Waystar celebrates its IPO on the Nasdaq on June 7, 2024.
CNBC
Waystar shares fell about 3% in their Nasdaq debut on Friday, after the healthcare payments software provider priced its initial public offering in the middle of the expected range.
The stock opened at $21 per share, below the IPO price of $21.50 per share late Thursday. In May, Waystar said its expected price would be between $20 and $23 per share.
The IPO market has been largely dormant since late 2021, when the extended bull market turned and investors began to worry about the weakening economy. Few technology companies have since been willing to take the leap to try to go public, and no digital health company had a public exit in 2023, according to a report from Rock Health.
But the broader venture-backed technology market may be starting to thaw. social media platform redditdata center connectivity chip supplier Astera Laboratories and data management software manufacturer Rubrik They have all been made public this year. Healthcare technology company Tempus AI has also published a preliminary prospectus this year.
Based on Waystar's initial stock price, the company's market capitalization is about $3.5 billion. The stock trades under the symbol “WAY.”
Waystar offers healthcare payment and revenue cycle management tools and facilitates more than 5 billion payment transactions annually, according to its prospectus. The company was formed in 2017 after healthcare payments companies Navicure and ZirMed merged.
“We are excited about the opportunity to be a public company because we believe it helps us with awareness, it helps us with credibility, it helps us improve our capital structure and allows for greater investments in areas like generative AI,” the CEO said by Waystar, Matt Hawkins. he told CNBC's “The Exchange” on Friday.
For the quarter ending March 31, Waystar generated revenue of $224.8 million, up 18% from $191.1 in the same period last year. Waystar reported a net loss of $15.9 million for the quarter compared to $10.6 million a year ago.
The company said it plans to use the money from the offering to pay down existing debt. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Barclays they are led the offering.
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