the listing of chip designer [Arm Holdings](https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/arm?mod=article_chiclet). Together, these IPOs are expected to revitalize the IPO market, which has been relatively quiet for the majority of the year. Klaviyo, a software marketing company, is also slated to go public this week.
## Instacart’s Financial Performance and Market Outlook
Instacart, officially known as Maplebear, generated $2.55 billion in revenue last year, marking a 39% increase compared to the previous year. Approximately three-quarters of this revenue came from its core business of delivering groceries to homes using contractors. The remaining revenue was generated from other services and a new offering called Instacart Ads, where retailers pay to display ads to customers.
However, the company reported net losses of $70 million and $73 million in 2020 and 2021, respectively. In 2022, it reported a net income of $428 million, largely due to a $358 million tax benefit.
## Instacart’s Valuation Compared to Competitors
With the $30 per-share price tag, Instacart’s valuation is nearly four times its annual sales. [DoorDash](https://www.barrons.com/market-data/stocks/dash?mod=article_chiclet), a competitor mentioned in Instacart’s filings, has a similar price-to-sales ratio of 4.1 times. Although DoorDash has consistently increased its annual sales since going public in 2020, the company has not yet reported a per-share profit.
Instacart, founded in 2012, filed to go public on Aug. 25 after initially [filing a confidential registration statement](https://www.instacart.com/company/pressreleases/instacart-announces-confidential-submission-of-draft-registration-statement/) for a potential IPO in May 2022. In its last round of private fundraising, Instacart was valued at $39 billion, significantly higher than its current market valuation.
Original Story at www.barrons.com – 2023-09-19 15:19:00
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