Business Categories Reports Podcasts Events Awards Webinars
Contact My Account About
Member Exclusive

To IPO or Not to IPO, That Is the Question for Beauty

Published February 22, 2024
Published February 22, 2024
Troy Ayala

The IPO market for beauty has been a bit of a mixed bag over the last several years. On the one hand you have e.l.f. (NYSE: ELF), which went public in 2016 and has outperformed the market by more than 4x, albeit not without some ups and downs. On the other hand, you have companies like The Honest Company (NASDAQ: HNST), which went public in 2021 and is down almost 80% from its listing price, and Olaplex (NASDAQ: OLPX), which raised over $1.5 billion when it went public in 2021 at a $15 billion valuation but is down almost 90% from its listing price as it seeks to stabilize its business.For beauty brands, the IPO market presents a compelling capital markets alternative to unlock value for stakeholders; raise capital; build attractive, liquid equity compensation structures for management; and exit at a time when the traditional beauty strategics have slowed down their M&A activity considerably. Despite the opportunity, the public markets are not for everyone. Public markets favor consistency and predictability, and they shine a light on quarterly performance. Analysts and traders have an insatiable hunger for growth, margin expansion, and newness, and when companies miss their targets and underperform, their stock pays the price. The public markets are also susceptible to movements—both up and down—from broader macro events and trends like Fed signaling, consumer sentiment, economic data, and geopolitical turmoil.In 2023, despite an overall decline in public market activity, the BeautyMatter Deal Index tracked six public listings—three were listed on US exchanges and three were listed overseas in France, India, and South Korea.

×

2 Article(s) Remaining

Subscribe today for full access