Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Nearly 25 years of experience in analyzing hundreds of companies, especially in Asia. Deep expertise in the following sectors:
- Technology (E-commerce, SaaS, Internet)
- Consumer 
- Special Situations/Deep Value Plays
- Holdcos/Stubs
- Asian Unicorns/Private Companies

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

No More Activation of Volatility Mitigation Device (VI) In the First Day of Trading in Korean IPOs

Why Is the Korean FTC Investigating K-Cube Holdings? (Owned by Kakao Group Chairman Kim Beom-Soo)

Kakao's De Facto Holding Company K Cube Holdings: Exactly What Are They Accused Of?

Kakao Pay - One Third of Revenues in Jeopardy or Reach a Compromise with the Regulators?

Battle Lines Drawn As BABA Builds Out First/Last-Mile Capacity; But Who Will Fund 75+ Bn CNY CapEx?

Equity Bottom-Up

<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/upstart-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:29727:1" rel="noopener">Upstart Holdings Inc (UPST US)</a> has been one of the best performing SaaS stocks in the United States in the past year. Upstart Holdings completed its IPO in December 2020 at an IPO price of $20 per share. Since then, its share price has skyrocketed by 1,252% to reach $270.46 per share. Upstart's market cap has also jumped to $21 billion. Upstart Holdings is also one of the comps to Kakao Pay that the bankers used to price the Kakao Pay IPO. </p><div class="content-highlight">
<p>All in all, Upstart Holdings has experienced extraordinary growth in sales and profits in the past couple of years, driven by its superior AI driven technologies in the personal and auto loans sector. Upstart Holdings is clearly one of the most important companies to pay attention in the global AI-driven lending industry. </p>
<p>As Kakao Pay is trying to complete its IPO next month, it has chosen to include Upstart Holdings as one of the comps. However, we have concerns that investors are likely to put significant discount on the relative valuations of Kakao Pay as compared to Upstart due to the following factors such as increased regulatory scrutiny on the fintech services provided by Kakao Pay and higher marketing and operating costs that are likely to be required to change the way its current financial services are provided.</p>
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Upstart Holdings Inc (UPST US) has been one of the best performing SaaS stocks in the United States in the past year. Upstart Holdings completed its IPO in December 2020 at an IPO price of $20 per share. Since then, its share price has skyrocketed by 1,252% to reach $270.46 per share. Upstart's market cap has also jumped to $21 billion. Upstart Holdings is also one of the comps to Kakao Pay that the bankers used to price the Kakao Pay IPO. 
All in all, Upstart Holdings has experienced extraordinary growth in sales and profits in the past couple of years, driven by its superior AI driven technologies in the personal and auto loans sector. Upstart Holdings is clearly one of the most important companies to pay attention in the global AI-driven lending industry. 
As Kakao Pay is trying to complete its IPO next month, it has chosen to include Upstart Holdings as one of the comps. However, we have concerns that investors are likely to put significant discount on the relative valuations of Kakao Pay as compared to Upstart due to the following factors such as increased regulatory scrutiny on the fintech services provided by Kakao Pay and higher marketing and operating costs that are likely to be required to change the way its current financial services are provided.


Upstart Holdings - Up 1,252% from the IPO Price & A Key Comp for Kakao Pay