Stocks & Equities

Toast surges 63% in NYSE debut after IPO valued restaurant-tech company at $20 billion

Toast shares soared 63% in their New York Stock Exchange debut on Wednesday after the provider of technology to restaurants priced its IPO above its expected range.

The company, whose products are used at more than 48,000 restaurant locations, raised about $870 million in its IPO, selling shares at $40 each. Toast previously said it expected to price the offering at $34 to $36, following an initial range of $30 to $33.

The stock opened at $65.26, boosting Toast’s market cap to over $32.5 billion.

Toast’s IPO comes amid a business resurgence for a company that was devastated in the early days of the pandemic, when restaurants were forced to close their doors and cities across the country shut down. In April 2020, Toast slashed half its workforce, and CEO Chris Comparato wrote in a blog post that the prior month, “as a result of necessary social distancing and government-mandated closures, restaurant sales declined by 80 percent in most cities.”…read more.

Evergrande fears send stock market tumbling: What investors need to know about China’s teetering property giant

Evergrande, a Chinese property giant nursing more than $300 billion in debt, remains on the brink of default — sending global equities tumbling Monday as investors, who had previously ignored the situation, sat up and took notice.

Fears of a bursting property bubble have long been a concern for investors when it comes to China. A heavily leveraged real-estate sector makes up more than 28% of China’s economy, according to the Financial Times. Questions surround how willing Chinese authorities will be to provide a backstop.

Meanwhile, holders of Evergrande’s approximately $19 billion in dollar-denominated bonds are left to wonder what will become of their investments, while other investors attempt to gauge the potential spillover effects a collapse could have on China’s property sector and global financial markets…read more.

Next Tuesday, September 21st at 11am, Plurilock Security CEO Ian Paterson will expand on his conversation with Michael Campbell on this week’s MoneyTalks show with a presentation showing investors how and why they should consider participating in the booming sector of CyberSecurity.

A must see for anyone considering adding FinTech or Crypto exposure to their portfolio. Ian will also update investors on Plurilock’s huge revenue surge and successful expansion into the US. CLICK HERE to register – access is limited so sign up early.

PayPal is exploring a stock-trading platform for U.S. customers

PayPal is exploring a possible stock-trading platform.

After rolling out the ability to trade cryptocurrencies last year, the payments giant has been exploring ways to let users trade individual stocks, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

The San Jose, California-based company recently hired brokerage industry veteran Rich Hagen as part of the move, according to one of the sources. After leaving Ally Invest, Hagen is now the CEO of a previously unreported division of PayPal called Invest at PayPal, according to his LinkedIn page. Hagen was the co-founder of online brokerage TradeKing, which was bought by Ally Invest…read more.

Support.com Becomes The Latest Meme Stock

Support.com is a relatively unknown software company, considering how high it must rank in Google search results. But it’s under-the-radar no more: Amateur traders are gassing it up like friends at a bridal fitting.

Shares of Support.com skyrocketed as much as 203% on Friday, before closing the day up 34%.

Why Support.com? For the same reasons that traders doubled down on AMC and GameStop this winter: to profit off of professional investors’ short bets.

Last month, Wall Street shorted Support.com’s stock, betting on the company’s stock to go down. Amateur investors bet against their bets, attempting a “short squeeze” that can accelerate a stock’s surge like throwing Mentos into Diet Coke…read more.