Turo, a peer-to-peer car-sharing service, filed for an IPO Friday night. If you missed it, TechCrunch’s initial peek at its S-1 filing can see here. It is no surprise that Turo filed to go public. The company has a tremendous cash base beneath it after raising roughly $500 million while private, implying that there is additional institutional pressure for the company to pursue an IPO. According to Crunchbase data, Turo first raised outside financing in 2009, therefore some investors have been waiting for the company’s S-1 filing for a long time.
Turo’s firm had a turnaround year last year, which is wonderful news. Turo saw its revenues and performance rise, at least through the third quarter, after announcing rather disappointing 2020 figures. In a subsequent S-1 filing, we will obtain Q4 data. I would want to compare and contrast the company’s 2020 and 2021 earnings this morning in order to demonstrate how certain unicorns will emerge from the epidemic with their jets on. To be honest, after we get rid of some non-cash charges that muddle the bottom line, the Turo income statement impresses me. Let us discuss post-lockdown acceleration.
Turo has made a financial comeback. Turo’s sales increased only slightly from 2019 to 2020. The company’s top line increased around 6%, from $141.7 million to $149.9 million. That is an extraordinarily slow rate of growth for a venture-backed company gearing up for an IPO.
Worse, the company’s financial losses remained virtually the same over the time, dropping only a smidgeon from $98.6 million in negative net income in 2019 to $97.1 million in 2020. Then the year 2021 arrived. Take note of the differences in outcomes: When we compare the first three quarters of 2020 to the same period in 2021, we can see that the company’s sales growth rekindled and it went from painful operating losses to operating profits.
Turo looks to have had a rebirth last year, trading moderate growth for hyper-growth (207 percent between 2020 and 2021 for the periods listed) and losses for profits (on an operating basis). Yes, but as you may have noticed, the company’s net loss increased in the first three quarters of 2021 as compared to the previous year. Why are we praising it for its expansion when it has squandered so much money?
