Online gaming platform Roblox is moving its IPO date to early next year, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The San Mateo, Calif.-based co. had plans to go public before the end of the year.
While the reasons for the IPO’s postponement remain unclear, Journal sources cited the monster gains this past week in the shares of DoorDash, Inc. (NYSE: DASH) and travel giant Airbnb, Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB) as the main reason. Airbnb’s stock, originally priced at $68 Wednesday night, spiked more than 112% in its IPO debut Thursday, while food delivery app DoorDash saw its shares catapult to $182, way above its IPO range of $90 to $95.
A major jump in share prices right after both IPOs and the value received by the investors who owned them at the end of the trading day seems to have made it too difficult for Roblox and its management to determine the right initial price for the company’s public offering.
Roblox co-founder and CEO David Baszucki said in a memo to employees that the video gaming company — whose value according to analysts could easily reach $8 billion ; earlier this year Roblox was valued at around $4 billion — will take its time to improve certain “processes” before listing its shares.
“Based on everything we have learned to date, we feel there is an opportunity to improve our specific process for employees, shareholders and future investors both big and small,” the publication quoted Baszucki as saying.
Roblox’s announcement is followed by that of fintech company Affirm Holdings Inc, which is the second company in as many days to pull back from the IPO market. Affirm said it won’t go public until January at the earliest.
Both, Roblox and Affirm, were expected to draw strong investor demand.
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