Good morning and happy Friday.
The IPO market is open for business. Shares of chip designer Arm were priced at a healthy $51, launched at $56.10, and ended the day at $63 yesterday, an increase of 25% that left the company’s valuation at $65.2 billion—roughly double the price Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank paid for it in 2016. That will help the legendary investor get over his WeWork debacle. It’s the biggest IPO since carmaker Rivian debuted in 2021.
Don’t expect a big flood of IPOs to follow. Arm’s price got an extra boost from investor enthusiasm about AI, which has increased demand for Arm chips. But still the IPO can be seen as one more sign that the market slowdown is nearing an end. For the right companies, markets are ready to pay.
That won’t stop Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser from pursuing a major restructuring, however. “We will be saying goodbye to some very talented and hardworking colleagues,” she wrote in a memo to staff yesterday. Analyst Mike Mayo of Wells Fargo said the move was designed to address Citi’s “worst-in-class efficiency.” The bank did not specify exactly how many people would be losing their jobs.
Enjoy the weekend. I plan to spend it reading Walter Isaacson’s new book on Elon Musk. Not quite sure what new the book has to say about the Tesla CEO, but it has certainly proven Isaacson is without peer in book promotion. “Exclusive” excerpts have already appeared, well, everywhere, as have interviews with the author. I’ll give my review on Monday.
Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
