When TubeMogul first filed to go public, it indicated that it would offer up to $75 million of its shares for sale. That figure was soft. Today, TubeMogul decided on a price range for its shares — $11 to $13 per unit — meaning that it could sell up to $93.4 million of its stock in the flotation.
The company’s revenue has grown quickly, as had its losses until recently. It recorded a $7.4 million loss in 2013, the highest of its three reported year-long periods. However, in the first quarter of 2014, the company’s revenue — $22.02 million, up from $9.58 million in the year-ago quarter — came attached to a slim $767,000 loss, down from $1.90 million the year before.
So, quick revenue growth and falling losses? In today’s market that could very well be a palatable combination.
We’ve seen a decent string of recent IPOs, with Arista Networks, MobileIron, and GoPro all performing well when entering the public markets. With profitability just out of its reach, TubeMogul may benefit from the lift those successful offerings might provide.
As TechCrunch previously noted, the company had strong gross margins — we called them “SaaS-like” — of 66 percent in 2013. The company has raised $53.2 million to date, making its offering interesting. It isn’t uncommon now to see companies going public, raising a fraction of their previously raised capital in the process.
TubeMogul is a smaller IPO for a lesser-known company. This isn’t Box, in other words, but its nearly $100 million potential haul is important to note not only for its market niche, but also in that it will be a fresh indicator of investor sentiment. With the NASDAQ at 4,451, anything is possible.
As a caveat to that: When the company filed to go public, AdAge noted that a few companies that it found to be at least analogous had suffered since their debut, highlighting YuMe and Tremor Video. Those companies have seen steep declines in their market value in the past year. It’s worth pointing out that many companies in TubeMogul’s space have either gone public, or been acquired. After TubeMogul hits go, the only private, unacquired firm in the space will be BrightRoll.
All told, it looks like TubeMogul is full speed ahead. We’ll bring you more once they cross the wire and start to trade.
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