Yext Inc. (Pending:YEXT) filed an S-1/A with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its upcoming IPO. The company is expected to make its market debut on Thursday, April 13, and will be offering 10.5 million shares at a marketed price range of $8-10. It has an additional 1.575 million shares as an overallotment option for its underwriters. Assuming Yext prices at the mid-point of its price range, it will have a market cap value of $783.6 million and trade at a price/sales multiple of 6.31x.

The company expects to generate proceeds of around $83.5 million through its IPO and does not states specific plans for how it will use the proceeds.

The underwriters for the IPO are Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, RBC Capital Markets, Pacific Crest Securities and Piper Jaffray.

Business overview

Yext Inc. is an internet technology company that provides a platform which enables businesses to manage their listings and company information on multiple sites. Businesses use the platform to sync their data to more than 100 services, including Google, Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps and others. The company offers its Yext knowledge engine to its customers on an annual and multi-year subscription basis, with prices varying based on different features used. Its customers include AutoZone (NYSE:AZO), McDonald's (NYSE:MCD), Rite Aid (NYSE:RAD), Ben & Jerry's, Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and many others.

Yext has raised $117.82 million in seven rounds of financing. Notable investors include: Grape Arbor VC, Insight Venture Partners and Marker. In its last round of financing, in June 2014, the company was reportedly valued at $525 million.

Yext was founded in 2006 and is based New York City. As of its IPO, it had 630 employees.

(Source: Yext S-1/A filing, March 28, 2017 )

Executive management overview

Howard Lerman co-founded the company and serves as the chief executive officer and a director of Yext. Previously, Lerman founded and served as the senior manager of several software companies. Mr. Lerman has simultaneously served as the co-founder and chairman of Confide since 2014. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Duke University.

Brain Distelburger also co-founded Yext and now serves as director and president. Previously, he founded and served as a senior manager of a software company. Distelburger served as director and chairman of Food Genius Inc. from September 2012 until the company's sale in April 2016. He holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell University.

Financial highlights and risks

Yext Inc.'s financial statement shows fast revenue growth, but at a slowing rate. The company generated revenue of $60.00 million, $89.72 million and $124.26 million in FY 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. This represents a YOY growth rate of 49.5% from 2015 to 2016 and 38.4% from 2016 to 2017. At the same time, gross margins improved from 58.6% in 2015 to 65.4% in 2016 and to 70.2% in 2017.

The company has not yet generated a profit and shows growing net losses as it increases spending on sales and marketing. It more than doubled spending on sales and marketing from 2016 to 2016. Net losses were $17.2 million, $26.5 million and $43.1 million in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Assuming that Yext prices at the mid-point of its proposed range, it would trade at 6.31x sales. This is well below the average 12.97x price/sales for industry software and services. Although this valuation may make Yext look like a good deal, it does not make up for the slowing revenue growth rate, coupled with increased marking spending and growing net losses.

Conclusion: Consider A Modest Allocation

Despite a valuation well below the industry average, we are concerned about the slowing growth rate despite increased spending allocated to sales and marketing.

At the same time, we do hear the IPO is highly popular and multiple times oversubscribed.

The tech IPO market is heating up, post Snap (NYSE:SNAP). Investors might consider a modest allocation at this time.