Krispy Kreme Makes Public Debut Again and Rises 23%

Krispy Kreme returned to the public markets on Thursday with shares rising 23, despite disappointing pricing.

It’s been five years since the company traded publicly and the doughnut chain’s initial public offering was priced at $17 a share. This was below the $21-$24 per share range that had been expected.

Shares had closed up more than 23% despite a disappointing opening trade. The stock’s first trade on Thursday afternoon was $16.30 per share, before bouncing.
When the markets closed, the stock was trading for $21 a share.

This share offering raised $500 million for the company and gave it an implied valuation of $2.7 billion.

It was about 21 years ago that Krispy Kreme had first gone public but in 2016, JAB Holding, the investment arm of the Reimann family, took Krispy Kreme private after buying it for $1.35 billion.

JAB also owns Panera Bread and Caribou Coffee.

“The transformation that this company has done in the last five years has been incredible,” Krispy Kreme CEO Mike Tattersfield said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”.
“We’ve worked on our brand, we’ve worked on the culture.”

In fiscal 2020, the company’s revenue rose 17% to $1.12 billion. The chain however reported a net loss of $60.9 million. It has reported net losses for its last three fiscal years.

Krispy Kreme is trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker “DNUT.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.