An Allbirds store in San Francisco. The company has made most of its revenue so far from online sales, but plans to use some of the proceeds from its IPO more bricks-and-mortar outlets. Photo / Getty Images
An Allbirds store in San Francisco. The company has made most of its revenue so far from online sales, but plans to use some of the proceeds from its IPO more bricks-and-mortar outlets. Photo / Getty Images
Allbirds, cofounded by ex-All White captain and Wellington Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown, has smashed its targets on its Nasdaq debut.
In late trading, the stock had nearly doubled in value to US$29.90 meaning Brown's 15.3 million shares in his company were worth some US$459m ($650m).
The soaring price was also good news for a small army of Kiwi investors.
Last week, trading platform Hatch - which has edged out startup rivals Sharesies and Stake to have an exclusive on NZ investor access to the IPO - said it had some 11,000 people on its Allbirds waitlist.
Tim Brown (right) with Wellington Phoenix teammates Andrew Durante (left) and Vince Lia in 2011. Photo / Getty Images
"We saw thousands of investors flock to the IPO opportunity and benefit from the $15 share price. Investors are starting to consider companies that have direct distribution routes to consumers in Covid times, but also those that are considering great outcomes for our planet.," Hatch GM Kristen Lunman told the Herald this morning.
"It was interesting to watch Allbirds on its first day – a 92% increase at close is nothing to sneeze at. It they weren't already, Kiwi retail investors will definitely be keeping an eye on any stock that can drive that kind of growth, and the next few days will be pretty interesting to see what happens."
Stake CEO Matt Leibowitz said, ""We suspect that the listing may have caught a few Kiwis by surprise, with the announcement only coming yesterday. Compared to Rocket Lab's IPO, which had over a week's notice and a lot of interest in the first few days, trade volume of Allbirds on Stake was fairly low. We tend to see that IPOs that have less fanfare will ramp up in the weeks following the sometimes volatile IPO period."
In an SEC filing, the sustainability-focused maker of shoes and apparel said it was seeking to raise up to US$300 million by selling 20.2 million shares at between US$12 to US$14 in an IPO valuing the company at US$2 billion ($2.8b) .
In the event, Allbirds listed at US$15.00 (raising US$303m) then rose throughout the session.
Tim Brown today. Photo / Getty Images
The gains came despite Allbirds revealing a wider loss in a pre-IPO filing last week.
Allbirds said that losses mounted in the latest quarter due to higher expenses. It said it expects to book a net loss of between US$15m and $18m for the three months to September 30, compared with a loss of US$7 million for the year-ago quarter.
Tim Brown (right) chats to Northburn Station manager and Merino grower Bevan McKnight. Allbirds sources Merino wool from NZ then sends it to textile mills in Italy, which in turn feed its manufacturing in South Korea and the US. Photo / Vaughan Brookfield
Revenue for the September quarter will be between US$61m and US$62.5m, compared with US$47.2m a year earlier. More people are returning to its brick-and-mortar retail stores, and average order values are growing, the company said.
Allbirds was founded in 2016 by Brown and Joey Zwillinger - a renewables engineer who Brown met in San Francisco, where the company is now based.
A pre-listing SEC filing that Brown (now 40) and his co-CEO Zwillinger will each hold Class B shares with 10:1 voting rights over Class A shares post IPO.
Both will retain all of their Class B stock, according to an SEC filing, meaning ex Wellington Phoenix midfielder Brown will hold at least 15.3m shares.
Allbirds has always had sustainability principles at the heart of its operation - an approach that's helped to win fans and high-profile backers including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ashton Kutcher, Barack Obama, and Google co-founder Larry Page.
And in August when it launched its prospectus, it billed its listing as the first "sustainable initial public offering".
Photo / Getty Images
The company - which sources Merino wool in NZ for textile mills in Italy that feed manufacturing facilities in South Korea and the US - pledged to adhere to a "sustainability principles and objectives framework" (SPO), which was developed with a consultancy group advised by academics, rating agencies and charities.
But a Financial Times analysis of a revised prospectus, released earlier this month, found that mentions of the SPO framework had been more than halved, from 65 to 33, compared to the original document.
In the revised prospectus, Allbirds removed the claim that it is "conducting this offering while following the SPO framework". It also deleted a warning that doing so could increase the cost of the IPO.
Allbirds' new athleticwear range, made from New Zealand Merino wool and Australian eucalyptus fibre. Photo / Supplied
Allbirds declined to comment on the changes.
The firm has faced broader questions over the genuine sustainability of its business, recently. Its sneakers are made from naturally-derived materials and the company claims the carbon impact of making each pair is about 30 per cent less than that of its rivals.
Photo / Getty Images
However, it does not include the impact of shipping in the carbon footprint calculation, despite transporting materials around the world several times during the manufacturing process.
Allbirds faces a civil class-action lawsuit in the New York Southern District Court that alleges the brand has misled consumers with its sustainability claims. It has filed a motion to dismiss the suit.
