Asana jumps 10% in trading debut after opening at $4.2 billion valuation

• Asana jumped as much as 10% in its first day of trading on Wednesday.
• The stock opened at $27 per share, 29% above its reference price of $21. The ensuing climb marked a 10% increase from the opening price.
• With 155 million shares outstanding, Asana sported a valuation of $4.6 billion at its peak after opening at $4.2 billion.
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Asana jumped as much as 10% in its first day of trading on Wednesday, hitting a high of $29.79.

Asana is a work management software company based out of San Francisco. The firm went public via a direct listing rather than the traditional IPO route.

With a reference price of $21 per share, Asana opened at $27 per share in the first minute of trade, giving it a valuation of $4.2 billion. At its peak on Wednesday, Asana sported a valuation of $4.6 billion, based on about 155 million shares outstanding.

Asana was founded in 2008 and markets a web and mobile application designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work. The firm counts other software based companies like SmartSheet and Atlassian as its competitors.

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According to its S-1 filing, Asana reported fiscal year 2020 revenue of $142.6 million, representing year-over-year growth of 86%. Net loss in fiscal year 2020 was $118.6 million, more than double from the prior year's loss of $50.9 million.

As of January 31, the company had over 1.2 million paid users.

A direct listing differs from a traditional IPO in that a direct listing does not raise any money for the company going public. Instead, a direct listing allows employees and shareholders to cash out and sell shares.

Asana isn't the only company going public via a direct listing today. Palantir is expected to start trading on Wednesday afternoon, as it awaits its direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

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