Video Game Platform Roblox To Make Wall Street Debut

Gaming platform Roblox -- which has skyrocketed in popularity among kids and teens during the coronavirus pandemic -- will make its Wall Street debut Wednesday as a direct listing.

The company's shares will be listed under the symbol RBLX on the New York Stock Exchange.

By opting to go public as a direct listing, like companies such as Spotify, Slack and Palantir have done, Roblox will not be able to issue new shares on the exchange and therefore will not raise capital.

Instead existing shareholders -- such as founders, employees and initial investors -- will be able to sell their portions on the market.

The company plans to sell nearly 199 million shares.

The NYSE set a reference price of $45 per share on Tuesday, though the real price will depend on demand.

Roblox was valued at $29.5 billion at a fundraising round in late January.

The platform allows users to create their own video games and gives them a share of related revenue.

It counted close to 33 million daily players in 2020, and revenue soared 82 percent to $924 million.

But the company is not currently profitable, due to the expenses it incurs on tech infrastructure, data protection and paying game developers.

Copyright AFP. All rights reserved.

RECENT NEWS

Stocks Rise After Better-than-expected Jobs Report To Close Out Winning Week

Stocks rose on Thursday following a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report as the economy tries to recover from the coron... Read more

Record Jobs Gain Of 4.8 Million In June Smashes Expectations; Unemployment Rate Falls To 11.1%

Another big contributor to the decline of the jobless rate was a plunge in those on temporary layoff. That total fell by... Read more

17.6 Million Unemployed Americans Probably Won't Return To Their Pre-pandemic Jobs

The share of the workforce currently out of work with no reasonable chance of returning to their jobs is about 11%, or a... Read more

GM, Fiat Chrysler U.S. Auto Sales Tank In Second Quarter As Coronavirus Saps Demand

U.S. vehicle sales in the second quarter for General Motors, Toyota Motor and Fiat Chrysler plunged by more than 30% Read more

Mortgage Demand Falls For The Second Straight Week, Signaling A Potential Slowdown In The Housing Recovery

The surge in mortgage demand from homebuyers over the past two months appears to be waning, even as mortgage rates conti... Read more

Fed's Bullard Warns Of Financial Crisis Risks As Virus Cases Spike, FT Reports

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president James Bullard has warned that a growing number of bankruptcies due to the coron... Read more