Instacart plans to fund its $24bn IPO by selling employee shares

In today’s top stories, Instacart plans to use employee shares to fund its IPO, game maker Take-Two was targeted by a hacker, and Avaya holdings has become the newest meme stock. In other headlines, Tesla has upgraded its Shanghai production targets and Goldman Sachs offered its copper stock picks.

Instacart’s IPO funding to come from employees

Grocery delivery app Instacart doesn’t intend to raise much capital through new shares when it goes public. Instead it will focus on selling employee shares. Instacart slashed its valuation by 40% to $24bn in March following the burst of the pandemic tech bubble. In a similar attempt to make up for recent losses, grocery tech startup Swiftly is now valued at $1bn after gathering $100m in its last round of fundraising.

Take-Two targeted by hacker

Images and videos from Rockstar Games’ much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI were leaked over the weekend. The hacker has threatened to leak the source code too, which might entail a delay in the release of the highly anticipated game expected to bring in $3.5bn at launch. Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive [TTWO] saw its share price drop in early Monday trading but recovered to close in the green.

A new meme stock on the block

First it was Bed, Bath and Beyond [BBBY] that gained the attention of the Reddit crowd following the revelation Ryan Cohen owned a stake. Now it’s Avaya Holdings’ [AVYA] turn. The stock is up 177.2% in the past month to $2.01 thanks to an activist investor. Software entrepreneur Theodore King has acquired 15% of the company and laid out a turnaround plan in an open letter to the board. 

Tesla upgrades Shanghai production

Production lines at Tesla’s [TSLA] Shanghai factory have been upgraded. The plan now is to test them through to the end of November with the eventual aim of doubling the annual output to at least 1 million vehicles. Tesla is targeting a weekly output of 14,000 Model Y SUVs, up from approximately 11,000 prior to the pandemic. Model 3 sedans will increase to 7,700 per week, up from 5,500.

Goldman’s copper demand picks

As electric vehicle (EV) use increases, the copper industry could soon be facing a supply-demand challenge. According to Goldman Sachs, emphasis on the green economy and efforts for a low-carbon footprint could lead to increasing demands on copper. This should boost stocks with exposure to EV batteries, charging and storage, including Anglo American [AAL.L], First Quantum [FM.TO], Oz Minerals [OZL.AX] and Teck [TECK].

Earnings preview: Polymetal

The share price of the gold and silver miner Polymetal [POLY.L] has slumped this year due to its Russian operations. Analysts are hopeful that strong half-year results released on Thursday will revive confidence. While no one is expecting change to the company’s structure with regard to Russia, investors will be paying close attention to activity and sales outside of the country.

Earnings preview: JD Sports

Despite inflation putting pressure on consumer spending, JD Sports [JD.L] is expected to report both half-year revenue and earnings gains on Thursday. The performance of US sales will be key — profit in North America has risen from £94.2m in 2020 to £343m in 2022. New CEO Régis Schultz said he was “committed” to ramping up international growth when appointed over the summer.