Even though the market for fresh issues has all but collapsed, Intel Corp.’s (INTC.O) self-driving arm Mobileye on Friday announced its filing for a U.S. initial public offering.
The technology IPO market is currently experiencing its worst dry spell in close to two decades. According to data from Dealogic, U.S. listings have raised just over $7 billion this year so far. A record $154 billion was raised by conventional IPOs last year, omitting special purpose acquisition companies.
However, the IPO of Mobileye, which followed Porsche’s huge success in Europe, maybe a precursor to an uptick in investor sentiment.
If Mobileye’s debut is favourably received, it might inspire other well-known companies like Instacart, Reddit, or ServiceTitan to move forward with their IPOs after delaying them earlier this year until the market stabilises.
AIG Inc.’s life insurance and retirement unit Corebridge Financial Inc (CRBG.N) garnered $1.68 billion in the largest IPO of the year earlier in September, defying market turbulence and bringing an end to a seven-month hiatus in significant listings.
Its IPO filing showed that Mobileye owned first-half deals of $854 million, a 21% increase upward from the same period in 2021. Mobileye filed confidentially for its IPO early this year. Mobileye reported $1.4 billion in revenue for 2021.
As part of the preparation for the self-driving car unit’s IPO, Mobileye reportedly hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley as investment banks.
Mobileye stated in its filing on Friday that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are the primary underwriters.
Shares of Mobileye will be offered on Nasdaq under the symbol “MBLY.”
Although Mobileye has not yet specified a price range for its IPO, it is thought that the business may aim for a $50 billion valuation for the sale of its shares.
A source with information revealed Mobileye may lessen its projected IPO valuation owing to unfavourable market environments.
When the entity goes public, Intel will keep a share, which the chipmaker did not specify, but has previously stated that it would be a dominant holding.
The Mobileye IPO is a component of Intel’s broader turnaround strategy for its core company under Chief Executive, Gelsinger.
A camera-based approach with adaptive cruise controls and lane-changing assistance is used in driverless cars by Mobileye, an Israeli startup that Intel acquired in 2017 for approximately $15.3 billion.
Mobileye offers current-use driver assistance and mapping technologies in conjunction with self-driving hardware and software.
Intel has had success with Mobileye, which has clients like BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Nissan, Honda, and General Motors. Qualcomm Inc. and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA.O) are fierce competitors for Intel’s chip-making business (QCOM.O).
Meanwhile, on the other side of the automobile industry, there’s an insight into Tesla.
As logistical issues obscured its record deliveries, Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) on Sunday reported the lowest electric vehicle orders in the third quarter.
Tesla sold 343,830 electrified vehicles, a milestone for the most valuable automaker in the world, but fewer than the 359,162 analysts had anticipated, per Refinitiv. 241,300 Tesla units were delivered the previous year.
The most recent deliveries stopped flat of Tesla’s 365,923 vehicle production, which is unusual for the automaker as its deliveries have frequently exceeded or been comparable to production in recent quarters.
Troy Teslike, one Tesla data tracker who shared his statement, said the backlog of vehicle orders for the company decreased in September, particularly in China.
After a rise in COVID-19 instances forced a stoppage at the facility and caused the first drop in deliveries during an approximately two-year record run, the automaker also improved manufacturing lines in Shanghai.
325,158 Model 3 small cars, a Model Y sport utility vehicle, and 18,672 Model S plus Model X premium automobiles, according to Tesla, were delivered to customers throughout the quarter.