Truck-sharing IPO gets high on fumes

Softbank and Tencent-backed Manbang appears to have aced its stock market driving test read more.

The Chinese truck-sharing firm’s shares ended their first day on the New York Stock Exchange 13 per cent higher than where underwriters Morgan Stanley, CICC and Goldman Sachs priced the deal. That is right in the sweet spot, giving investors a nice little boost without leaving the company’s executives feeling they sold on the cheap.

Trouble is, it means Manbang – or Full Truck Alliance, as it is also called – now trades at some 550 times last year’s earnings. Yet it is only converting around 1.5 per cent of the business it books into revenue – known as the take rate. Car ride-sharing giant Uber manages 22 per cent. And Manbang faces regulatory and competitive pressure, too. Without sudden, explosive growth, it will start to look like it’s running on fumes.