IPO Activity Highlighted by Two California Tech Hardware Companies Last Week

​Last week, technology hardware firms Sonos and Arlo Technologies debuted shares on U.S. exchanges. Home security firm Arlo raised $163 million on the NYSE. Sonos, a wireless speaker producer, raised $208 million. Lastly, on Thursday, Eli Lilly’s Elanco Animal Health filed for a U.S. IPO.

• On Thursday, shares of smart speaker-maker Sonos began trading on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker “SONO,” raising $208 million. The IPO comes as tech companies are shifting focus to the voice assistant technology, including the likes of Amazon, Google, and Apple. Sonos, however, is in the unique position of being both competitor and partner to many of these companies. Sonos’ first voice-enabled speaker, Sonos One, streams music from Amazon, Spotify, Google, and Apple’s repsective streaming services, as well as offering Amazon’s Alexa voice technology.

• Arlo Technologies, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday in its spin-off from networking hardware-maker Netgear (NASDAQ: NTGR), raising $163 million. Based out of San Jose, Arlo sells home security cameras that can be accessed remotely from mobile devices. Like Sonos, the company’s devices are also compatible with voice assistants Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Further, Arlo offers its Arlo Smart subscription security service, which provides rolling cloud storage for recordings, person detection software, and enhanced notifications that provide detailed alerts to one’s smartphone.
  

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• Elanco Animal Health, the veterinary medicine unit of global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), filed for a U.S. IPO on Thursday with an initial offering size of $100 million. Founded in 1954, Elanco offers a variety of animal health products, including antibiotics and vaccines. Its largest revenue generator is cattle feed additive Rumensin which improves feed efficiency and acts as an antibiotic for intestinal parasites. The IPO plans follow a month-long review Lilly took to determine if it should keep, sell, or spin-off Elanco. Lilly believes an IPO for Elanco provides the best after-tax value for shareholders.