Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Nearly 30 years of experience in the Korean/Asian equity research. Major sectors coverage include the following:
- Technology 
- Consumer 
- Special Situations/Deep Value Plays
- Tender Offers/M&As
- Holdcos/Stubs
- Asian Unicorns/Private Companies

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Unity Software IPO - Even Better Than Snowflake IPO?

Unity IPO – Stunning Lack of Profitability

Palantir - The Most Anticipated IPO in 2020

Palantir Direct Public Listing - A Shadow of WeWork in 2020?

Asian SaaS Stars: Opportunities, Market Outperformance, & Key Challenges

Equity Capital Markets

Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Snowflake is getting ready to complete its IPO in the U.S. in the next several weeks. Snowflake provides cloud-based data storage and analytics services and it has already raised more than $1.4 billion in venture capital since its establishment in 2012. Its last major round of private capital funding occurred in February 2020 when it raised $479 million at a $12.4 billion in valuation. Snowflake has generated a fantastic sales growth rate in the past several years. The company's sales exploded 173.9% YoY to $264.7 million in the year ended January 31, 2020. Its sales continued to surge by 132.6% YoY to $242 million in the six months ended July 31, 2020. While its sales surged, its operating loss declined from -$182.8 million in 1H 2019 to -$174.1 million in 1H 2020. This was a big achievement with operating margin declining from -176% in 1H 2019 to -72% in 1H 2020. Although the Snowflake IPO has not been as widely publicized as the Palantir direct public listing, Snowflake IPO has numerous hallmarks which could make it an explosive IPO candidate, driven by a surging sales growth, diversified customer base, excellent customer retention, and a sharp decline in operating losses as a percentage of sales. Although we do not know how Snowflake and Palantir IPOs will be priced, the initial look at their financial data suggests that Snowflake IPO could pounce on the Palantir direct public listing (DPL).

Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Snowflake is getting ready to complete its IPO in the U.S. in the next several weeks. Snowflake provides cloud-based data storage and analytics services and it has already raised more than $1.4 billion in venture capital since its establishment in 2012. Its last major round of private capital funding occurred in February 2020 when it raised $479 million at a $12.4 billion in valuation. Snowflake has generated a fantastic sales growth rate in the past several years. The company's sales exploded 173.9% YoY to $264.7 million in the year ended January 31, 2020. Its sales continued to surge by 132.6% YoY to $242 million in the six months ended July 31, 2020. While its sales surged, its operating loss declined from -$182.8 million in 1H 2019 to -$174.1 million in 1H 2020. This was a big achievement with operating margin declining from -176% in 1H 2019 to -72% in 1H 2020. Although the Snowflake IPO has not been as widely publicized as the Palantir direct public listing, Snowflake IPO has numerous hallmarks which could make it an explosive IPO candidate, driven by a surging sales growth, diversified customer base, excellent customer retention, and a sharp decline in operating losses as a percentage of sales. Although we do not know how Snowflake and Palantir IPOs will be priced, the initial look at their financial data suggests that Snowflake IPO could pounce on the Palantir direct public listing (DPL). 

Snowflake IPO - This One Could Pounce on the Palantir DPL