The Daily Chase: Reddit set to IPO today

Here are five things you need to know this morning.

Reddit IPO ready for launch: Social media website Reddit is set to go public today, as the company’s investment bankers have priced shares at US$34 apiece before they trade on the NYSE today. That’s the high end of the range they had projected and they will bring in $748 million to the company’s coffers. The IPO values the entire company at just over $6.4 billion, which is down from a peak of almost $10 billion reached during a funding round in 2021. When the shares start trading publicly this afternoon, it will be the culmination of the most hotly-anticipated IPOs in recent memory. The shares will trade under the ticker RDDT and in the short term at least seem destined for meme-stock status. The company took in more than $800 million in revenue last year, but lost $90 million. Philip Young, portfolio manager with Cidel Asset Management, told BNN Bloomberg’s The Street on Thursday that from advertising, to data monetization, the company has many ways to boost its top and bottom line. “If it’s going to be a successful stock, the company really has to show it can increase that number and they have a number of different avenues that they can take to approach this,” he said.

Gold tops US$2,200 an ounce: The price of gold has set a new all-time high, as the most heavily traded bullion contract hit US$2,214 at one point early Thursday morning. Gold has surged in recent years as high inflation devalues currencies and has pushed up investor demand for assets like gold to preserve capital. The catalyst for gold’s surge in the short term appears to be the Fed rate decision on Wednesday, where the U.S. central bank reiterated it is on track for three rate cuts this year. That will devalue the U.S. dollar, which will push up the price of gold. Lower rates will also hurt interest-bearing investments and make gold look comparatively more attractive.

Couche-Tard earnings disappoint: Shares in TSX-listed Alimentation Couche-Tard will be one to watch today as the global convenience store giant posted disappointing earnings results after the bell on Wednesday. The company missed analyst expectations on profit and revenue, saying it saw weaker customer traffic just about everywhere. Fuel sales fell in Europe and North America, while merchandise revenue per store, such as food and cigarettes, dropped in all three of the company’s geographic segments. That’s the first time that’s happened in more than a decade. The stock has been a market darling for that long and more, with the value of the shares doubling over the last five years and quadrupling in the last 10. It will be interesting to see how investors react to a rare miss from a slow and steady long-term performer.