The boost the shares of Bumble (BMBL) received on their public debut day comes amid the company’s plans to take the business globally.
The shares of dating platform Bumble Inc (NASDAQ: BMBL) closed up by 63.51%, making an impressive showing on the first trading day on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The growth has stirred Bumble’s shares to $70.31, a huge push up from the Initial Public Offering (IPO) price pegged at $43 per share. Bumble’s valuation soared to $14 billion following the Thursday debut.
The coronavirus pandemic remarkably reshaped the way we relate with restrictions in physical meet-ups, owing to adherence to social distancing guidelines. The evolution of new ways to meet people and build relationships is one of the creative solutions the Bumble platform is bringing to the table, and it found ways to adjust to the realities of the time.
The Texas-based firm operates two major applications, Bumble, a dating app where women make the first move, and Badoo, with both recording as much as 40 million monthly active users. As reported by Reuters, in an interview on Thursday, Bumble Chief Executive Officer Whitney Wolfe Herd said the global pandemic encouraged people to build a relationship and meet new people on their phones.
“People are building meaningful relationships digitally first, and then the physical follows. This is a really phenomenal shift toward safety and engineering more accountable experiences,” said Wolfe Herd, with expectations for the trend to continue past the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to the public listing, Bumble reported a $376.6 million revenue for the first three quarters of 2020. The revenue was pulled from 1.1 million subscribers from the Bumble app, and 1.3 million on the Badoo app and the other services the firm offers.
Bumble (BMBL) Shares Soared amid Company’s Plans for Global Expansion
The boost the shares of Bumble (BMBL) received on their public debut day comes amid the company’s plans to take the business globally. As noted by Wolfe, the firm will seek to utilize the proceeds from its $2.2 billion Initial Public Offering to pay off debt, fund international growth, and pursue acquisitions.
“Right now we’re very focused on taking the dating opportunity globally,” said Wolfe Herd. “We also hope to have the preeminent platform for meeting whoever you’re looking for, for whatever use case, in the long run.”
With backing from American alternative investment banking firm, Blackstone Group Inc (NYSE: BX), Bumble will look forward to maintaining its growth, just as other stocks including DoorDash Inc (NYSE: DASH), Airbnb Inc (NASDAQ: ABNB), and Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) amongst others with impressive public debuts and subsequent growths.
However, while many have applauded the company’s start in the public markets, the high gains amassed on the first day are bound to fuel criticisms. According to the Reuters report, Bill Gurley, from Benchmark, a Venture Capital firm has argued that investment banks underprice offerings so their investor clients can win big in first trades.
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