Pinterest Prices IPO At Discount To Latest Valuation Round

Image sharing social media platform Pinterest confirmed in a regulatory filing early Monday that it is seeking to sell 75 million shares of the company at $15 to $17 each as part of its initial public offering.

What Happened

Pinterest's latest round of fundraising in 2017 valued the company at $12 billion.

Yet the company is valued at less than $11 billion at the midpoint of the $15 to $17 per share range, CNBC's Leslie Picker said on "Squawk Box" Monday.

Pinterest will have around 529 million shares, which would value the company at $8.5 billion on a market cap basis at the midpoint and slightly more than $11 billion on the high end. 

The company is unprofitable: it recorded a net loss of $63 million in 2018. During the year revenue rose 60 percent from 2017 to $756 million.

Why It's Important

Pinterest's path toward becoming a public company is still in the early stages and affords the possibility for the company to raise its valuation if demand for the issue is high, Picker said.

It is also possible that institutional investors will look at Pinterest's valuation round in the private market and feel that, as a public company, it should be valued differently.

What's Next

The company will begin its roadshow later on this month and shares are slated to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "PINS."

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