The few companies daring to go public continue to be rewarded.
LogMeIn
Shares of the on-demand connectivity specialist opened at $20 this morning after pricing its offering of nearly 6.7 million debutante shares at $16.
LogMeIn claims that it connects 70 million devices worldwide, affording clients the luxury of logging in to remote PCs and servers. It oversaw 188,000 premium accounts as of the end of March, 54% more than it had on its rolls a year earlier. And it has a whopping total of 22.1 million registered users.
On the not-so-bright side, LogMeIn rang up revenue of just $51.7 million last year. It has also posted annual losses over the past few years. So, on the surface, this is an unlikely IPO candidate. With 21.4 million shares outstanding after this morning's offering, even the now-obsolete $16 price bestows a steep $342 million market cap on the company.
However, growth sells, and LogMeIn has it in strides. Revenue soared by 139% in 2007 and climbed by a healthy 92% last year. If the lack of historical profitability is a concern, take heart: The company was comfortably in the black during this year's first quarter. Pre-tax profit margins were nearly 15%, and Uncle Sam's bites should be minimal as the company works through years of tax-loss carry-forwards. Now that the company has apparently turned the corner on the bottom line, its scalable model should deliver healthy profitability in the future.
Growth is the key. A dozen companies went public during this year's second quarter, consisting mostly of names that are growing in this daunting environment. For the most part, those willing to take the risk to become an IPO's first investors have been duly rewarded.
|
Stock |
IPO |
6/30/09 |
Change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Changyou.com |
$38.38 |
140% |
|
|
Bridgepoint Education |
$17.00 |
62% |
|
|
Rosetta Stone |
$18.00 |
$27.44 |
52% |
|
DigitalGlobe |
$19.20 |
(2%) |
|
|
SolarWinds |
$12.50 |
$16.49 |
32% |
|
OpenTable |
$30.17 |
51% |
LogMeIn is kicking off the third quarter in the same fashion.
The valuation still appears a bit rich. The moat doesn't appear as wide as we've seen with OpenTable and its mastery over online restaurant reservations, nor with Rosetta Stone and its language software. Remote connectivity will continue to be a competitive niche. However, until LogMeIn's torrid growth slows or its initial profitability cracks, it's hard to bet against this morning's red-hot debutante.
The important question is this: Do you think the IPO is a good buying opportunity? Or will the stock need to cool off from the IPO hype? Let our community know what you think -- head over to Motley Fool CAPS and share your thoughts with the other 135,000 members that are currently part of the community. Even if you'd prefer to pass on LogMeIn, you can check out a couple of the other stocks listed above or any of the 5,300 stocks that are rated on CAPS.
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