Bird, a provider of electric scooters that consumers can rent in cities, said the New York Stock Exchange will suspend trading of its stock after the company failed to keep its market capitalization above $15 million for 30 consecutive days.
The companys shares will trade on the over-the-counter exchange starting Monday, according to a statement.
Electric scooter and bike rentals became a trendy alternative to public transit and ride sharing prior to the pandemic, when venture capitalists were pumping money into all sorts of growth areas regardless of how unprofitable they were. Bird raised over $500 million, and was valued at $2.5 billion in a 2019 round led by Sequoia Capital.
The onset of Covid in 2020 brought the business almost to a halt as cities went into lockdown. Growth resumed in 2021, but the bubble days were over.
That year Bird went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, but the economics continued to deteriorate. Its net loss swelled to $359 million in 2022 from $215 million a year earlier. Revenue in that span increased 28% to $245 million.
The stock lost 80% of its value this year, closing on Friday at 90 cents and giving it a market cap of $11.6 million. Thats after a 1-for-25 reverse stock split meant to get the stock trading back above $1.
In June, Travis VanderZanden, a former Lyft and Uber executive who founded Bird in 2017 and was once described as “the electric-scooter king,” left the company.
Earlier this week, Bird acquired scooter startup Spin for $19 million, including $10 million in cash.
“We firmly believe that BRDS current market cap does not reflect the intrinsic value of the Company,” Michael Washinushi, Birds interim CEO, was quoted as saying in the statement on Friday. “And while disappointing, this change in our listing status on the NYSE does not alter our commitment to our shareholders, our valued employees across Bird and Spin, our partners and the many global cities and institutions with which we work.”
The number of shares that were sent skyrocketing at about 2025 seems to indicate that this was a more momentous development than it actually was. On Monday, bird shares were only selling for about 11 cents apiece; however, the significant increase brought them to a whooping 13 cents. By Wednesday they were back around 12 cents.
Things looked a bit more encouraging this week, when Bird put out a press release announcing it secured additional funding, bringing total new capital to almost $33 million this year. The company said it is also expecting another $10 million. It may also help that while Bird does burn cash, it also generates sizable revenue, bringing in $245 million in 2022.
Therefore, investors’ perception of Bird may have improved since a few days ago. However, they continue to view it as a business that is probably going to fail. The market capitalization of Bird (E2%80%99) is 20% less than that of E2%80%94 (down 2098% from its peak) and is approximately $39% million. That’s about how much the company’s founder originally wanted for the South Florida mansion he purchased during more prosperous times.
For startup backers, the damage isn’t limited to Bird either. In total, well over $5 billion in venture funding went into assorted startups engaged in the renting, charging and making of scooters in roughly the past six years. Crunchbase identified at least 34 such companies, with Lime, Bird and Gogoro ranking as the most heavily funded.
Even though it doesn’t sound good, it’s better than it was a few days ago. The scooter-sharing service gained momentum after revealing on Tuesday that it has obtained fresh funding.
Electric scooter and bike rentals became a trendy alternative to public transit and ride sharing prior to the pandemic, when venture capitalists were pumping money into all sorts of growth areas regardless of how unprofitable they were. Bird raised over $500 million, and was valued at $2.5 billion in a 2019 round led by Sequoia Capital.
The stock lost 80% of its value this year, closing on Friday at 90 cents and giving it a market cap of $11.6 million. Thats after a 1-for-25 reverse stock split meant to get the stock trading back above $1.
Earlier this week, Bird acquired scooter startup Spin for $19 million, including $10 million in cash.
Bird, a company that rents out electric scooters in cities, announced that the New York Stock Exchange will stop trading its shares because it was unable to maintain a market capitalization of at least $15 million for thirty days in a row.
Through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company that year, Bird went public, but the business’s finances kept getting worse. Its net loss increased from $215 million to $359 million in 2022. Revenue in that span increased 28% to $245 million.
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