Walmart-Endorsed Ibotta’s Stocks Skyrocket During Public Launch

• Shares of Ibotta, a Walmart-backed digital company, rose 17% in their Wall Street debut, giving it a market value of over $3 billion.
• The company, which offers customers cash-back rewards and rebates on grocery brands, joins a handful of tech companies like Instacart and Reddit that enjoyed a solid debut in the public markets.
• Denver-based Ibotta, founded by lawyer Bryan Leach in 2011, works with more than 850 different clients and represents 2,400 consumer packaged brands.

Walmart-backed Ibotta sees a 17% rise in shares during its Wall Street debut, joining the ranks of successful tech company debuts such as Instacart and Reddit.

Ibotta’s Successful Wall Street Debut

Shares of Ibotta, a digital company backed by Walmart that offers customers cash-back rewards and rebates on grocery brands, rose 17% in their Wall Street debut. The stock, trading under the ticker “IBTA” on the New York Stock Exchange, opened at $117, well above the $88 offering price. By mid-afternoon trading, it had lost some momentum and closed at $103.25, giving it a market value of more than $3 billion.

Joining the Ranks of Successful Tech Company Debuts

Ibotta joins a handful of tech companies like Instacart and Reddit that enjoyed a solid debut in the public markets. Last September, grocery delivery Instacart’s shares finished the day up 12.3% on Nasdaq, giving the company a market value of more than $11 billion. Reddit’s stock soared in its Wall Street debut in March of this year as investors pushed the value of the company close to $9 billion seconds after it began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

About Ibotta

Denver-based Ibotta, founded by lawyer Bryan Leach in 2011, works with more than 850 different clients and represents 2,400 consumer packaged brands, according to its prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Walmart, Family Dollar, Kroger and other major retailers use its artificial intelligence-enabled software, which delivers promotions that match customers’ purchasing behavior.

Ibotta’s Business Model

Ibotta said it only gets paid when a customer sees a company’s promotion and it results in a sale. Those customers get cash back every time they buy something in a participating brand’s store or on their app, with the money deposited in their bank account or applied to a gift card. Ibotta said in its filing that it’s given more than $1.8 billion back to customers since 2012.

Conclusion

With a successful Wall Street debut, Ibotta has joined the ranks of successful tech company debuts. Its unique business model and strong backing from Walmart have positioned it well in the market. It will be interesting to see how the company performs in the coming years.