Asana shares jump nearly 29pc in NYSE debut

Shares of workplace software maker Asana Inc surged nearly 29% in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange, marking a strong opening for the first of two notable direct listings on Wednesday.

Asana's stock opened at $27 per share, giving it a valuation of $4.17 billion. The NYSE had set a reference price of $21 per share. In early trade, the company's shares were up nearly 40%.

Asana will be joined later in the day by Palantir Technologies, another company backed by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel that will debut via a direct listing on the NYSE.

At 1.29 p.m. ET, Palantir was indicated to open between $9.95 and $10.05 a share, compared to its reference price of $7.25.

Existing investors can sell their shares directly to the market in a direct listing. Unlike an IPO, companies are not allowed to raise capital.

Music-streaming business Spotify Technology SA went public in 2018 via a direct listing and communications platform Slack Technologies Inc followed suit in 2019.

Asana was founded in 2008 by Facebook Inc co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and a former Google and Facebook engineer, Justin Rosenstein.

Prior to its public debut, at the top end of its price range, Asana traded at $28 per share in the private market in August, with the shares priced at $14.24 apiece at the lower end. The weighted average price was $25.11.

The company reported revenue of $99.7 million for the six months ended July 31, up 63% from a year earlier. Its net loss widened to $76.9 million from $30.54 million, according to its filing.

Morgan Stanley & Co LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and Jefferies LLC served as financial advisers for the listing.