Toronto, Ontario — In this week’s Tuesday Ticker, Driven Brands makes its NASDAQ debut, Uber looks toward a profitable 2021 and Toyota boasts big EV numbers for December 2020.
Driven deals
Driven Brands began trading on NASDAQ last week, where shares increased by 21.32 percent as it went from an opening price of $22 to a closing of $26.69.
Last Thursday Driven Brands announced the pricing of its IPO of 31,818,182 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $22 per share. And the company granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 4,772,727 shares of its common stock at the initial public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions.
The offering is expected to close on January 20, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.
More ups for Uber?
This year could bring another solid performance for ride-sharing giant Uber as the ridesharing giant rakes in big 2020 numbers thanks to its food delivery service.
One of the more surprising stock moves in 2020 was the 71 percent rally in Uber stock. With corporate travel largely evaporated, Uber’s ride-sharing business has suffered mightily in the downturn. There isn’t much need for rides to the office, the airport, or your favorite bar if you are working from home, traveling no place, and drowning your sorrows at the kitchen table.
Regardless, it was a solid year for Uber’s food delivery service as consumers switched from dining out to ordering out. The September quarter nicely illustrates how the story has played out; overall revenue in the period was US$3.1 billion, down 17 percent from a year ago, and mobility revenue—better known as ride sharing—was down 51 percent. But delivery revenue was $1.5 billion, up 124 percent, and the company’s still modest freight delivery business grew 32 percent, to US$288 million.
Twenty-five percent of Toyota
Electrified vehicle sales represented a record 25.8 percent of Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) overall sales in December, up 96.2 percent for the month with 3,521 units sold.
TCI sold 11,531 electrified vehicles last quarter, up 42.7 percent, led by the RAV4 Hybrid (4,275 units sold, up 29.7 percent), the new Highlander Hybrid (1,481 units sold) and the Lexus UX (613 units sold, up 26.1 percent).
With the recent launches of the all-new Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid, as well as the only-available-in-hybrid-electric Sienna and Venza, this electrified vehicle sales momentum is expected to continue.
TCI recorded overall sales of 13,664 units in December, up 2.9 percent. The Toyota Division sold 11,926 vehicles, up 3.7 percent while the Lexus Division sold 1,738 units, down 2.4 percent.
TCI recorded overall sales of 50,642 units in the quarter, down 4.7 percent. The Toyota division sold 44,935 vehicles, down 3.5 percent while the Lexus division sold 5,707 units, down 13.6 percent.
TCI recorded overall sales of 191,420 units in 2020, down 19.3 percent. The Toyota division sold 170,598 vehicles, down 19.4 percent while the Lexus division sold 20,822 units, down 18.5 percent.
