Anyone looking into Visa, Inc.'s IPO coming soon?

[MoToHeAd125]

http://www.forbes.com/markets/economy/2008/02/25/visa-ipo-update-markets-equity-cx_cg_0225markets28.html


They're hoping to raise $10 billion. And claiming share price should be around $37-$42. Mastercard did the same thing a year ago, and its price has risen 300% from starting around $30 as well.

It does seem very tempting to jump in, i'll probably end up getting some shares, but i'm going to continue to do my homework and watch the economy until we get a for sure date from Visa.

Is anyone else following this?

[aziatiklover]

awesome

[Gunz4Sale]

Whens it going public?

[MoToHeAd125]

Whens it going public?

There isn't a specific date. But everyone is thinking early 08. Saying we should have some definite pricing in march.

[Gunz4Sale]

nice, need to empty the piggy bank lol.

[speedtek]

keep us updated.! maybe this is my chance to start playin the market

[MoToHeAd125]

I'll keep updating this thread as i get more info. This will most likely be my next market move so imma be on it daily.

[azinwood]

yeah, largest IPO ever?

crazy

[dTran33]

yeah, largest IPO ever?

crazy
lol yeah.

might be looking in to this...depending what the IPO price announced is.

[LiLS]

i think i read somewhere that it was going to be $37-42

[Ripcurl]

Calendar week of March 17 is the current speculative date.
Share price is est. 37-41$

I put in 2 thou, not a ton but im worried there might be a nasty initial spike when all these who jumped in at the idea of a mastercard style IPO, bail out 3 weeks in to collect gains and run.


But before anyone gets too excited, see the below taken from CNN. There is risk.

Greg

[speedtek]

2 shares?

[Ripcurl]

Whoops, here is the article.

But there are also skeptics.

"Is this another MasterCard?" asks Francis Gaskins, president of IPO Desktop. "The answer is no."

MasterCard went public at a price-to-earnings ratio of 11, while Visa's proposed price puts it at around 30, says Gaskins.

Taulli says the Visa offering's sheer hugeness comes partly from MasterCard's success, which Visa no doubt factored into its terms. That might not leave much room for growth in the aftermarket.

Another problem is apparent in Visa's financials. In its original November prospectus, it recorded a decent profit for the first three quarters of 2007.

Now that it's reported the full year, it's suddenly in the red.

The difference is a legal settlement it reached with AmEx last fall. Visa agreed to an initial payment of $1.13 billion, and will pay up to $70 million per quarter for the next 16 quarters.

Litigation, in fact, fills up a fair chunk of Visa's prospectus. Visa is a defendant in class-action lawsuits over interchange fees, a federal antitrust suit and a variety of state-level cases alleging consumer protection violations, illegal currency conversion and so on.

The company has decided to put $3 billion of the proceeds in escrow for its "retrospective responsibility plan," i.e. future legal payouts. It also says that in the first quarter of this year it expects litigation costs to reach $285 million.

Still, MasterCard has been dealing with many of the same charges, and investors don't seem to care. And Visa's basic business metrics, such as transaction volume, are growing at a fair clip, especially outside the U.S.

[MoToHeAd125]

How is that any different than any other big company? Large corporations will always be the target of lawsuits. Name a company that isn't involved in some legal battle in some way.

But in Visa's case, their market share is almost double that of Mastercard, their closest competitor. No chance for growth my ass.

[Ripcurl]

the dig concern with VISA is the PE ratio compared to that of mastercard when they went public.

[MoToHeAd125]

the dig concern with VISA is the PE ratio compared to that of mastercard when they went public.

Do you know what the PE ratio represents?

Right out of my finance book. PE= Price per share/Earnings per share.

PE ratios are higher for firms with strong growth prospects and relatively little risk.

[khanhdom]

i think i read somewhere that it was going to be $37-42

did you read it from the first post?!

[Ripcurl]

My post was a little out of context.

PE of visa seems iffy at that price. 4th quarter losses for 2007(huge loss actually). Paying amex up to 70 million a quarter for the next 16 years. Current rough economy status at best.

Not sure why me posting concerns has triggered you to call me out but risk has very little to do with p/e. There may be similar trends but they do not directly relate.

I am a huge fan of ipo's in general and def of the Visa IPO, just posted some concerns that peeps should check out before calling up e-trade.

Also check out in your glossary.
ROIC

[Pr3Lud3PLaYa]

Do you know what the PE ratio represents?

Right out of my finance book. PE= Price per share/Earnings per share.

PE ratios are higher for firms with strong growth prospects and relatively little risk.

rly? Mature company in a mature industry has less risk than a young company in a growing industry. A mature company has a little less room for growth and earnings don't grow as fast which means they might have a lower P/E ratio. The opposite tends to play out for younger firms. P/E really has no direct connection to a stock's volatility. I use the earnings multiple only as a small piece of my research but only when I'm comparing investment choices. I look at tons of other data to make up my mind.

[TurboDANDEE]

this could be a perfect timing, i'm looking for something to invest right now. March 17th you say?

[Ripcurl]

right now sketched for the week or march 17th.

lots of info at ipohome.com

-g

[dollface]

If you understand how Visa makes their money (i.e. earnings), I think it's a fairly good stock to invest in.

They have:
-A good business model
-Dominance in their industry
-Growth potential as you start to see the shift from paper (cash, checks) to plastic
-Global diversification - increased market presence in places like Europe, Asia, Latin America
-Global brand recognition

However, the risks (like lawsuits and legislation, which are clearly outlined in the prospectus) should definitely be considered before making any decisions.

[Scr4ppY]

deff going to invest in this.

[MoToHeAd125]

If you understand how Visa makes their money (i.e. earnings), I think it's a fairly good stock to invest in.

They have:
-A good business model
-Dominance in their industry
-Growth potential as you start to see the shift from paper (cash, checks) to plastic
-Global diversification - increased market presence in places like Europe, Asia, Latin America
-Global brand recognition

However, the risks (like lawsuits and legislation, which are clearly outlined in the prospectus) should definitely be considered before making any decisions.

Yeah lawsuit for the next 16 quarters. But who forgot about the 10 Billion their about to raise?

[dollface]

^ they could raise approx 19 bn, gross

[HoldemPlayer]

its going to be overvalued....i mean honestly, look at this discussion....buy buy buy!!! price is gonna go up up up!!!

[Gunz4Sale]

Any firm date yet?

[MoToHeAd125]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/14/BU4HVK4MG.DTL

Supposedly the date is set for around 1 week from wednesday, so wednesday the 26th?

[tit$]

i've been burned several times on buying IPOs as a long term investment. i'll be watching but not participating.

[yungintl]

up 35% today

[tit$]

its trading right now at the same level it opened at...

[MoToHeAd125]

its round $58 now. I picked up a lil. we'll see what happends

[tit$]

you guys gotta realize that most of us regular joes can't buy up the stock at the IPO price, there's only so much to go around, and the big guys usually hoard it.

no way anybody that bought it made any significant money. my broker could only offer me 10 shares after begging, wasn't even worth it.

[TurboDANDEE]

ya i asked my broker about it, she told me minimum $100k for the IPO, screw that i didnt have that kind of money. plus its trading 35% since initial offer and i know i aint gonna make shit off of it now