Noom is one of the most downloaded apps on the App Store and Google Play Store.
Investors have been looking forward to getting their hands on Noom stock for quite some time, but when is the IPO expected, and what are the details?
We checked it out, and here are the answers.
Can You Buy Noom Stock?
Noom is not a listed stock. It cannot be bought or sold on the exchange.
The innovative weight loss app company was planning for an IPO in 2021, but nothing has come of it so far.
We look at the possible contours of a public listing and when it happens in the following sections, starting with company details.
About the Company
Noom is a wellness company focused on disrupting the weight loss and healthcare industries.
Its key promise is that consumers can achieve weight loss without going on a diet by using its products.
The firm has created a digital platform that helps weight watchers.
By combining artificial intelligence, behavioral psychology, and mobile technology, it delivers a personalized healthcare program for the user.
This includes coaching and insights about proper exercise and nutrition, which help people live healthier lives by breaking long-term habits.
The products allow users to create a weight goal for themselves.
It then creates a plan to reach the target within 16 weeks.
During this time, the user logs in data about what food they are eating.
The app uses a simple visual scheme to indicate which foods are good or bad.
For example, green is good, and yellow is to be avoided. Red is a complete no. This helps users effectively regulate food intake.
Apart from being a weight loss app, it is also social.
Noom users can share their journey with others in the program and access virtual coaches for advice.
Noom was founded in 2007 by its current president, Artem Petakov, and CEO, Saeju Jeong.
It is based in New York City but also has offices in Seoul and Tokyo.
Both founders have extensive experience in the corporate world and startups.
Artem had co-founded WorkSmart Labs and worked for Google, Sun Microsystems, and Microsoft.
Saeju is a board member of the Chonnam Hospital in South Korea and the co-founder of BuyHard Productions, a media company.
He is a part of the South Korean Science and Technology Ministry.
In May 2020, Noom acquired Opus Growth, an advertising firm focused on mass media performance.
Who Owns the Company?
Noom is a VC-backed private company. Its owners include the investors, management team, and founders.
The seed round of funding happened in 2011 when a group of funds led by lead investors Kleiner Perkins helped it raise $2.6 million.
Other notable investors in various funding rounds include:
- Qualcomm Ventures
- National Institutes of Health
- RRE Ventures
- InterVest Co.
- Samsung Ventures
- Sampo Holdings
- Sequoia Capital
- Serena Ventures
- Silver Lake
How Much is the Company Worth?
Noom’s Series F funding round, with several investors led by Silver Lake, saw $540 million raised at a post-money valuation of $3.7 billion.
This was held in May 2021.
So far, the company has raised more than $650 million across all its investors.
However, post-pandemic, there have been reports that the firm is struggling and has had to lay off several employees.
Current valuation figures are not available since it is not publicly traded.
Revenue
In January 2020, the company reported that it had quadrupled its revenues to $237 million.
This isn’t the first time it has done so.
Between 2017 and 2018, their recurring revenues grew from $12 million to $61 million.
The firm has also built a massive user base of 45 million (as of 2021).
What is the Noom IPO Date?
Noom pursued an initial public offering as early as 2021, immediately after the Series F round. As per Reuters, the firm had retained Goldman Sachs to help them conduct the IPO in early 2022. The expected valuation was going to be $10 billion.
However, Noom did not become publicly traded. The latest reports suggest that once the pandemic subsided, the firm found it difficult to retain its tremendous pace of growth.
It had to lay off nearly 500 staff members across two rounds of job cuts. Many of those let go were health coaches, the key to the company’s product.
Still, more than 40% of American adults are obese today. So there is a lot of scope for companies like Noom to grow quickly.
In the future, the firm can bounce back, and it would need funding to support the effort.
Therefore, analysts suggest an IPO is possible in the coming years.
Noom Ticker Symbol
Noom is not publicly traded, so it does not have a ticker symbol.
Once it files its S-1 application with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the process of having a stock market listing will start.
The company would then be assigned a ticker symbol of its choosing.
Some of the possible options that it might look at include:
- NOOM
- HELTH
- NOM
Of course, the firm would decide on the final one based on many factors; these can be seen merely as some of the choices on the table.
Stock Price
We cannot be sure what the stock price for Noom will be when it goes public.
This is usually calculated by investment banking experts, who look at a firm from various angles to derive its true worth.
The number of shares it wants to make available publicly and what percentage of its equity it is willing to offer will also matter.
However, one simple thumb rule that many companies use is keeping their stock within competitors’ reach.
We looked at some of these firms, and accordingly, a price point between $5 – $30 seems appropriate in the category.
However, as we said earlier, it might finally be anyone’s guess.
Noom Competitors to Invest in
While publicly traded health and wellness apps are very few, many other traditional firms are in the same category.
We have listed below three such companies.
WW International Inc (NASDAQ: WW)
This company has been around since 1963.
It is one of the biggest firms in the health and weight loss segment.
When it started out, Weight Watchers (as it was then known) was just a support group for women.
They were practicing a particular diet to achieve certain weight loss objectives.
However, with the massive success of the program and its growth in the following decades, Weight Watchers increasingly rebranded itself towards health and wellness.
It offers a subscription-based support scheme that includes various services, technology, products, and media to help customers improve their fitness levels.
Many of its dietary plans are famous for their focus on lean proteins, veggies, whole grains, and low trans fat foods.
In the fiscal year that ended in December 2022, WW International made $1.04 billion in revenues but had a net loss of $251.40 million.
Herbalife Nutrition Ltd (NYSE: HLF)
Herbalife Nutrition is a multilevel marketing company. It produces and sells health and dietary supplements.
Its primary products are protein shakes and weight-loss powders, so it competes directly with Noom.
It has also expanded into several other categories, such as hydration, personal care, teas, and aloes, etc.
The company was founded in 1980, and due to the nature of its distribution chain, it has faced several lawsuits in the past as a pyramid scheme.
Still, it is one of the world’s largest suppliers of health products.
Herbalife earned $5.2 billion in revenues and had a healthy net income of $321.30 million in the fiscal year ending in December 2022.
Medifast Inc (NYSE: MED)
Medifast is not a direct competitor of Noom because it does not have an app-based interface.
Instead, the American nutrition firm produces and markets weight loss products.
It uses multi-level marketing, web sales, and telemarketing to achieve results.
The firm also runs a chain of franchised weight loss clinics.
Medifast closed the fiscal year 2022 with revenues touching $1.6 billion and a net income of $143.57 million.
Final Thoughts
Noom was supposed to have an IPO last year, but as of now, there is no indication about the same.
Recent reports suggest the company might be going through a bad phase, with layoffs and cutbacks.
However, given that it has more than 45 million customers and a lot of headroom to grow, a public listing is definitely on the cards in the future.
We have shared the details, like the possible ticker symbol and stock price, that traders should be on the lookout for.
Tags:
