IPO Spotlight

Article Excerpt

DAVIDSTEA $3.80 (Nasdaq symbol DTEA; Consumer Sector; Shares o/s: 25.8 million; Market cap: $98.0 million; Takeover Target Rating: Lowest; No dividend; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative; www.davidstea.com) first sold shares to the public in June 2015 at $19 each. The stock soared to $27 on the first day, but has since moved steadily down. The Montreal based b e v e r a g e chain offers consumers a wide range of loose-leaf teas, prepackaged teas, tea sachets and tea-related accessories. Located primarily in Canada and the U.S., DAVIDsTEA operates 161 retail locations. The company continues to explore strategic alternatives, including a potential sale. It announced the move after reporting weaker than expected third-quarter results: Its loss nearly doubled to $0.17 a share; revenues fell 2.5%, to $43 million; and same-store sales dropped 6.8%. DAVIDsTEA operates in a hugely competitive beverage market. In fact, Starbucks gave up on the tea business and closed its Teavana stores in July 2017. We don’t recommend DAVIDsTEA. DAVIDsTEA…